It should be no surprise that my love for art has also brought a love for the performing arts. I have been an avid actor since I was in 7th grade, and this performance was one for the books.
I was in the Midland Center For The Arts production of Rent* in 2022. I was Cy (Support Leader), ensemble (Homeless, Bohemian, featured dancer), and Maureen's understudy. This production meant the world to me, I met so many friends, got to perform along side broadway-veterans, and do what I love; singing and dancing on a stage, telling a story.
One night I was tested. By this I mean there was a cast member that got very ill on a performance day that did not have an understudy. I was selected to go in as not only my many characters but her own set of them as well. That night I was Cy, my ensemble roles, I was terrified. The amazing creative team pulled me aside, ran lines with me as I did makeup, the music director teach additional solos as I got dressed, the director tell me where and when I needed to be on stage while I got mic-ed up, and then the choreographer giving me 8-counts minutes before curtain. It was scary, but exhilarating. I was tested as a performer, a friend, and a member of a larger team. Rent was the best show yet!
*Rent is set during the AIDS crisis, following a friend group of starving artists, Bohemians, in the streets of New York. From performers, professors, poets, and more each character means something.
