Showcase
6:30pm. Monday, December 11, 2017
“Please sit back, relax and enjoy the 2017 Sight & Sound Conservatory Showcase!”
And with that, the curtain went up…
Well…
Actually, it didn’t. At least, not at first. Instead, over the speakers came the familiar sound of “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are currently experiencing a technical difficulty that will delay our show…”
Backstage, we all burst into laughter. The technical announcement went on to assure the audience (who were also laughing hysterically) that the difficulties would soon be fixed.
The technical is played whenever there is a "hold" during at Sight & Sound show (when something goes wrong and we have to stop in the middle of the performance to fix it). A hold isn't really a common occurrence, but it does happen every once in a while. "That’s live theatre, folks."
Behind the curtain, we students were in our places ready to begin. We continued giggling and whispering, asking if it was a joke. It wasn’t. The curtain really wouldn’t go up. Not exactly the best way to begin a show, but it gave us time to gather in a circle, grab hands, and pray together, asking God to bless our hard work and our performance that evening. Thankfully, just about a minute later the curtain decided to cooperate and we got our show on the road.
When you’re a Conservatory student, your entire year culminates in Showcase. Of course, we do a LOT more than that, as the rest of this blog can bear witness. But Showcase is the evening when the best of the best that we’ve presented over the year is taken to the Sight & Sound stage and performed before hundreds of audience members. Our pieces were chosen, polished, re-worked, cleaned, and we ran them over and over again.
Our preliminary meeting about the Showcase (which took place last month) went very well. Everyone was so respectful and mature. Jeff told us he wanted the Showcase to truly highlight all of our strengths. Even if we didn’t get to do our favorite thing (whether that was a song or a scene or a dance), he wanted to be sure that whatever we did, it was our best. He had a list of the things we’d done over the year that he’d like to see included. We sat and discussed how long each performance would be and whether there was anything else we just really, really wanted to do. Jeff was fantastic at making sure that each of us had our moments to shine.
Getting our costumes ready!
The next several weeks we continued to hone the program. A few of the ideas were dropped, and others were added. We gathered up our costume pieces, most of which we could find in our closets. We didn’t have to worry about our props because Jeff collected everything we’d need. Several acts required things like chairs, tables, a couch, and even a standing door.
After a few weeks of preparation, it was time for our tech rehearsal. This happened on Sunday, December 10th, only a day before our actual performance. We arrived at noon and brought all of our costume pieces. Stage management provided a few costume racks for us. Jeff had chosen the set pieces that would be the background for the show. We used pieces of the Betrothal set from Miracle of Christmas, as well as a piece from the temple that will make its official debut in Jesus next spring.
Our Sunday rehearsal was pretty tedious. Instead of doing things in order, we jumped around the program quite a bit. But we got it all done! I could not be more grateful for the incredible crew. We had members of stage management scheduling things, as well as employees from the lighting department, audio department, and two absolutely wonderful stage hands, Rachel and Megan. As the pieces began to come together, the excitement within our group grew. We were looking forward to performing, and made a few awesome promotional pictures that we shared on social media that evening.
On Monday we arrived at noon, ready to go. We had a stumble-through run, followed by a dress rehearsal, which we finished only 45 minutes before the show officially began. There's wasn't much time for breaks, but that kept our adrenaline up and our focus sharp. When 6:30 rolled around, we all felt ready.
The audience was filled with our families, members of the cast, friends from other departments at Sight & Sound, and so many more! Once we settled our technical blip and the curtain truly did go up, it was smooth sailing. And it was fantastic. Applause after every act was loud and sincere. Besides the group numbers, I also performed a monologue, a duet, and a Shakespeare scene.
It’s so fun to watch your friends take their materials from good, to better, to absolutely stunning. Performing for each other in class was fun, but performing before a fresh audience (who also happens to love you dearly) takes it all to another level. Voices sounded stronger, dances were cleaner, and acting was the most genuine I’ve ever seen. I could go through a list of each act and explain why it was amazing, but I think these pictures speak for themselves. Photo credits go to Nick LaVenice!
Several people told us that they didn't feel like they were watching a student showcase, but rather a professional performance for which they would have paid good money. We were honored and deeply encouraged by everyone's kindness! I think my favorite parts of the show were our group numbers. I loved taking the stage alongside all of my friends. "Seasons of Love" was our opener. The lyrics of that song perfectly fit our experience here.
It's time now, to sing out, though the story never ends. Let's celebrate, remember a year, in the life of friends!
Our final group song, "When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt closed the show. We all wore our formal dresses and suits that we chose for the graduation, which lent a regal feel to the number. This song holds a special place in my heart, and I can't imagine a more perfect closing. After the final note of "When You Believe", there was a slight pause before a few piano chords (placed there especially for us by the audio department) picked up. We finished our performance by standing in a line across the stage, and one last time sang out the line: Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes.
When the lights went out after our final note, several of us were in tears. When you’ve worked so hard and grown so close together, it’s hard to believe things are drawing to an end. Personally, I just experienced a great sense of accomplishment and a feeling of “That was so much fun!” I’m sure that the coming days will bring more emotions to the surface, but for now I’m riding the wave of a successful performance and the fact that I’m still here with all of my friends.
Our Showcase evening concluded with Graduation. We were each presented with our diplomas heralding our completion of this intense, one-year program. My heart swelled as each of my classmates walked across the stage, gave Jeff a hug, and took their framed certificate. So many memories flashed before my eyes as I heard their names. Amanda Helen Holsinger. Wesley Amos Guidry. Elisabeth Joi Faggion. James Timothy Schaffer. Hannah Grace Patelunas. Aaron P. Pottenger. Abigail G. Sobanski. Emma Joy Bishop. Nicholas Haney. Katherine Blair Christie. And then my own name...Kinsey Danielle Smith.
After the ceremonies were completed, we had a chance to mingle with our fiends and family who had attended. So many hugs, so many "well dones," and some tears as well. We got an awesome picture of all the Conservatory students that attended our Showcase: past, present, and a few who will be apart of the 2018 class! There's a special bond that comes from experiencing such an intense program. It's so exciting to see where God has taken those who have gone before us (several will be joining next year's Sight & Sound cast!) And it was also fun see the enthusiasm that the 2018 class has class about their year. Boy, are they in for a crazy, wonderful ride!
We still had one more week of classes after our Showcase evening, which we only just completed. This past Friday was the day in which we finished all our required course work for the year. Our last week of classes consisted mostly of tying up loose ends, debriefing, and getting personalized advice from our teachers about our next steps.
For Acting Class on Friday, we met with Jeff in his office to watch our original audition videos. It's staggering to see how far we've come and how we've each grown! He left us with encouragement and inspiration, and a challenge to always keep Christ at the center of all that we do, especially as performers. Then we had the honor of a Q&A time with Wally Calderon, the director of Jonah. He's had an extremely successful and diverse career in the performing arts. He had some golden advice for us as we move forward.
So that's it! Classes are done. What a strange thought....Now we just have to finish up the run of Miracle of Christmas. 22 more shows. Only two more weeks.
Sight & Sound has been my life, day in and day out, for a whole year. So much so, that it’s hard to imagine anything different. And yet the end is fully in sight, in focus and fast approaching. So I’m going to soak in these final days and cherish all the sweet moments with these people that I’ve grown to love like family.