Growth and Learning: Reflecting on the "Working" Musical

In August, I got notified that a group that I performed with in the past (The St. Jean’s Players) would be doing “Working: A Musical” for their fall production and that the auditions for that would be in early September.

Originally, I had thought that I wouldn’t be able to audition for the musical. At that time, I was in limbo for another project that I wasn’t sure would be happening or not, so I didn’t know if “Working” would be a project I could accept. As we approached the audition date, I got more and more past the point of necessary preparation, so while I did glance at the information and sides provided in the audition listing, I didn’t really put much time into preparing for it. That sort of came around to bite me in the ass because, on the morning of the auditions, I realized that the project that had been in limbo was not happening. At that moment came the processing of whether I wanted to still do this audition or not, and I thought… “Fuck it, why not?” I went through the audition songs they had wanted us to pick from, chose the one that I felt was in the most comfortable key for me, and took the rest of the day up until I had to leave for the audition to work on it.

Well, as you could probably guess by now, I got cast.

Now, if I’m being completely honest, I think there were a couple of HUGE reasons why I got cast with so little prep time. Of course, first and foremost, these are people that I’ve worked with in the past and they already knew what I could do. Second, was the song choice. I was lucky that the song “Millwork” sits right in that part of my range that I’m strongest and most comfortable in. When that happens, the two focuses in prep time become 1) making sure I have all the notes down, and 2) making specific, intentional acting choices. If this hadn’t been the case, I wouldn’t have been able to learn the song so quickly because, if there are parts in the song that test your range, vocal agility, and breathing technique, then you need to spend time on that song as your voice adjusts and learns to do those things that you’re not used to doing. Basically, what I’m saying is that I’m not special, just lucky!

For this production, I got cast as Kate Rushton (aka the Housewife). The iconic song Kate sings – “Just a Housewife” – became a duet with me and one of the other housewives.

I really loved the change from the song being a solo to being a duet, because I felt that with two actresses, you could better convey the emotional depth of the song. I also think that with two actresses singing this song, it conveys that, while being a housewife may feel isolating, there are people out in the world that are going through what you’re going through and it’s a matter of finding those people and connecting with them. The way that this production decided to handle that song was effective and I’m glad they chose to do it that way.

When the first rehearsal came around, I didn’t know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. From the go, you could tell that our cast was incredibly talented. As we went through the first reading, even though it was just a rough, on-book pass-through in order to get a sense of how the musical was structured, you could tell just how good everyone was.

But it’s never that simple when it comes to theater, right?

Very early in the rehearsal process, we had a mini COVID outbreak. Even I caught COVID at one point. This led to a wave of rehearsals where large portions of our cast was missing. We had to make use of Zoom, video rehearsals, and audio recorded rehearsals for a lot of them. This definitely made me stress a bit, especially since some of the numbers that I was in had choreographed elements and I am certainly not a dancer. I didn’t even know if I was a “good” mover or not. But, it would turn out that I was decent enough and was able to get it down in an efficient way.

Of course, with all these absences came uncertainty. Would we be able to pull it together? We went into tech week with lots of worries and not a lot of time to catch up together. I’m not going to lie to you: For a moment I thought we wouldn’t be able to pull off a successful show. But, pressure makes diamonds, and we certainly stepped up to the plate on opening night, and were able to carry that energy through the other five shows we had scheduled.

From mic checks to costume changes to choreography to props to set, I was so glad that I was able to gain that much more experience in my acting journey. I enjoyed being able to experiment with preparation and how best to get myself into a good headspace for the top of the show. Also, further refining my “process” and the way I tackle a role, especially a theater role, was super helpful and definitely contributed to further improvement.

Overall, the show was great. You can view the show in its entirety on Youtube through the link here.

xx Selma