Personal Narrative: Corner Health Center Theatre Troupe

As I arrived to the theater, many memories came flooding back to my mind of my times being on stage. But that day was not another day on stage; it was a day in the audience. I was at the theater to help Impact Dance Theater with their winter show. When I walked into the lobby, I saw my teacher and the others standing around waiting to be told what to do. About the time I walked to them another volunteer came over as well. “Today you guys will be ushers” the volunteer said “I need some of you to scan tickets and some to hand out programs.” I was one of usher's who would be scanning tickets. We waited about another 20 minutes in the lobby before told where we would be at. The manager of the theater walked over to us with a pleasant smile. “Thank you so much” she stated “We will go over the rules the theater has and then I will tell you where to go.” Once she told us the rules and where we would be, we received our usher badges and when on our way.

I was reluctant in joining the Academy because I was nervous that I wouldn’t get in. But precisely the period before my scheduled audition a ‘frienemy’ encouraged me to try out. I built the courage to walk through the audition doors and left being placed in the intermediate level; which was quite an accomplishment. Since then I have now achieved in reaching the Advance Level of the academy! My favorite memory in the academy is when my second and third period took our first trip to the Manhattan Theater Club in New York City. This trip aided tremendously in team-building and my skills of theater analysis. I am so grateful that I took the plunge and faced my fears because the Performing Arts Academy and Mrs. Baur have made me realize that my true dreams are to become an actor. The Performing Arts floor is a safe haven for many including myself, the people can drive you crazy but that's exactly what families do.

The dramatic arts have enthralled me from an early age; I have always been in awe of the deceptive ability that professional actors are able to display on the big screen. This fascination inspired me to dream of becoming an actor for much of my early life. I began trying out for television advertisements at the age of four until I turned seven. Eventually, after a string of unsuccessful auditions, my parents told me to accept the fact that I had as much of a chance of becoming a successful actor as I had of becoming a professional basketball player (my mom is 5’4’’ and my dad is 5’8’’.) Regardless, I continued to pursue my dream of acting throughout middle school, auditioning for an inordinate number of school plays and operas. Confronted with

Before joining theatre as a freshman, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I stuck to the background and did my best to avoid being noticed, as I had done for the last few years before high school. It wasn’t enjoyable, and I am not entirely sure why I did this in the first place. I had planned on keeping to myself for my entire high school career, that is, until I joined Theatre.

It is said that you never forget your first. Well, I certainly will never forget the first play I performed in. The rush of excitement and the heat from the lights upon the stage will never escape my memory. The Three Penny Opera was the first play I performed in and I don’t mean to sound dramatic or cliché but, that experience changed my life forever. I discovered a new part of myself. A part of me that is not afraid to speak, nor is she afraid to try new things. As a result of this experience, my entire identity changed. I grew to understand that I do not have to be afraid to speak up, nor do I have to be afraid of change.

I began by practicing my words each day so I wouldn't stutter, consuming small foods now and then, and slowly picked up the passion I had for acting again. If I wouldn't let a friend or my parent take away theatre from my lengthy and calloused hands, then why let anxiety ruin it for me? Presenting for the class was a never ending minute for my mind. With my forehead drenched of sweat, I would tremble, and I never have been able to get the words to leave my dry mouth. I can’t let my emotions drown me, I taught myself that I was going to be okay, and left the supportive voice in my head talk. At the end of each day, I was drained of energy, I never got the correct amount of calories a child should get. My stomach would punch the surrounding organs and the growl that escaped from it, bounced around the classroom walls, and it was all because of how frightening it was for me to bite down on a few chips around everyone else. I felt as if I stared death in the eye every time I placed a sandwich in my hand but I knew not to leave myself to starve for the sake of others. Have you ever seen a heart monitor

I did not grow up to be outgoing instead I found myself feeling more alone in a crowd than I did when by myself. These social encounters made me stressed and paranoid of doing something wrong. The person I became overshadowed the outgoing person that I wanted to be. I was disappointing myself which is a very unhealthy

I am commonly shy in public and need to get out more. My mother tells me to show who I am because according to her, “I’m a happy ray of sunshine that makes our family laugh”. Occasionally, at school, I don’t talk much unless I’m right by my best friend. We had a field trip, and the teachers were startled to see how I really acted because I was silly and talkative. My teachers told me they enjoyed seeing that side of me.  The next day at school, I was reticent again, and they were wondering why I don’t talk at school. It’s okay to be shy, but sometimes I know I feel happier when I let people see other sides of me. My advice; don’t be afraid to let your personality shine. Most likely people will love it. Truly show who you are. People may judge you, and they may say things behind your back, but just ignore them. They don’t know who you are, and you need to show who you really

Most of you probably don’t know this, but I have a very large love of theatre. It seems like a stretch seeing as I’m most likely shaking while reading this right now; however theatre has been a part of my life for a large portion of it, eight years to be exact. The idea of taking on the persona of someone else gives me a rush of excitement only few things can. I have done multiple shows in that time: A Christmas carol, Hairspray, The Wizard of Oz, Greater Tuna, The 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Most of these shows took place on the same stage in the Hillcrest High School Theater. This stage has special meaning to me as it is where I met a large number of my friends, it is where I met my girlfriend,

The story of my life up until now would consist of me always performing as a child; I always told myself and others that I was born to perform. Even in the womb, I must have been just waiting to come out, to burst onto the world's stage doing a tap time step going hop, step, falap, step, shuffle, hop, step, falap, step. Entertaining others when I'm on stage gives my body an unearthly feeling of contentment, joy, and most of all love. However, it took me awhile and a few tries to figure out how to actually achieve my goal of becoming a musical theatre performer and knowing the steps to further my education in the craft. With my education from Holy Cross High School and my training at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) I have learned

I’ve never thought of trying to perform. I’d always try to stick to what I knew; where I couldn’t mess up. I kept my interests solely in cooking and music. I’ve joined clubs that didn't require me to be the focus of much. As opposed to my previous years in school, change was needed. I became frustrated and grew weary of worrying about how others would perceive me if I made mistakes. I wanted to be able to be the focus of attention without worrying about others. Along with this frustration came the thought of change; pushing myself to do things I wouldn’t necessarily want to because of others. I then decided to join my drama club to put myself out there and allow room for expression.

One of the significant challenges I faced is participating the school production. This was the first production I worked with and entirely introduced to performing arts. Participating at the school production requires full commitment and great responsibility. At first, this was a nerve-racking and frightening experience as I have no confidence performing in public. Eventually, the production has helped me conquer my fears, be more confident and learnt numerous of skills.

Let me start by saying: my whole life I have been fascinated by a big empty theatre. Something about the way an auditorium felt just sent chills up my spine. I’ve always wanted to be center of attention, and I’ve always wanted to have my big moment. In high school, I threw myself into theatre, and by my sophomore year and third show, I finally not only got a big role, but the one I wanted. Becoming Louann Bates from the play Book Of Days truly did change my life. I had started to have doubts about myself as an actor from the lack of roles I was receiving, which really shook my confidence in the rest of my life. Acting is all I like to do, it’s the one thing I really love. When I tried out for Book Of Days, all of my friends told me they could

At nine years old I was hopelessly uncoordinated and woefully socially inept, a product of my Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD. I had a unique brain and was often described as ‘bright but quiet.’ My teachers and parents had no idea what to do with me, I failed at every sport attempted and had no discernable artistic talent. I was an unlikely candidate for theatre, different from the graceful dancers and extroverted actors I was surrounded by. But theatre gave me things that no doctor, teacher or therapist could. Through theatre I, though at a slower pace than my peers, came to understand humans. After countless hours of rehearsal and lessons on character development, I slowly learned what each facial expression meant and how body language signaled another

Growing up I was a quiet and shy. I kept to myself a lot, and only had a handful of good friends. I had good parents who always supported me and encouraged getting out of my comfort zones. After a year of college, I was married and started life as a married woman. Even at the age of 20 with a brand-new baby I still struggled with being shy and quiet. I was happier being at home with my family than out in big groups of people. My husband and family continued to encourage me to get out and make new friends. I had a couple of people in my life that I could call friends and that was all I needed. I could not have predicted what would come next...