A look at the week leading up to the school musical

Every year, the school musical is put on by Rob Albrecht, Eddie Nabring, and an amazing cast and crew of high school students. I was included in this cast as Milky White/Giant/Sleeping Beauty. There’s also a student pit, those who play the music for the show, who are incredibly talented. So what’s it like the week leading up to the musical?

Mondays are usually the messiest days of tech rehearsals; it’s the first day using all mics and having the pit play with the cast. There’s a lot of stopping and starting from missed lines or entrances, but mostly Nabring stopping to fix how the music lines up with the actions on stage. Almost everyone is hungry and didn’t do any homework, yet it’s still one of the most exciting rehearsals. Hearing the pit really gives the cast a boost of energy since they finally know what the songs will sound like and how beautiful the show truly is. It’s also one of the first times doing the show in full costume. This rehearsal always takes the longest, running from 6 pm-10:30 pm.

Tuesdays are a little less stressful than Mondays as people start to get better at their lines and entrances. There are still a lot of missed things, but it’s the first night of Albrecht’s notes about what to improve on. The show starts to take a shorter amount of time and some of the tech issues start to get fixed; there are still a lot of starts and stops occurring. The cast grows closer as time moves on, a lot of inside jokes start to form.

By Wednesday everything is getting much better. We still stop and start and miss things, but it’s starting to be crunch time. The cast is starting to feel like a second family since we spend every single night together. There’s way less notes from Albrecht too.

The musical finally feels almost perfect on Thursday, except for a few songs and a couple of little things. This is the last dress rehearsal there are usually a few people sitting in the audience, including some people taking pictures. The energy is high and the cast is excited to perform, knowing tomorrow will be opening night.

Friday and Saturday the cast has to be at the school by 5pm for the 7pm show. After a whirl of hair and makeup, mic checks and warm ups, it’s time to perform. The cast does all of their pre-show rituals to get out their jitters and the play starts. Backstage includes lots of lip syncing and dancing while waiting to go on stage, as well as pointing out everything we’ve done wrong so far, but that part doesn’t matter much to the cast who is just excited to be performing a show we’ve practiced so hard for.

Sunday is similar, only earlier and a lot sadder. It’s the senior’s last show and they hold back tears as they perform for the last time. After the show are senior speeches and tons of tears are shed for what seems like the end of the world. But reality hits as the whole cast and crew breaks down the set.

Into the Woods has been one of the closest casts and crews in a long time and we’re all going to miss each other. This is a group of the most talented people I have ever met and I encourage everyone to try out in the coming years!