You Have What Seems to be Thousands of Pairs of Dance Shoes

So my job as dance captain has officially started! We had our first two rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday, and they went really well. The dances are fairly easy and I've already had a chance to lead and teach. Basically, I love my job as dance captain! (:

As rehearsals have started, I've noticed how many pairs of dance shoes I have, it's insane! I have 3 pairs of black jazz shoes alone. But, they all serve a different purpose. For example, I have my class jazz shoes, that I use in the studio, my stage jazz shoes, that I use on the stage, and my performance jazz shoes. Other than that, I have two pairs of ballet shoes, tan character shoes, tap shoes, and character taps. Really though, all theatre kids have a bunch of different shoes. And though they may seem the same to some, they really all serve a different purpose.

Anticipation for the Cast List Kills You

Hurry up...and wait! You build up anticipation for auditions and do everything that you can to do your best. Sing as loud as you can, smile wide during dance auditions, try not to make a big deal if you mess up. It seems like for weeks you're thinking about those two days and everything that can possibly go right (or wrong if you're a glass half empty kind of person) and then you have to sit around and wait...

For me, the Christmas show doesn't cause quite as much stress and the musical, but it still sucks to have to wait around for the cast list! Thankfully, things went well (: I am a lead dancer and dance captain which is really exciting! I've been waiting since 7th grade to be dance captain, and now as a senior, I can finally say that I have achieved my goal! I can't wait to keep you all up to date with my experiences as a first-time dance captain! 

You Know Exactly What Auditions Songs are Overdone and Always Avoid Singing Them

Today marks the start to my senior year theatre season - finally! Auditions for our Christmas show start today, singing on Monday and dancing on Tuesday. I always love doing the Christmas show, it's not quite as serious as the spring musical, but it's still just as fun! But, with the show comes auditions. And, especially with the Christmas show, what song to sing. The past couple of years, our director has let us sing any Christmas song that we want for our audition, which is nice, but also can be a bit stressful. You don't want to sing something that will bore the directors (i.e. "O Holy Night"), but you still want to show off your voice. I think I'm going to stick with the classic "Let it Snow". It's upbeat and fun to sing, but it still let's me show off my range etc. a little bit.

Today has definitely got me thinking about all of the auditions i've seen through the years (10 years of theatre myself plus 4 years of helping with theatre programs and being the "director"). Then, when I was googling topics for my blog, I saw this one and was like YES because I definitely have experienced those overused songs. My number one example is "Don't Rain on my Parade" from Funny Girl. Especially since Lea Michele and Glee made the song popular it seems like everyone sings it...and often times don't sound as good as Lea Michele or Barbara Streisand. Another one is "On my Own" from Les Mis (also with a little help from Lea and Glee). People need to start singing fun songs, I don't care how good you sound on something slow and depressing, anyone would rather hear something upbeat! And finally, if you're not Adele, don't sing Adele. No explanation needed.

You Become Best Friends with the People You're in a Show With

I have always said that, especially during tech week, the only people that you can stand are the people that you're in a show with. You're always so crabby and anytime anyone talks you get automatically get annoyed, except for your cast members. It's like you all have a un-written rule that you just can't get mad at each other cause you're together ALL THE TIME. You get to learn so much about people when you do a show together. There's just something about being on the stage that creates a bond (:

the Annies 

Pretty much all of my best friends I met doing shows. Take my two very best friends, Annie and Annie (yes, both of my best friends are named Annie). The three of us have been doing shows together since we were in 7th and 8th grade (Annie W. is a year older than Annie S.and I) and we've been best friends since our freshman and sophomore years. Not only do we do shows together, but we also dance together so we're pretty much inseparable during musical season! Annie W, like I mentioned before, is a year older than us, so she's in college now and it's going to be so weird doing shows without her.


Shows are also a great way to make new years. For example, last year when my high school did Footloose, all of the lineman from the football team auditioned. At first, none of us really knew what to expect, because that had never happened before. But, it was the best time! I loved every second of being in a musical with them (and of course all of my show friends!) I cannot wait for our senior musical together, it's going to be great! (:

me and three of the "football boys"at prom

You Save all Scripts, Programs, and T-shirts from Shows you've Been in or Seen

I don't know what it is, but there's something about having a Broadway playbill that just makes you feel like you're in theatre. I'll never forget the first Broadway show that I saw - The Lion King. I was in 3rd grade and I went down to Chicago with my parents and my siblings and just say in awe as I watched the story come alive in front of me. I think that I actually cried during Hakuna Matata when Simba grew into an adult (don't judge). Yes, I still that have that program and all of the other programs from the Broadway shows that I've seen.

my Broadway playbill collection

And I don't have just those, but also all of the programs AND scripts from the shows that I've been in (total count as of today: 10). I have my theater box, which is a box with the logo of Thoroughly Modern Millie (my first high school musical) on top, which has all of my stuff in it (scripts, letters, mock awards). I still look at my show box every once in a while just to put a smile on my face! Stuff like that reminds you of all of the memories that you made in that show, ones that literally will last a lifetime. I love my show box and my program collection and I know they are both something that I will probably keep forever.

my show box

You know the Difference Between "Theater" and "Theatre"

...and you get annoyed when people get them mixed up! I figured since the title in my blog includes "theatre" I should explain the difference between the two words. (and yes, there is one!) Although Weber (my English teacher) has been trying to tell me that it's the American vs. the British spelling (which is slightly true), the difference is more than just that. It's pretty simple, so I won't bore you all with long, detailed descriptions, I promise! 

THEATRE

                                                     

                                                                   VS.

THEATER

Theatre, as you can see from the picture above, is an art. When you talk about performing (singing, dancing, and acting), you are referencing theatre. For example, when people go to school to study performing because they want to be in the entertainment business one day, they will be studying theatre. 

A theater is the actual place that you go to to watch a show, whether it be a play, musical, or even a movie. That's why you go to a movie theater. A theater can also be called an auditorium. That's why my blog is "You know you're a Theatre kid when...", because we all enjoy the art of theater (although theaters a pretty nice too!) 

It's as simple as this: you go to a theater to watch theatre. 

You Feel Empty in the Offseason

Ask any theatre kid out there...musical season is the best time of the year. And the offseason stinks. Whether you do shows all year round and the summer is your offseason, or you're like me and you have a Christmas Musical and the Spring Musical during the year and then you have to wait 6 months to start again, the offseason stinks. Sure, you may still have dance classes or theatre groups, but nothing beats the actual musical season. Even though while you're doing a show, you can always find something to complain about (long rehearsals, crabby directors, hard dances), the minute that it's over you can't wait for the next show to start.

Our spring musical, Footloose ended in March. It was my 13th (yes 13th) show at my high school, (I've been doing shows here ever since I was in second grade) and it was by far my favorite! It was my last show with a few of my very best friends, which made it really special, but a lot of new people came out for auditions, so I got to make lots of new friends, too! (: Some of our cast is pictured below, at Winter Formal (the winter dance that we have at my school). I don't think any of us were really ready for the show to end, but as soon as I walked out of the closing night cast party, I was already excited for this year's show, which is also my Senior year musical! And then I realized that I was going to have to wait probably 6 months to even know what the next show was, and another two until auditions. Sigh...Rumor has it that the show is going to be announced within the next couple of weeks, so hopefully we won't have to wait much longer, but I am ready for musical season to start again. I'm ready to feel full again (see how I tied that in there?)