Sing loud.
Keep your back straight.
Don’t look at your feet.
You move stage right, not stage left.
It’s step-ball-change not ball-change-step.
You’re que is before the beat, not on it.
Cheat out and never look upstage.
Memorize all of Act Two by Friday, no exceptions.

Instruction after instruction and command after command is what it takes to put on a production. Whether it be a production of Shakespeare or the newest and hottest musical out there, without the proper director, any show is doomed.

I’ve been doing theatre since I was in second grade, starting off with Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” playing Puck. Then I moved onto Annie, Grease (twice), The Wizard of Oz, Wicked, The Wiz (twice), Damn Yankees, Beauty and the Beast, Pandora’s Jar, Tommy, Come Together, and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Every time I meet new challenges that must be conquered, and every time it is a struggle. But there is no feeling that is even remotely comparable to opening night, when the curtains first fly open and the opening song starts. The feeling of being someone else for an hour or two. It’s irreplaceable.

Performing on stage is a hobby I’ve come to love, and it is a joy every time I open a new script to start highlighting my lines for later memorization. Each performance is a journey, and one that always ends too soon.