The Life of a Theater Kid

To me, being a theater kid means that you're truly passionate and dedicated to the art. I may not be the best, but I am in love with performing and the relationships I build.

For this weeks blog, I would like to take you through what it's like to live the life of theater, and some benefits and/or struggles!

Family/Relationships
When you join a musical or play, you can make some very good relationships your cast. You might not be close with everyone, but, most of the time, you can form a very strong bond with people. Even if you're not in a musical, you can still form a strong bond with your fellow thespians.

For example, one of my best friends in middle school introduced me to theater, and we bonded over the it. Also, right now, some of my closest friends I made through the theatre department.

No Judgment Zone!
Another great thing about being in theater is that you're always supported! Unfortunately, we're in high school so there will always be some negativity, but for the most part, the community is very supportive.

Great Experience
At least for me, being in the musical helps with forgetting stuff that happens in life. When I'm at rehearsals, I am in the moment and tap into the character I'm trying to portray on stage. It's also a great place to get out of your comfort zone because you're not alone.

Randy Slovacek (Choreographer) and cast during rehearsal for A Chorus Line (Crail)

Rehearsals
Musical rehearsals can be really fun, but it can be a little stressful. As it gets closer to the show, rehearsals become longer. For my theater department, our rehearsals are about 4/5 hours long. I personally don't mind the length because  love theater, but for most people it's way too long.

That's one thing you have to sacrifice for theater; your time. And again, some people are fine with it, but some aren't because of other things like homework, chill time, sports, or family. This is stressful, but usually there's time during rehearsals for homework.

You've Heard of It?
One thing that is exciting if you're a theater kid, is when you're talking about a musical or play to someone and they actually know what you're talking about! Nothing is more groovy than talking about musicals with someone who can reciprocate their excitement.

It's also fun to joke around with your thespian friends because you get the inside jokes from rehearsals or just general theater jokes. "Regular" friends don't understand the references, and speaking from experience, might think it's a little weird!

Sister Act 

Costumes!
In my opinion, costumes are probably the most fun part of theater. Yeah, acting and getting to be a totally different person is cool too, but to actually look like the part and to play 'dress up' is very enjoyable.

However, there's nothing worse than having a costume you don't like or are uncomfortable in. If this happens, it's so hard to be confident and to put in 100% of your effort since you're distracted by the costume.
                                                       
Constant Singing...
When you're a theater kid, it's only necessary to burst out singing and/or making references. I can't tell you how many times I've made references to the musical and play I did last year and the musical I'm in right now. Honestly, probably about 100 times!

Last year, during a rehearsal, a group of us just randomly started singing the 'Phineas and Ferb' theme song. I'm not sure why, but stuff like that happens all the time.

Another thing is listening to show tunes. I am always listening to them, I have about 4 pandora radio stations for them. Whenever I'm in a car or hanging out with people and I'm in charge of the music, I never know what to play because all I have is show tunes and artists no ones ever heard of.


Citations


Crail, Charr. Randy Slovacek (Choreographer) and cast during rehearsal for A
     Chorus Line. 16 June 2014. Flickr, SmugMug+Flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/
     californiamusicaltheatre/14273507170/. Accessed 30 Dec. 2019.

Crail, Charr. Randy Slovacek (Choreographer) and cast during rehearsal for A
     Chorus Line. 16 June 2014. Flickr, SmugMug+Flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/
     californiamusicaltheatre/14273507170/. Accessed 30 Dec. 2019.

Whats Going on Here? What's Going on There?

What's Going on in New Hampshire?

In schools, the arts have kind of been pushed to the side and seen as not important. Thankfully, the Governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu proposed an increase to the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts' grants program. He proposed a 126% increase, which would take it from $233,000 to $505,000. This sounds like a big jump, and it is, but in reality it's not. 

The grant makes money available for nonprofit arts organizations, schools, health care facilities and community arts activities. This means that money has to be divided among these different areas, so the arts still aren't getting that much. 

In the newsletter where this was reported, Mary McLaughlin, the author said, "We are grateful for the governor's vision and leadership and the Legislature's understanding that investing in the arts is important for New Hampshire's quality of life and economy." This is great, but it got me thinking. Why do the arts need to have grants? Why doesn't sports? I haven't heard of sports programs needing a grant.

She had also said, "Going forward, Arts4NH will work to ensure that the arts play a bigger role in public education and health care..." (McLaughlin). I feel like if they really want to ensure that it plays a big role in our education, our schools should actually include more money in their actual budget. 

Now I know not all schools have money to put towards the arts, but I know, for example, my school has more than enough. The problem is that our school is very focused on sports, and one of the reasons is because the majority of the school plays some kind of sport. Because of this, theater isn't though about as that important because not as many people do it.

But that is far from true.

What's Going on Around the World?

So, that was only happening in New Hampshire. But what's going on around the rest of the world?

I read an article about how Finland has the best education system, and that the rest of us actually can achieve what they have. 

One important lesson learned from their successful system is that "The quality of education shouldn't be judged by the level of literacy and numeracy test scores alone. Successful education systems are designed to emphasize whole-child development, equity of education outcomes, well being, and arts, music, drama and physical education as important elements of curriculum." (Strauss)

This is a very important lesson. I feel that test scores, especially scores like the SATs, don't reflect students intelligence at all. Whole-child development would be an amazing way to teach students. Also, having arts, music, drama, and physical education be seen as important elements is very critical. I feel right now that physical education already is and not so much the arts.

A way we can incorporate the arts into the curriculum is to make theater into an actual class. A problem with that, however, is that I feel like if there were to be cuts, the drama class would be cut first.

Citations

McLaughlin, Mary. "Letter: A win for the arts in New Hampshire." Concord

Monitor, 12 Nov. 2019. Concord Monitor, www.concordmonitor.com/

Arts-in-New-Hampshire-30146620. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.

Strauss, Valerie. "What Finland is really doing to improve its acclaimed

schools." The Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2019. The Washington Post,

www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/08/30/

what-finland-is-really-doing-improve-its-acclaimed-schools/. Accessed 5
Dec. 2019.