Following the Yellow Brick Road

Cast list day. We all know the feeling. Speed-walking into school, palms sweaty, knowing a piece of paper ominously posted in the music wing will determine your fate for the next few months spent at rehearsal.

Okay, maybe some of us don’t exactly know the feeling. Myself included. Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure where exactly the music wing was before I decided to try out for the school musical for the first time this year.

I’ve never been in a high school play. Some of you may be wondering why I’m pretending like I don’t know anything about theater because you remember me from my breakthrough role: third tentacle to the left in the children’s production of “Little Mermaid.” I made the difficult decision to retire from show business shortly after, due
to excessive arm soreness from holding up a tentacle five times my size three nights in a row. I loved being on stage when I was little, even if I was mostly used as structural support.

Coming into high school, none of my friends were interested in theater. It never really crossed my mind to join a school play, especially since I was sure I would feel out of place. I always thought it looked fun to perform, but walking into something alone felt intimidating. I was pretty sure my days of being on stage were behind me, preserved on my mother’s Facebook page for the rest of time.

That is, until my friend mentioned something about how the musical looked fun this year: “The Wizard of Oz” – how could I say no? I jumped at the opportunity. Three of us signed up to audition the next day (after I applied a completely reasonable amount of peer pressure). I decided that if I was going to do this, I was going to commit to giving it my all, knowing my acting experience was limited. Therefore, when my friends with no theater background decided they didn’t actually want to commit to the musical, I decided to stick with it.

For the better part of the next week, I found myself listening to the “Wizard of Oz” soundtrack on the way to school and forcing my friends to run lines with me at lunch. Although I may have gotten some sideward glances singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” down the school hallway, I was excited to embark on my theater journey.

Before I knew it, I found myself walking down the hallway on the way to my audition in the music wing. When I got to the lobby, all I could hear was extremely on pitch vocal warm ups. While I quietly considered making a run for it out to my car and postponing my audition so I could frantically research “how to warm up your vocal chords effectively” on Youtube, I heard my name followed by a cheerful, unavoidable, “follow me.”

When I got into the audition room, I panicked. Unfortunately, being the third tentacle to the left in middle school had not fully prepared me to audition for Glinda. In my previous role, I was asked to dress in all black and wear a hood to try to ensure I could not be seen by the audience (as leads in musicals are often asked to do). As Glinda, subtle invisibility was not exactly a part of the job description. To my surprise, I made it through my entire audition without passing out.

The next Monday I nervously walked through the music hallway, ready to see my name pasted next to “Foundational Brick of the Yellow Brick Road.” To my utter shock, staring back at me in bold letters was the name “Glinda.”

I told my friends, who quickly checked to make sure I read it right, then congratulated me.

The next day, we began rehearsals. I was handed a script for the first time as my past roles (oddly enough) never required me to learn any lines. Walking into that audition room, I was completely out of my comfort zone. Rehearsals are no different. Warm ups are nothing like any sport I’ve ever played. Instead of stretching, we practice diction and fluid acting. Instead of studying film, we read the script to come up with creative ideas about our character’s backstory.

Although I still feel out of place sometimes, I’m so grateful that I chose to commit to something new. In every part of
the process, the group of people who have been in the musicals for the past few years encouraged me. Nobody laughed at me when I messed up, or cared that I was new(ish) to show business.

Trying out for the musical and committing to rehearsal every day was never something I saw myself doing in high school, but it reminded me that I should never rule something out just because it’s outside my comfort zone. Although I’m still terrified to sing and act in front of my peers who seem to have zero stage fright, I’m having so much fun getting to know people I hadn’t talked to before and trying something unlike any other experience I’ve had at ELHS. I would highly recommend trying something that looks fun, even if it’s out of your comfort zone. It doesn’t have to involve buying a magic wand and wearing a tiara, but for me, it’s an added bonus.