The Band Director Monologue

The rain had just stopped pouring, and we had all gathered in a park nearby, as a makeshift memorial for Johnny. It wasn’t really a funeral, we didn’t have the budget for that, and it wasn’t like his parents cared enough to give him a proper goodbye.

I could smell English Leather shaving lotion and stale tobacco, and I wondered foolishly if I would suffocate before they did anything.

I went to acting workshops to perfect my monologue for my audition. After I auditioned, the director commented on my improvement; I felt acknowledged and that maybe I would get a part. When the cast list was posted, I again dashed to it and scanned it. It took no time for my eyes to catch the sight of my name, "Shyanne Leon" written on the cast list. I was casted as "fairy" and had no lines. I felt irrelevant to the production, but I did not want to take my part for granted so I stuck with it. It was a great experience, but I could not help but wonder why I got such a small part when the director said I had improved, and I began to doubt my acting

It all started at the end of last summer. I'm the Drum Major of my school’s band, and for that reason, I was the most nervous I had ever been in my life. At any one point, there were over 150 people watching my every move, and it was nerve-racking. Last summer, they watched me through the hardest time of my entire life. I was given the position in April, but until August, it was essentially just a title.

There I stood a short, chubby eleven year old boy ready to take on the world of professional theatre. Looking back now I realize that I had no clue what I was getting myself into, but at the time I thought of myself as “Broadway Ready.” As I wandered through the densely packed hallways I would brush past all of the equity actors, they would smile at me or make comments such as

It all started in 1st grade at recess. The bell rang and Stacy and I both ran to the swings. We both got on and swung as high as we could. I looked over and saw Gavin.

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.

Up in the club, just broke up I'm doing my own little thing You decided to dip and now you wanna trip 'Cause another brother noticed me I'm up on him, he up on me Don't pay him any attention 'Cause I cried my tears for three good years

at the window seat and the sun was hot. I didn't listen to music or read. I jsut talked to My. We got home and it was hot a ever. I ate Cherry Gacia ice cream and Hot Cheetos. I then watched Blue Bloods. It was about a cop who got shot and died. They found the gang,but he had his own secret that was cheating on his wife. It turned out he was an under cover cop pretending to date a gang girl,but his wife was drunk and called the number. The next day the cop got killed since the gang knew it was a cop. Then I typed my day an edit my older entries. Now its 4:00.I then watched another Blue Bloods. It was about this girl who took suicide and this woman and man who wants to get married,but the daughters dad refuses their marriage. The marragie was a cover up because thw guy was gay,the got married anyways.

Now that I could see beyond the audition, I remembered why I had wanted to be in the ensemble in the first place, and I desperately wanted to know if I had made the cut. After what seemed like endless waiting, Mrs. Vermillion finally posted the list. My eyes immediately went to the Soprano column. When I saw my name, I hardly dared believe it. Slowly, the realization that this was not some mistake began to sink in. It was the most incredible feeling in the world, like I could have flown if I wanted to.

Even when I was young I loved Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie. I loved reading about the pioneers and settlers. It's always been a side interest of mine. So when I heard When Calls the Heart came to Vancouver, I remember putting that on my radar and thinking that's a show I would be interested in. I got asked to audition for the role of Julie Thatcher, and that went really well! It was looking like I would potentially be playing this role. I went to network for it. Then I was asked to dye my hair, so I kind of assumed "Great! I'll play Elizabeth's sister!" At the last minute it fell apart and someone else was cast. I guess they remember me though, and the role of Faith popped up towards the end of the second season and my name was thrown out for that. I was actually out of town, but they asked me to put some Faith scenes on tape, which I did. I shot them in terrible lighting with just my laptop camera. I actually found them a couple weeks ago, and I've considered releasing them, but they're just so bad! (Laughs) So I threw it together quickly and sent it to my agent. I sort of forgot about it, because as far as I was concerned, the better role was to play Elizabeth's sister. Then I found out I had

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.

Over the past 3 years at Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School I've been able to blossom into a culture of music and theater. I started choir in 6th grade, along side doing that years musical. Music and theater weren't new to me at that point, for I knew what it's like to dance to loud music in my room, and what it's like to sit through musicals and plays my older sisters did. And I was eager to star in my own musicals and concerts. That’s when "Shakespeare Comes to Calamity Creek" showed me what it's like to be in a performance, and how much work it takes outside of it. That it takes more than just the time at rehearsal to make a show great. How it takes a couple of hours just to remember lines, or how it takes a couple of rehearsals to really get

At 2:45 on the first Monday of freshman year a crowd gathered around the little theater. There were hugs, high-fives, congratulations, and tears ripping through the crowd. Someone new would join and the interactions would start all over again. It was the cast list.

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