Being in a musical can be a magical experience. A stressful, exhausting, painfully magical experience. Some enjoy it more than others, and I’ll admit there are days when you question why you ever auditioned. But in the end, it’s a wonderfully rewarding and exciting thing to be in a musical. And it’s often the good memories that stay with you forever. So here’s a brief overview of what it’s like to be in a musical.
The Audition
You find the perfect song to sing, then change it because it wasn’t as perfect as you thought. You find sheet music because there’s no way you’re going to risk singing acapella (nerves will do crazy things to your voice). You show up and instantly compare yourself to the others auditioning. You fill out the audition form (special skills? Umm does widdling count? How about ditch digging? Paper snowflake making??) and then watch everyone else audition. Of course everyone seems infinitely better than you but just as you think about leaving, your name is called. Slowly you make your way up to the stage. Stating your name clearly, you smile as unfakely as possible. Then you begin. You sing your heart out, try not to get discouraged when only two people laugh at your comedic monologue, and end with a stirring cold reading while trying to hide how much the paper in your hand is shaking. You make your way offstage with the appearance of confidence, but on the inside you’re just relieved it’s over.
The Read Through
Whether you’re a main role or three different characters in the ensemble, the read through is always exciting and important. This is where you determine how hands on the director is. This is where you pick out your friends, the people to avoid, your musical crush, your backstage buddy, and your go to (that one actor who always know exactly what’s happening and is good at everything). You sit at the table and flip through the script you just received. You start highlighting your lines as the director and anyone else involved or feels like lecturing, introduces themselves and gives a little speech. Finally you read through the script. Your excitement and eagerness to start rehearsals increases as the night goes on. This is going to be awesome. Or terrible. But probably awesome.
The Music Rehearsals
“Sing wet, pee clear!” “You’re a mob not a choir! Sing angrily!” “ENUNCIATE!!! Where are your consonants?” These are just a few phrases you will hear your music director utter (or shout). You learn there are about a thousand ways to sing a single line, how and when to breathe, and will have memorized fifteen different sung tongue twisters. You go through two water bottles a night and you music is marked up with notes, circles, and scribbles. But you get to sing loud and strong without your neighbors/roommates yelling at you to shut up! You get lost at times but just wing it and follow the person next to you. If you’re lucky your music director is totally awesome and normal. But more likely they’re weird and/or contradict themselves and/or say the most ridiculous things. But it all adds to the experience.
Scene rehearsals
No matter how much you study your lines, as soon as you go through the scene onstage you forget everything. You call “line!” every two minutes or so while pulling blocking out of your butt until your director changes it three times. If you have a small role you most likely will spend 2/3 of the rehearsal waiting for your turn to say your one line. But until it’s your turn, you have to sit down and stay quiet or risk the director (or worse, the stage manager) yelling at you.
Outside rehearsals
You practice. “EVERYDAY! Just 15 minutes a day! You gotta practice!” as your director probably says. So you practice. In front of your bathroom mirror, in your bedroom, in the car, in the grocery store, standing in line for tacos, doing the dishes, pretty much anywhere. Not just because you want to practice it (for you or your director) but also because the songs are stuck in your head. You’re constantly singing the songs under your breath (or, if you’re me, at a totally normal volume) in public, in private, anywhere at all really. And you beg and plead anyone who will listen to go over lines with you to help you memorize. Forget social life. In your spare time you’re in your room reciting monologues or tap dancing.
Hell week
There is a reason it’s called “Hell Week.” This is the week of all the technical stuff. Run through with the set, costume parade, cue to cue, mics, lights, and any kind of technical aspect you can think of. Cue to cue is the absolute WORST for pretty much anyone involved. This is where you go through the ENTIRE show and pause for 2-30 minutes any time there is a change in the lighting to make sure it looks just right. It is essential to any musical, but just as painful.
Performance
Finally, what you’ve been waiting for, the performance. It’s incredibly exciting or nerve-wracking or both. You know the show both forward and back but having an audience changes everything. The show begins and you dive right into your performance. In almost any performance, something inevitably goes wrong. A missing prop, missed lines, late entrances, whatever it may be, you improvise and move forward, because as every actor knows, “the show must go on!” A gracious bow, a standing ovation and it’s over. You repeat a few more times and on closing night you have tears in your eyes. This whirlwind of practice, and rehearsal, and performance has come to an end. However terrible it might have seemed at times, you don’t regret if for a second. Musicals really are something special.
But let’s be honest, you’re glad it’s finally over. J
