This semester, my theatre company’s production is a revival of a 1970s Broadway show, Pippin.  It’s really a weird show. It truly is, but once you get over the strangeness of it all, the music is amazing, and the choreography is shockingly complex and controlled. I’m having such a fun time with this show, and though I know it’s a show that you either love or hate (cough cough, Aunt Rachel) I definitely love it. 

I was selected again this year to be a DPAC Showstopper, and I’m so excited for this season’s shows! With such well-known shows as Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Mamma Mia! and Hadestown, DPAC is sure to have an amazing season, and I can’t wait to see all these shows and more for myself. Wicked was actually the first show I ever saw at DPAC, about four years ago—that amazing experience regenerated my love of musical theatre, and made me sign up for my first performance at my acting studio! 

But this year, I’m taking my love of theatre beyond simply watching shows at DPAC or performing onstage with my theatre company; I’m honing my craft with classes in voice,  acting, dance, and preparing for future college auditions! 

I’ll be continuing voice lessons with my vocal coach, Lisa Blair-Hawkins, who’s helped me open up my range and was the person to figure out that my range is more of a true soprano than a mezzo! My voice has gotten so much stronger and reliable with the exercises she’s taught me, and I’ve learned so much about my voice and what kinds of pieces I really love singing.

At the end of the summer, my voice teacher invited some of her students to participate in a master class with Quin Gordon, the acting head at UNCSA.  It was such an amazing opportunity to learn from an expert! I was getting over a summer cold, so I couldn’t sing or perform a monologue–but I was able to listen to everyone else’s monologues and songs. I have around six pages of copious notes from that masterclass!  Mr. Gordon gave advice on everything from song choices to the writing of monologues. While knowing the musical or play your cut is from might seem obvious, he says it’s much rarer than you’d think. He shared that people often tend to find a cut that suits their voice and has good acting range without thinking of the context of the piece. I was so grateful to have been able to participate in this  masterclass! 

This fall, I’m going even further with preparation at Theatre Raleigh’s BFA Prep Musical Theatre Class. The teachers have both been on Broadway, and were trained at two of the top performing arts schools in the country! In the most recent class, we learned how to dissect a song for its full acting capability, practiced “cold reads” which is performing a scene or monologue for the first time without ever seeing it before, and had a mini-lesson on how to use your voice in different ways to emphasize words. The program also includes a dance class, which I love so far. We learn a new combination from a musical every week, which gives us the chance to learn dozens of new techniques and then go back in later in the session to hone those specific moves we individually gravitate towards. The class will end with a showcase/mock audition in December, with faculty from Elon and other performing arts schools watching our performances and offering feedback so we can be better prepared for the real deal!