Bit Players, Has-Been Actors and Other Posers: A Must-Read for Fans of Glee, High School Musical and Twilight Read Online Free PDF
Author: S. Stevens
HE’LL GROW INTO HIS WEIGHT; UNFORTUNATELY, HE’S ALREADY FIVE TEN AND STILL ALMOST AS WIDE
EDDIE, REALLY WEIRD EMO BOY BUT WE NEED GUYS IN CDC SO WE PRETEND HE’S NORMAL
SAM , NON-DESCRIPT, AVERAGE GUY; CONTENT TO BE IN THE CHORUS
Once we settled into seats in the front of the auditorium, Mr. Ellison’s genial smile gave way to a sourpuss look as he announced that Mr. Lord would be music director for the fall production. Since CDC began, Mr. Ellison had filled both the general and music director roles.
As the teachers bored us with the rules for the club, which hadn’t changed since I helped write them two years ago, Mr. Lord’s insistence on calling himself co-director and Mr. Ellison’s pointed use of the term music director instead were not lost on the students.
CDC was my second home. I owned the club for a brief time, at the very beginning, since I basically created it. In English class freshman year, Mr. Ellison had us read from Romeo and Juliet . He was so impressed by my Juliet and Foster’s Romeo that I convinced him to start a school theatre program.
He and I had bonded over Anna Karenina before then. Unlike most people in freshman English, I liked Tolstoy’s saga of family, love and class in nineteenth-century Russia. Just the same, I fell asleep reading the final chapters the night before the test. The next day, we were supposed to hand in our copies of the book.
“Would it be okay if I kept mine a little longer?” I had asked Mr. Ellison, standing at his desk while the rest of the class finished the test.
He turned from his reading to study me. “And why would you want to do that?”
I cleared my throat. “Well, I didn’t actually finish it. But I’d like to.” This was risky territory, admitting to a teacher you hadn’t finished the project on which you’d just been tested. As I hoped, Mr. Ellison seemed happy that I wanted to finish all eight-hundred pages, rather than mad that I hadn’t done it on time. He said I could keep the book a few more days, his face stern but his eyes smiling.
That’s why I liked Mr. Ellison. Despite the classic, cranky old teacher thing he had going, he was a pretty cool guy inside.
So that spring, we put on our first show. I made flyers to recruit kids, and helped Mr. Ellison research the process of obtaining scripts and production rights.
Mr. Ellison had wanted our inaugural play to be a contemporary drama like Pinter or Mamet. While the lure of cussing like dockworkers in a Mamet play was tempting (not that the principal would have allowed it, at the end of the day), the students convinced Mr. Ellison we needed a kid-friendly blockbuster for our first production. Enter High School Musical , the official catalyst for the national teen/tween musical theatre-loving craze.
I liked the idea, because I pictured myself as the perfect Gabriella. And I had earned the lead, after all, since CDC was my idea. Unfortunately, the popularity of High School Musical drew every somewhat talented girl out of the woodwork. The auditions were fierce for a school as small as Crudup.
Lindsay won the role of Troy, and Jocelyn got the part of Gabriella. She may have looked the part with her long dark hair, but I could sing circles around her. Or at least match her. Anyway, Foster got Ryan, which was perfect for his over-the-top style, and Lucey was perfect for Sharpay, like she’s perfect for just about everything. Alex stole the show as Jack Scott, a role that required acting more than singing or dancing.
As for me, I got Kelsi. Mr. Ellison tried to make me feel better by saying I was one of the few kids who actually played the piano, and Kelsi was a key role, a catalyst for the greatness that is Troy and Gabriella. I wasn’t buying it. But, I put my chin up, buckled down, and gave it my all. I’d rather have a bit part than no part at all.
Sophomore year, we went with the classic Fiddler on the Roof . Lindsay was a hysterical, touching Tevye. Alex was
EDDIE, REALLY WEIRD EMO BOY BUT WE NEED GUYS IN CDC SO WE PRETEND HE’S NORMAL
SAM , NON-DESCRIPT, AVERAGE GUY; CONTENT TO BE IN THE CHORUS
Once we settled into seats in the front of the auditorium, Mr. Ellison’s genial smile gave way to a sourpuss look as he announced that Mr. Lord would be music director for the fall production. Since CDC began, Mr. Ellison had filled both the general and music director roles.
As the teachers bored us with the rules for the club, which hadn’t changed since I helped write them two years ago, Mr. Lord’s insistence on calling himself co-director and Mr. Ellison’s pointed use of the term music director instead were not lost on the students.
CDC was my second home. I owned the club for a brief time, at the very beginning, since I basically created it. In English class freshman year, Mr. Ellison had us read from Romeo and Juliet . He was so impressed by my Juliet and Foster’s Romeo that I convinced him to start a school theatre program.
He and I had bonded over Anna Karenina before then. Unlike most people in freshman English, I liked Tolstoy’s saga of family, love and class in nineteenth-century Russia. Just the same, I fell asleep reading the final chapters the night before the test. The next day, we were supposed to hand in our copies of the book.
“Would it be okay if I kept mine a little longer?” I had asked Mr. Ellison, standing at his desk while the rest of the class finished the test.
He turned from his reading to study me. “And why would you want to do that?”
I cleared my throat. “Well, I didn’t actually finish it. But I’d like to.” This was risky territory, admitting to a teacher you hadn’t finished the project on which you’d just been tested. As I hoped, Mr. Ellison seemed happy that I wanted to finish all eight-hundred pages, rather than mad that I hadn’t done it on time. He said I could keep the book a few more days, his face stern but his eyes smiling.
That’s why I liked Mr. Ellison. Despite the classic, cranky old teacher thing he had going, he was a pretty cool guy inside.
So that spring, we put on our first show. I made flyers to recruit kids, and helped Mr. Ellison research the process of obtaining scripts and production rights.
Mr. Ellison had wanted our inaugural play to be a contemporary drama like Pinter or Mamet. While the lure of cussing like dockworkers in a Mamet play was tempting (not that the principal would have allowed it, at the end of the day), the students convinced Mr. Ellison we needed a kid-friendly blockbuster for our first production. Enter High School Musical , the official catalyst for the national teen/tween musical theatre-loving craze.
I liked the idea, because I pictured myself as the perfect Gabriella. And I had earned the lead, after all, since CDC was my idea. Unfortunately, the popularity of High School Musical drew every somewhat talented girl out of the woodwork. The auditions were fierce for a school as small as Crudup.
Lindsay won the role of Troy, and Jocelyn got the part of Gabriella. She may have looked the part with her long dark hair, but I could sing circles around her. Or at least match her. Anyway, Foster got Ryan, which was perfect for his over-the-top style, and Lucey was perfect for Sharpay, like she’s perfect for just about everything. Alex stole the show as Jack Scott, a role that required acting more than singing or dancing.
As for me, I got Kelsi. Mr. Ellison tried to make me feel better by saying I was one of the few kids who actually played the piano, and Kelsi was a key role, a catalyst for the greatness that is Troy and Gabriella. I wasn’t buying it. But, I put my chin up, buckled down, and gave it my all. I’d rather have a bit part than no part at all.
Sophomore year, we went with the classic Fiddler on the Roof . Lindsay was a hysterical, touching Tevye. Alex was
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