Calling all theatre nerds! Yes, you! It is time to reflect on a simpler time. A time when we were all extremely confident that immediately following our high school years we would get a call from a Broadway director wanting us in his next musical hit and he/she needed us to fly out to New York City the following day to begin rehearsals with our cast masts Lin-Manuel Miranda, Audra McDonald, and Sutton Foster. You know exactly what I'm talking about, don't deny it.
Let's talk high school theatre. Ah, yes. Let us remember the amazing times we had in our high school theatre departments. These are merely twelve of the hundred things we all may miss about our past lives as "actors."
1. "I can't, I have rehearsal."
Okay, this one I hold near and dear to my theatrical little heart. I used this excuse almost every time to get out of gatherings that I did not want to attend. You know what's really awesome about this excuse? Nine out of ten times, you're not lying and you have no reason to be apologetic. Those rehearsal schedules barely allowed you to sleep, let alone hang out with friends out side of rehearsals. Sorry 'bout it.
2. Promoting your show around school.
"You're coming to the show, right?" If you didn't say this to nearly everyone in all your class periods, you weren't doing it right. Along with that, your entire cast and crew dressed in your show shirts the day of the show and not looking like you're in some sort of weird cult (it's not a cult, right?). Hearing your show being promoted on the morning announcements and making it very known to your class that you were in it and they aren't free from your wrath if they don't attend.
3. Realizing that you can purchase and eat food quicker than you thought.
Listen, if your high school theatre experience was anything like mine, you will understand that those 30 minutes between the final school bell ringing and the start of rehearsals were precious and not to wasted. We all had our go-to meals, even though we knew for a fact that they were not healthy for us; however, we burned enough calories running to get the meal in the first place. Balancing, right?
4. One word: costumes.
One moment that we got to enjoy each production was seeing our fellow cast members exit the dressing rooms in their costumes for the first time looking a MESS! You tried your best not to laugh at them, but come on! The really cool part about this was sometimes you were the hot one and sometimes you were the mess, either way someone is getting laughed at. You just hoped it wasn't you.
5. The cast list.
After the audition process was over, the cast list was your next horrible stress-cause. You barely slept and imagined the worst possible outcomes all night. Whether you agreed with it or not, you know you miss the horrible moment when it went up. Saying "oh yeah, I really just want to be in the ensemble," when deep down (actually, not that deep down) you knew you wanted a larger role. In the end, it was such a rush to see your name even on the cast list anyways.
6. Finally memorizing that one song/scene.
What a better feeling finishing a song or scene that you promised yourself you would probably never memorized. Your cast probably watched you struggle with it a bit, but you did it and felt a little badass after it.
7. First full show runs.
Oh yes. I said it. We even miss the oh-so dreaded first time runs. I'm looking at you, tech week rehearsals! The first time you run through the show with lights, sounds, costumes, hair, and makeup and you realize that you might have to fake your own death, just so you don't make a fool of yourself in front of an actual audience. At the end of the run, you were left wondering if your prior rehearsals had a meaning in the first place if the full run was this much of a train wreck.
8. Competitions.
For months and months we prepared for many different competitions. We thoroughly enjoyed watching our friends perform and cry at their final scores. We miss the endless moments of stress and high hopes of performing. It was the best few days of your school years each year, other than holiday breaks.
9. Drama Mamas & Papas
Theatre parents, this is for you. Whether your parents were active in your high school theatre days or not, they allowed us to slay the stage times and times. Like, that was so cool of them to let us be basically adopted by another family wait a second they got rid of us. Hmm, thank you, though!
10. Department outings!
After spending all day with each other at school and then at rehearsal, what is the best thing to do in your unusual spare time? Hang out with your theatre department even more, of course. Oh well, it wasn't like you wanted to do anything else? Homework, what?
11. Choreography rehearsals.
I'm going to make this short and simple, 99.9% of us had two left feet back then and probably still do now, but we made it work.
12. Our little family.
Yup, you saw this coming; the emotional part. What we all miss most is our little family that we held on tight to during our high school years. We miss our home in the theatre, our meals in the wings, and our "missing" bobby pins.
And that's 12 things you miss about high school theatre.
