F0r as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved being onstage. I loved the process of becoming someone else and learning how to embody a character that was nothing like me in reality.
I attended Rider High School from my freshman to junior years and I was heavily involved in theatre there. I had been looking forward to my senior year ever since I started high school. Specifically, I was excited to be an upperclassmen in the theatre department and be able to do more and have more power.
However, when I found out that Rider would be closing at the end of my junior year, I was disappointed in the change. I was going to have to spend my senior year trying to build up a new theatre department and I would be forced to work with new people, which would be a step out of my comfort zone.
However, as the school year began, I became more eager to do theatre at Memorial. I am the social officer for the inaugural Memorial Theatrical Society officers committee. I was excited to pursue this role at Memorial and hopefully recruit new people.
Our first production was “Prom: A Lip sync Musical.” This idea was brought over from Rider with a few tweaks. One thing that remained unchanged, however, was student directing.
Juniors and Seniors that were interested in student directing were given the opportunity to direct a lip sync: a 4-5 minute production that involved students lip-syncing, dancing and acting.
I directed Kelly Clarkson’s 2004 smash hit “Since U Been Gone,” with the plot revolving around an overly zealous girl finding her boyfriend cheating and deciding she’s better without him.
The idea was simple, and I immediately hit the ground running. I was lucky to have a very open and eager cast who picked up quickly and brought tons of life to the stage.
A big aspect of lip sync was voting. The public would get the opportunity to watch all of the lip syncs and vote on which one they felt was the best.
At the end of the production, “Since U Been Gone” received the most votes. I was grateful that I had gotten to direct such a fun show with an amazing cast and I’m glad that work paid off.
Additionally, I got to perform onstage in three lip syncs: “24K Magic” directed by Koen Pruitt, “The Glue Song” directed by Kylie Goins and “Just Dance” directed by multiple directors.
“24K Magic” was my favorite because I got to play the lead of Isaac, a cocky bonehead who fails to impress the girl of his dreams. At the end of the production, I received an “All-Star Cast” recognition for this role and my senior year was off to a great start.
A few weeks later, we began rehearsing for our mainstage production “Clue.” I was cast in the role of Colonel Mustard, a pompous but idiotic colonel who had been invited to a dinner party at Boddy Manor.
This role was extremely gratifying. I got to play one of the leading roles, I got to experiment with movement and I got to be onstage with many of my friends.
As an officer, I also got to help a lot behind the scenes, with promotions and prop design. I enjoyed the mix of performing an onstage role while also helping with behind the scenes aspects, as this was something I hadn’t really gotten to do before.
Once Clue was over, auditions for our one-act play “Antic Spring” came up. I was eager for this show. It was my senior year and we were doing a classic, old-school comedy, which was right up my alley.
Ultimately, I was cast in the role of “Sam,” a typical dumb jock who unintentionally irritates his girlfriend throughout the entire show, leading to loads of fighting between the two.
This role was completely new to me. I had never really played a “jock” character before and I experimented with my movements, my tactics, and vocal variety in order to properly play the character.
At our competition last week, we placed alternate (fourth). This means that if one of the top three schools had to drop out of the competition for whatever reason, we would take their place.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences in theatre during my senior year. I got to try new things. I got to direct, be onstage and help offstage. This experience was absolutely fulfilling and I’m grateful for all of the theatrical opportunities I was given this year.
While I will not be pursuing a theatre career, I’m glad that theatre has been a big part of my life for so many years, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds!
Grayson would like to dedicate this article to his theatre teacher of six years, Mr. Zachary Jackson. Jackson has helped Grayson to grow and develop as an actor. Additionally, Grayson is grateful for all of the opportunities Jackson has presented him, both this year and in previous years.
