I have a very special connection with this year’s musical, The Addams Family, as do many of my other cast members. In my freshman year of high school, I did The Addams Family. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we canceled the show three hours before call time. I was so excited, after painting myself white for a whole week (I was a dead ghost ancestor), to finally put on the show. We thought we would go into quarantine for two weeks, then come back and put on the musical, but as weeks and months passed by, we realized it would never see audiences. A very similar experience happened the same year at Stevens. Their show, The Addams Family, was canceled, so this time, it feels like a redemption round for everyone.
I’ve been doing musicals every year since the first grade. I like to say that I’m just the go-to ensemble member, as I rarely land leading roles. I feel like in middle school, I wasn’t ready for the responsibility, but in high school, I felt like every time, the director would choose the same cast (and that same cast coincidentally never included people of color in prominent roles). I was excited to join the Stevens Dramatic Society (SDS) for a new start.
I’m not sure many people did this, but before I even accepted my offer from Stevens, I had come to see the 2023 musical The Prom. Many tech schools don’t thrive in the arts, and I wanted to see if I fit in here. I was stunned. I can’t even explain how good it was. So when I went to school with the same people in the cast, it was like seeing celebrities. In my high school theatre company, there was this air of superiority with leading roles. Leading roles would hang out more, get more say in things that happened with the show, always run the Instagram, give long speeches to the smaller roles, and give the director’s orders to us (because the director couldn’t be bothered to tell us herself). I didn’t know much else, so I assumed all theatre companies were like that. In my short time taking part in the musical, I have never felt a superiority complex. I find myself naturally talking to everyone, and maybe that is the way it should always have been. A thing that will probably stick with me forever was a time when I was eating before 10 a.m. Saturday rehearsal, Kyle Castillo (my Gomez!!!) said something along the lines of, “It’s crazy that you’re a freshman because it feels like you fit right in with us. Like you have the same humor.” I don’t think he knew, but that made me want to burst out crying.
Since being accepted into the show, I have felt like such an imposter. We have a very small ensemble of six ancestors, I felt like I just wasn’t as valuable as everyone else. I’ve always struggled with dancing as I have no rhythm whatsoever, my acting is subpar, and my voice is pretty average in terms of theatre kids. I was performing in the ensemble with people that I’ve looked up to and fought with the idea of “Why did they choose me?” every rehearsal. But when I think this way, I am personally reminded by my wonderful cast mates that I’m not a complete failure if I miss a step in a dance, sing when I’m not supposed to, or mess up a harmony. I’ve made so many friends and love everyone in this show and the show itself so dearly. I can’t wait for people to see everyone’s hard work. Even though we’re putting on a show about a fictional family, it feels like I’ve found a real family here.
By the time this article is published, you still have two more chances to see the show! Saturday 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.! See you there!
