As many of my friends know, I used to participate in my high school’s drama club. Every play (save for one) and every musical, I somehow participated in, whether in stage crew or as an actor. I spent days on end memorizing line after line, step after step of choreography, just for a gratifying one-two hours on-stage. It was a gruelling process, and yet nothing felt more rewarding than when the curtain opened and I saw a crowd full of people waiting to see the rest of the cast and I.
Of course, being an absolute theatre nerd, even if it was (mostly) just in high school, meant picking up certain habits and doing certain things that still haunt me today. Some more normal and some just completely strange -- here are five things that all former theatre geeks can relate to:
1. Hearing a certain tune and automatically getting flashbacks.
Whether good memories or bad, this certain tune just makes the flashbacks come flooding into your head. You remember every single lyric and line in the song, plus the people that sang it in your own musical back in the day. For me, these songs are usually related to the musicals “Annie,” “The Pajama Game,” or “Chicago.”
2. Oh, and those dance moves from it? Yeah, you still remember those, too.
And you probably start to break out in dance as soon as the song comes on, tbh (looking at you “All That Jazz”).
3. Seeing an old cast photo and getting sentimental.
Then scrolling through every single photo on all of the cast members’ Facebook's and Instagrams to relive the good ol’ days and make fun of the hair and makeup that they had everyone in.
4. Finding an old copy of a script and reading through all of it.
Including all the notes for blocking, pronunciation, and inflection….plus sometimes acting it out (don’t judge me, okay?). Sometimes, you just need the nostalgia!
5. And positively cringing through old videos and DVDs whenever your family and friends want to watch it again.
So many mistakes that you notice. Such a low budget for video and sound. IT HURTS ME.
Musicals and plays were stressful, don’t get me wrong, but those years are times that I would never trade for anything. I grew so much as a person. I gained friends and created bonds that I did not expect. Despite all of the free-time that I gave up of my life for months on end, the results were well-worth it, and I had the best time of my life.