This year's production was a great experience. At first, I do admit that having to go to production everyday was the daily bane of my existence, but after my priorities for basketball practice had ended, going to production wasn't as bad as I thought.
Earlier this year, around January, I remember wanting to try out for the production for my last year since my last endeavor with the school production was back in the 9th grade for "The Wiz". I tried out with my friends Cyron and Brian and we sang "Afternoon Delight", attempting to emulate Will Ferrel's parody of the song in the movie "Anchorman". It was fun singing infront of the panel of judges, and after that they asked us to read a few lines from the script.
Two weeks later, I found out that I was assigned a role as the Bookseller in this year's production, "Beauty and the Beast". I was content as I knew I had a minor role and did not need to have as much commitment to going to production as compared to basketball. The following two months of balancing production with basketball practice wasn't so bad, although I was late a few times to production where my consequence would be paying 20 pesos for each minute I was late (or something like that). During the first few practices I felt that i was a bit timid and that I wasn't really expressing myself as much as the bookseller. After basketball season ended (we da champs!), I had to go to production everyday from 3.30 pm to around 6 pm. It was only during this time that I was able to actually focus and memorize the choreography to the songs I was in, and to know the blocking for each scene. I also felt a little bit more comfortable after a while, and i didn't hold back when we practiced my scene (which was very short anyway). At first I was a little bit upset at the fact that I had to stay for practice for two and half hours when we only practiced the scenes I was in for 30 minutes so I saw no point in having to stay until the end. I got into trouble a few more times until my "late" bill was hitting P170. At that point I realized that I could not be late, not only because Mrs Fernandez was really starting to get annoyed at me, but also because I didn't want to pay any more money. (But I guess it was okay, because the money was going to the pizza party celebration after our performance)
Two weeks before the performance, practice was getting a lot more serious, especially when we started having to wear our costumes. We had to get used to sharing the backstage with the production crew since they handled all the props as well was taking the mic on and off our faces when he had to make switches. I was also starting to get comments from Mrs Fernandez and Mrs Davis, they said that I had to work on my acting and emotion when saying my lines and in my short solo in one of the songs ("Mob Song"). I was a little bit frustrated because I thought I was doing alright, but I knew that I could do better since I was only half-heartedly saying my lines because I knew it was practice. The next practice, I put a lot more emotion and really tried to embody my character. After this, Mrs Fernandez and Mrs Davis were a bit more pleased with me, but this time Mrs Fernandez commented on my relationship with "Belle" who was played by Jezi, as it seemed that I was infatuated with her which would be weird because I was an old man. She told me to tone it down a bit, lessen my smile and eye contact since my role was to be the only nice villager to Belle, but not "in-love" with her. The next few days before practice went by fast, we were getting better and better as a group and the teachers were getting more confident in our performance.
Surprisingly, on the day of the performance I did not feel nervous at all, probably because I've been accustomed to many other pressure situations especially in sports. I was relaxed and felt confident probably because I had such few lines and I knew I could deliver them with ease.The play started, and in the first scene, then I nailed my lines. The show went on, and I could hear the applause and the positive reception from the crowd. However during the mob scene I had one of the most embarrassing moments in my life. As we were going onstage from the audience as a mob, I tripped as I was walking up to the stage. There was a small laughter from the audience, and I was laughing at myself as well. Despite all of this, the first night of the show was still a success.
The next day, I could sense that the cast was more relaxed since we had already performed the night before. On the final night of the performance, there were a lot more people who came to watch, it was a full house, and my friends came to watch as well. I did a good job with my lines again as well as in the songs and the dancing. I kept in mind what Mrs Fernandez and Mrs Davis told me, and I really tried hard to stay in character at all times, and even exaggerate my emotions a little bit more. This time, I was lot more cautious as I went on the stage for the mob scene. It was another successful and I was happy to have acted, sang, and danced on the stage one last time before I graduate. I was happy to have gained back the confidence when doing these things and really embodying the role that was given to me.
The next day, I could sense that the cast was more relaxed since we had already performed the night before. On the final night of the performance, there were a lot more people who came to watch, it was a full house, and my friends came to watch as well. I did a good job with my lines again as well as in the songs and the dancing. I kept in mind what Mrs Fernandez and Mrs Davis told me, and I really tried hard to stay in character at all times, and even exaggerate my emotions a little bit more. This time, I was lot more cautious as I went on the stage for the mob scene. It was another successful and I was happy to have acted, sang, and danced on the stage one last time before I graduate. I was happy to have gained back the confidence when doing these things and really embodying the role that was given to me.
