Musicals help students express their art

 Art is a beautiful thing. It can range from drawing the stars, writing the greatest story ever written, or dancing to make the body move to express art. Among those three, and many others, musicals are some of the greatest and certainly most fun ways to tell a story whether it is a political satire or a heart wrenching character drama. Musicals can be anything and everything. 

 Mr. Driesbach or Barry, as he is more commonly known, is the HASD drama director; he is responsible for the musical planning and helps with auditions. Planning the musical is no easy task. Barry will have to work around schedules and events but what I think is the hardest part of the job is the auditions. According to our drama director, “After the auditions, the hard part is casting the show. Although everyone who auditions for the show is in it, we only have a certain number of leading roles which always leads to extreme happiness for some and disappointment for others.’’

   Mrs. Jackson the HASD vocal director was later interviewed about some of the stress students go through during these rehearsals. She said, “Some cast and crew members are involved in multiple after school ensembles and activities so it can be quite a big commitment to rehearse for the musical for a few hours in addition to giving time to a sport, homework, marching band, or other music group. Being a part of a big production teaches all participants to manage their time and balance their schedules. Sometimes this can indeed be stressful. However, the end result is always positive…even if there are some stressors along the way.”

  One of the many difficulties of being in a musical or in any form of media is remembering the lines. One of the students who was interviewed said “If there is a big monologue coming up for a character we really just remember the first word, understand the gist of what the character is trying to convey, and the last word.” She also talked about practices where they cast sits in a circle and read their lines back and forth. This gets the cast comfortable and if someone messes up a line the rest of the cast can go with the flow of the situation.   

  Even though the workload for these students is tremendous, it does not stop them from their art. This art allows them to have a legacy when they are long gone and to make connections with each other along the way. This is a long and hard process. That is what makes art-art, giving it everything to show it to the world.