Being involved with theatre for most of my 19 years on planet earth, I know all too well the amount of secrecy involved when it comes to performing and working with such a close knit group of people.... one might say it's a little bit dramatic.
1. Audition week is equivalent to the purge.
Nobody is safe on audition day. When you step foot into that theater you better not even dare to converse with even your very best friend. You better not even dream of telling anyone which part you are going for. Friends of 10+ years become serious competition. Whoever said theater isn't a contact sport clearly never sat through a high school audition week.
2. Cast list day is either Christmas morning or a nightmare you can't wake up from, and there's no in between.
You busted your ass all week at auditions that last all afternoon and even into the night sometimes to wake up to the cast list on Friday morning. When you run to the list you either cry tears of joy or you cry and contemplate your entire life and existence because you didn't get cast in a part that 45 other girls auditioned for.
3. Your cast mates become your family.
You see each other all day during school, just to spend five more hours with them each night at rehearsal. You drink countless cups of coffee with them at the local spot and memorize harmonies, dances, lines and blocking. Then one day you look up, and realize that you spent 10 hours with these people and like five hours with your actual family. But, somehow that's OK.
4. Your directors slowly become your parents.
One day you sit down at the table and talk to your (actual) parents about grades, friends and relationship problems and then without much time you find yourself eating pizza with your directors at 8 p.m. on a Thursday talking about your date that Friday or how you did on your chemistry test that day.
5. It's not just a song or a dance, this is life or death.
It is suddenly unacceptable to sing a note a little bit flat, and it is definitely not OK to just read lines. Yes, we are going to the sing the song for the 20th time. And we are going to sing it until it's perfect. It's not Broadway, but it's Broadway.
6. This is my fourth cup of coffee today.
Never judge -- if you see a theater kid with four coffees in hand drinking two at a time from Starbucks, it is all relative.
7. "Drama"
"Sally and Joe broke up." "Oh my god I can't believe she skipped rehearsal, why isn't she committed?" "Sarah has to kiss Bob in this show, that's so awkward." The drama within drama doesn't end. Sometimes I wonder if my life is a soap opera.
8. PSD
I'm talking about post-show depression. You work on a show for about four months everyday, and then all of a sudden you don't know what to do. You lose yourself. Oh, I can go home and take a nap after school? But what if I don't want to?
9. Hell week
It's Sunday before the week your show goes up, you better pack your cooler full of snacks and water and bring in your sleeping bag and pillow because you are not leaving that theater. You better tell your parents not to wait up, because you might be in the theater til 11 p.m. on a Tuesday. Don't even think about complaining about your 10-minute dinner break.
10. Love of the "hobby."
I can't even put into words the feeling that being under the lights with the audience clapping and cheering brings. All your hard work, all your long nights all the stress crying, drinking caffeine and eating french fries for a week is worth it. It's all for the love of the "hobby."
We all know, it's not just a hobby.
Thanks to our theatre families wherever they are in life, the memories and community are like nothing else.
