The Power of Theater
Actors should always be aware of their surroundings, especially for their safety. For as long as I remember I have always loved being out in front of the many small dots setting in the dark auditorium with the bright stage lights shining down on me. I love to get out there and sing or act my heart out no matter what the cost is, but my last year in high school I developed a problem of falling off the stage or risers.
It all started out as getting a part in the musical called “Honk,” it was a musical based on the story of the ugly duckling, and the barn yard animals on the farm he lives on. I was cast as a young girls voice who threw a ball at the cat when he tried to eat the ugly duckling and Bewick the swan who had beautiful white feathers and was the little sister of the swan Penny, who in away saves the ugly duckling. It was one of my favorite musicals to have performed in. My little problem started about three days into the rehearsals of this barn yard animal frenzy. We were blocking the first couple of scenes and when we first blocked it they had me standing on a set of risers doing this kind of funny little chicken dance. We had to walk around moving our heads like funky chickens and strut around like we had a stick up our butts. Then we had to end up doing some type of Charleston type dance step. If you have ever stood on a riser you would know that you don’t have that much room to event take one step in front of you without falling off and the rule of the stage is to make it big.
The director kept getting angry with me because I wouldn’t make my moves as big as the other actors. I thought to myself “If I try to make it that big I will fall off these risers.” After a few times of getting yelled and a few times of my part being threatened to be taken away, I told the director “I know that you are the director and all but do you think we could block this different because if I do what you want me to I will fall off the...