ROLLING Dylan Brown
In Last Two Weeks of A Musical In our school, The Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush, there are many artistic students. The talent pool here is unbelievable. Our shows have high attendance to showcase the student’s work, and more than parents and relatives buy tickets. Many of the students do cross discipline activities. Dancers can be drawers, and singers can be play writes, and one particular annual event at our school brings us all together. The school musical each year has hours and hours of work poured into it before it hits the stage. All majors are represented, in the singing, the backdrops, the props, the music, and the acting, of course. Students from each major come and participate, and no lines are drawn as who can do what. This year’s musical is called Honk! It’s the story of the ugly duckling, retold in a slightly more adult manner. A group of young adults and teachers have stayed after school every week (and once during spring break) to bring the production to life. Every line and movement memorized, to the point of craziness. Being part of the musical myself, I’ve had the pleasure to witness everything coming together this year. Being part of the crew is to make friends and partners; knowing you have to interact with everyone makes us a team, and center stage is for who earns it. And as nice as it is to be a part of, it’s a toll on everyone. Getting to know your stuff, buying your props and practicing is physically and mentally exhausting half of us didn’t know we signed up for. Capturing this on camera won’t be easy. My camera and I will be documenting the final two weeks of preparation, where all of our sweat and sore throats will pay off. The emotional payoff of the show, as well as the reward of hearing the crowd’s applause, is what is keeping us going. That, and the fact that this much preparation has to put out a great, great show. ~Dylan Brown