School starts and so does it’s stress. Classes, clubs, sports, there’s tension growing in the heart of many students. This stress starts only two days after the school year itself as auditions for the fall musical Honk began Sept. 6. The auditioning process is two days long, the first being singing and the second day the dancing. Students were split between which of the two was the scariest. Senior Grant Camden and Freshman Scarlett Shuler were most nervous about the dancing. “When dancing I could make so many more mistakes than when I am singing,” Schuler said. The dancing portion is taught on the day of auditions and requires the students to be quick learners and work collaboratively with others. Sophomore Clare Drew’s agreed saying, she “wasn’t as prepared for it as singing.”
On the contrary, the singing portion is posted online in the summer, well before auditions, thus allowing students to memorize the different music practice the different music beforehand.
However, for some students that doesn’t reduce the anxiety of being alone on stage. “Singing was more scary than dance because with dance you at least do it with a group whereas when you sing, you’re alone and everyone is watching,” said Senior Elizabeth Short, who completed the open audition. The pressure of everyone watching is what made Sophomore Paige Fiedler nervous. “It is really easy for others to tell if you mess up!” Fiedler said. Another option for underclassmen, or anyone who is not as comfortable singing a solo in front of a crowd, is to request a closed audition with only the directors in the room. Junior Ella Kusina (also open audition) finds the singing to be the worst audition day as well but for a completely different reason. Kusina said that this is the case because “it’s what I’m better at so I am more perfectionistic with it.”
(Photo by Alana Banier).
Many of the actors at Milford High School have different levels of experience. For example, this will be Camden’s third musical, while Kusina states to have performed around 50, both in school and in many local theaters growing up. While the numbers vary, the nerves are the same for the majority of students. While Camden, Kusina, and Shuler all said they felt incredibly nervous, Short even went as far as to say, “I felt like I was going to throw up despite doing auditions numerous times for different events.” The smallest rating on a scale of one to ten was Fiedler and Drew, both rating their nerves to be around a five. Shuler, on the other hand, rated hers to be from a seven all the way up to a ten for some moments.
It’s important to note that the musical is not a small commitment by any means, it takes up just as much time, if not more, than the average sport. Choosing to audition means that the student is well aware of the time commitment and its impact on their fall free time. So if the experience is stressful and time consuming, why even go through this process? “Because the group of people are so nice and supportive,” said Short.
“You never really feel alone there.” Shuler started off her freshman year by joining the musical because “You can me
et so many new people… I joined the musical to find what I am good at, what I enjoy, and to just have fun!” Fiedler, Drew, and Camden also mentioned the social benefits of joining theater. The musical allows people to build a community in which to grow and be comfortable. When enough time is spent in the Performing Arts Center (PAC), it becomes a second home.
The rehearsal process contains three different sections; learning the music with vocal teacher Brittany Miller in the choir room, staging the scenes with Director Megan Weeks, and learning the choreography with local choreographer Suzanne Jonna. After about a month, the three parts combine and the company will start running acts and then the entire show itself, slowly adding bits and pieces along the way. With auditions and stress out of the way, the only thing to do is to tell the actors to “break a leg!” for the 2024 fall musical Honk!