Personal Narrative: How Musicals Affected My Life

I was on the verge of tears. Everything was so overwhelming, and I was having a terrible day. I took a deep breath, pushing down the ball of anxiety in my chest and blinking away the stinging behind my eyes. A moment later, those same feelings returned, as bad as ever. I have never been very good at pushing away or bottling up my feelings, and this time was no exception. Realizing I had no chance of making myself feel better before going to my singing lesson, I settled for simply holding back the tears, letting my other emotions run free, bringing physical pain to my chest.

Orchestra has always been one of my favorite classes to go to during the day. After choosing to play the cello in middle school, I continued playing the instrument in high school. It was in this class that I had made most of my closest friends, many of whom I still love to this day. I also loved how the rich deep tones that came from playing each note of the cello and how they were able to blend with the rest of the orchestra. I knew from my freshmen year that I wanted to get into the top class, Chamber Orchestra. I thought that I would have done everything in my power to get into the class, however when the time came I could not even bring myself to audition.

My whole life changed on October 29 of 2012. Before this date, I was just practicing hard like any other dancer would. Two days a week and two hours a day, sweat, sore muscles, and all my work poured into my dancing. Dancing provides knowledge, emotion and dedication. Recognizing that I have built that from when I was young is a huge feeling of accomplishment, like the first time riding a bike without training wheels.

The musical Hamilton took the world by storm when it was performed in 2015 on stage at the Richard Rogers theater in New York City. I had heard about it many times from my friends and I had been to many musicals, but I didn’t really have enough interest to check it out. All that changed when I saw Lin-Manuel Miranda and the entire broadway cast perform at the 2015 Grammy awards in March. After seeing the highly engaging and energetic cast singing and dancing about one of the lesser known founding fathers I thought, “Hey! This looks cool.” Now eight months later I have memorized every song and line of the entire musical. One of the many amazing things about Hamilton is that it’s all about a man who literally started from the bottom and fought his way to the top.

I began screaming my head off, ultimately waking up my entire household. I can remember the beating of my heart, sweaty palms and shaky voice. Reality then began to sink in that the musical would be on my shoulders. In that moment I began to doubt myself. I only had the experience of two plays and being in the ensemble of a musical. Could I do this? And even so how did come they chose someone like me? A million negative thoughts began running through my head, and looking back, those thoughts motivated me to work my hardest in order to prove that I belonged. Taking that last bow on the transformed stage changed my life

“Emily stop! There is something on your back and head. Wait, why is there blood dripping down your back!?”

With what felt like one of the first true days of summer, with a warm breeze and the subtle and nostalgic scent of bonfire wafting through the air, I made my way into Stevenson High School. Once I entered, I quickly purchased one ticket (which was a pamphlet) for The Spring Orchestra Concert. It felt a tad bit bizarre to be as excited as i was for this particular concert, but there were a few contributing factors: My dear friend Josh Maj was playing the Cello tonight, and I desperately wanted to see the musicians perform “Gauntlet” which is a classical piece that we at Homadeco frequently use in our productions. My acquaintances and I quickly took our seats, and soon right after the prelude pieces had begun. I didn’t know what to expect in

Jazz music can be performed in many different venues and setting. It can be performed in public place including indoor jazz clubs and outdoor jazz festival. When people are attending indoor concert setting jazz performance, it is good to expect a western classical because it considered well-mannered cheering after the artist completed improvised solo. Moreover, it is also acceptable among musicians.

I always loved to try new things. Especially things to do with music. I was fascinated by how much concentration, skill, and practice it took to play them. That’s probably why I took up the trumpet. It was the right sound at the time for me. But, I wasn’t done there. I had to learn more. Playing every song I know is a minimum. But, ya know, sometimes that just isn’t possible at the moment.

West Side Story is one of the most influential musicals of all time. It's integration of dance and song into the plot was very innovative, because even though it had been done before, it had never been done this well.

“William, it’s your lesson today, start practicing! I’m paying for you to learn violin, not to waste time playing with Rubik’s cubes!” This used to be a common occurrence on Wednesday’s, the day of my violin lesson. My mom would screech at me to start practicing, and I would wave her off and pretend to practice for twenty minutes.

I could tell a story about how music has shaped my life and has became a necessity in my life. I could explain the importance of my religion and how it has transformed me into a better person. I could mention the fact that I have ADD and because of that I learned how to work hard. I could express my love of cooking, adventure, travel, literature, nutrition, and science, and the list could continue. However, I will not use any of those ideas that have been overused, I shall a tell of what some people may think to be an idea of make believe, but for me is a reality: superpowers. I happen to be gifted with the talent of being a Psychic, and i am especially lucky with the fact that this gene is recessive and both my parents have the non superpower dominant gene. The only downfall to this is knowing that other

Whenever I was sad, irrational, stressed or overjoyed, music was my escape. Since I was

I started working at the theatre company when I was 8 years old as an Assistant Stage Manager and continued to work there until I left high school. I worked mostly with the logistics side of getting a live performance up and running as well as dealing with props and set pieces. I also worked as an intern and helped organize all of the archival footage for the theatre. I also spent time writing press releases and working on building the

The American Alliance for Theater and Education wrote, "Playwriting original works and dramatic presentation of existing works can help to build the self-esteem and communication skills of high school students. The act of performing can help students and youth recognize their potential for success and improve their confidence.”(par. 20-21) Walking into my first theater class was a ghostly intimidating experience. I was surrounded by people who had a minimum of three years of experience over myself.Theater changed my life. Although the realization took me some time, I recognized I was original. Theater became my voice without speaking, which unlocked, and opened the door to directing and other great opportunities. In the world of theater, in the arts period, a thousand people could receive the same training and you could still distinguish one person’s uniqueness from the other. No other person carries my power of the pen because we don’t think the same. Although we may have like thoughts, the our thought processes differ. With proper time and theatrical training I allowed my hobby to blossom.