Singing Monologue

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.

I came into my audition only auditioning for the ensemble, leaving the audition I ended up receiving the titular role of Pippin. There was also a dance audition, where we were asked to learn the choreography to All that Jazz from the musical Chicago, this was a challenging experience because I have had no professional dance training but I ended up doing very well and responding well to the choreographer and her teachings. This whole process helped me to develop my confidence and social skills. The auditions were the most like professional auditions I’ve ever attended, and therefore allowed me to better understand what the real musical theatre industry is like and give me a taste of what it would be like if I continued onto large productions. I was very lucky to receive the lead role, as I didn’t even audition for it, despite not seeing this at the time. There was a long break between auditions and the beginning of rehearsals, almost three weeks. This seemed like a very long period of time due to not being able to tell any of my fellow cast mates that I had received a

I auditioned for my school's play Harvey freshman year. I worked intensively on my audition. Anticipation flooded my body when I heard the cast list was posted in auditorium days after the auditions. Immediately after my last period class, I dashed to the auditorium to look at the list and see what part I got. I scrutinized the list multiple times and didn't see my name. I felt incredible sadness, disappointment and embarrassment, but figured the director decided this because I was a freshman and did not know the school very well, and the upperclassmen were more experienced and deserving than I. So, I accepted my failure and decided to try again next year.

I thought I had it all down until that very moment. Its casting night for the middle school play. Me as an 8th grader went in pretty confident, and I was determined to get a part. Even though last year for me as a 7th grader didn't go quite well for me. I kept working hard for the next year, to make my skills better.

In my younger years I was highly involved in show choir and school productions. Any way I could get on stage and strut my stuff I would take it. My sixth grade year of elementary school, the year before I would make the massive leap into middle school, I decided I would perform in my final production. The play was Aladdin and I had my eye on the role for the Genie and I wanted this role so much. I practiced this role day and night from singing to dancing to even some impressions anything that would ensure my little mind that I would get the part.

To tell the truth, I didn’t want to audition. It was my brother, Landon, who actually forced me into the room to take the first step towards increasing my self-confidence, and expanding my horizons. I immediately felt welcome. It was as though I had known the people in the Nooksack Valley Drama Club for my entire life. They showed me what it meant to stand up for myself. I found my own voice both literally and metaphorically as an advocate for myself and any others who needed it. As I continued, the roles for which I auditioned increased in difficulty until I began to be cast in lead roles which were physically and emotionally challenging. Through these difficult roles, I came to love and value my drama family even more due to their continual support. They taught me the importance of patience, empathy, strong relationships, and of being

I joined crew and painted sets, worked the curtains, helped the prop master, and was a stage hand. I did not audition until the fall of my junior year for A Christmas Carol. I received the part of the Ghost of Christmas Future and caroler. Then in the spring I auditioned and was given the role of Emily Parrish in Phantom of the Soap Opera the Musical. I also started auditioning for shows at Muncie Civic Theatre and got into The Little Mermaid Jr. and Once on this Island Jr. both in which I was chorus. Each time I stepped on that stage I experienced the same thrill. The same rush of jittery ecstasy that I experienced for Romeo and Juliet. I was addicted.

I talked with both my parents to let them know that my teacher offered me the swing position for the (technical) varsity show choir. “What does swing mean”? My mom nor dad didn’t really understand what swing meant and it kinda turned the conversation into an explanation for about ten minutes. After about ten minutes, my mother continued talking.”That’s a very big honor, son, with you being a freshmen”. That made me feel even more proud of myself on the inside.”Did you ask about what you’ll have to do or when you go to practice for them” Said my mom.”No, I was so caught up with her offering it to me that I was racing to get home and tell you guys, and it was only 9 in the morning”. slowly realizing that there might be more in store for me once I said yes to the position and the position said yes to me. Vocal came along and before class started, I walked to my teacher to let her know I said yes to the offer.”Awesome” she said “But that means that you’ll have to stay in the show choir we’ve already put you in, and you’ll have to go to the practices for Trojanaires”. That’s when every responsibility hit me like a truck. “Cool, I can’t wait”. The only reason I agreed was because I had already said and if I backed out on the spot, then it would show Ms. Pool that I wasn’t prepared for the big spot in the future. This all happened on a Tuesday and I was set to start rehearsal on that

Being a part of that group gave me the opportunity to challenge myself with more difficult music, and the greater the vocal obstacle, the more I thrived. My choir teacher, Ms. Tippett, took notice of my passion for music and urged me to pursue it further. She pushed me to audition for choral festivals, urged me to try out for the school musical, gave me new responsibilities within the choir, and always knew I could accomplish whatever task she handed me. She nurtured my unending love of all things music and made me see that I really could do this, I could really follow music for the rest of my life. Music shaped me into the confident young woman I am today, and I can’t even begin to imagine how miserable my life would be if I pushed it to the sidelines.

One of the best things about humans is that we evolve. For better or for worse, people's personalities are not stagnant, and we change as we grow: gaining, loosing, and altering certain traits as we go through life. We adapt to situations by changing our environments and ourselves. Human's adapt; it's how we've lasted so long in a world that poses so many dangers to us. Music is one such adaption, though it ultimately depends on the song on whether or not the intent is a way to cope with outside factors of environments.

Surrounded by crowds of people sharing the same thought; are we really getting home today? Pepsi is too anxious. Vomiting all over himself and his new uniform. Sunshine lays into him, cussing and screaming. Laughter erupts! Growing rowdier as Doc yells “No matter what don’t stop us now, I’ll fix him”. Close knit groups of friends are scattered around having vivid discussions of the first thing they are going to do when they’re finally off. Grady chimes in on a conversation with his deep southern accent trying to imitate his favorite musician, DJ Screw saying “Man shiiitttt first thing I’m going to do is grab me a bottle, some shrimp, and sit my ass in the tub”. Craw Daddy can’t help but tease Grady, by reminding him to lay off the alcohol

I felt like I worked so hard to make district, yet I still wasn’t able to. But, I knew with more effort and practice, I would make it. I was right, after getting a brand new flute, and working diligently, I was able to go from not making district, to scoring 95.5 points and sitting third chair for the flutes in my district. The moment I found out I made it, and what chair I was, was a moment I’ll never forget. That moment, was when I knew this was something I want to do for the rest of my life. I knew that I wanted to be a world renowned flute player and to play with some of the greatest musicians alive. I knew in that moment, that I wanted to be the orchestra playing in my favorite movie or video game. I knew I wanted to satisfy all the dreams I had as a kid. Without music or my instrument, I wouldn’t know my purpose in life, nor would I have a story to tel. Without music, I wouldn’t have a legacy, or a beautiful representation of who I

I had to practice audition songs and study my monologues relentlessly. I remember the first time that he really pushed me out of my comfort zone when I was cast as Ellerd in The Foreigner my freshman year. My director sat me down and had a candid talk with me, “Hey, this is a big role for a little person like you. I’m going to be hard on you because if you want these kinds of roles, this is where it will begin.” This was an instant wake up call. Opening night reared its ugly head, and everyone was going through their pre-show routine. As I was getting miced up, my director found me and had another one of his famous talks, “This is a big night for you, your first big role. I want you to know that I’m going to be your biggest cheerleader out there tonight. But these past few weeks rehearsing and practicing are finally going to pay off. And I want you to know that your performance tonight will show me if you are ready for the big leagues next year. So don’t be nervous, you’ll do great.” As I was entranced by his words, it finally hit me: he wants me to be in the future productions. He must really see me as an asset to the theater department. Maybe the stage is where I belong. Maybe I’ll really blow his mind with this performance, and that's exactly what I did. I nailed every line, the dialogue flowing out of me, almost like there was no script. As we finished our curtain call, we all stumbled off the stage to meet our audience for autographs and the occasional picture, but as I was leaving to greet my fans, my director stopped me with the biggest grin on his face. He explained how proud he was. I showed him exactly what he wanted.. Because of that performance, Mr. Nesseth saw me in a whole new way that gave me confidence and the foundation for greater

In my eighth grade year at Sierra Middle School Ms. Anderson, the drama teacher, announced that our school would be performing the musical “Oklahoma.” Although I had never seen the musical, I knew that it was widely known, and I had a lot of enthusiasm. Auditions finally rolled around, and I auditioned for the three female ‘leads’ (truly the lead is different depending on how each of the parts are portrayed): Laurey, Ado Annie and Aunt Eller. After almost three days of stressful waiting I grabbed my friend

This is a black, black ski mask song So put all of your anger on In the truly gruesome do we trust I will always land on you like a sucker punch Singing I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare If you knew, knew what the bluebirds sang at you, You would never sing along Cast them out cause this is our culture These new flocks are nothing but vultures