A One Feather Tail
- Jordan's Thinks
- May 4, 2019
- 5 min read
One of my favorite parts about high school was beginning the journey into my love of musical theater. Throughout and before high school, I participated in 5 musicals with my school. Today, I'll be writing about the most recent musical I was in which was Seussical the Musical. This is a show about the many characters that Dr. Seuss has created throughout his stories including characters like The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, and many other supporting characters that you'll find in his books.
This year, I was chosen to play Gertrude McFuzz, a bird with a one feather tail, who can be found in the Dr. Seuss story "Gertrude McFuzz." This was the first huge surprise of the year considering I tried out for the role of Thing 1 or Thing 2 with my best friend Sarah. The audition process was pretty painless considering Sarah and I had been asked previously if we wanted to be Things 1 and 2 or Bird Girls. Since we'd chosen the Things (because we were choreographers and she'd asked us what part we wanted previously), I felt a little more at ease during the audition. I auditioned with my best friend, Alyssa, and we both sang 'Can I Have This Dance' from High School Musical 3 while I played the ukulele. I remember being nothing short of shocked when I found out I'd be one of the leads. I'd never been anything even close to a lead role and it took me very much by surprise, but it was true. That day, I got to cross something off of the bucket list I'd made in middle school: Get the lead in a musical.
I was a nervous wreck when rehearsals started and I had to begin singing in front of people that I was normally nervous around, but I was surprised what Gertrude had brought out of me. Suddenly, I had a voice strong enough to hit notes I never thought I could and surprised myself with my own voice each time I sang. The first song I remember singing in front of everyone was 'Notice Me, Horton,' which, at first, I thought sounded awful, but many people assured me that it was really good. There were dozens of people surprised by my sound, and I was definitely one of them. I still have a picture of a text that my friend Liz showed me about how well I sounded. It came from the person who played Horton the Elephant (Gertrude's love interest), Holden. That was the most incredible feeling considering I was literally singing right in his ear and he could hear every off note and crack of my voice. It's amazing how supportive a group of people can be.
I had the most amazing opportunity this year to be able to choreograph the musical with my best friend, Sarah. One of my favorite parts of the musical was getting to teach the dances we had come up with to the cast, and for me, especially the boys who played the Wickersham Brothers. The Wickershams are a group of guys who play monkeys in the musical. For us, this trio was made up of Ross, Jack, and my best friend, Austin. While Sarah was choreographing and teaching another song, I was able to help out these boys a ton with the choreography we made for them. All of us became quite close with each other and we always had the best time together. The most rewarding part of this musical was being able to watch them go from struggling with the moves to getting on stage and absolutely nailing every single part three nights in a row. There are barely any words to express how proud I was of them all of the time, especially on show nights.
Something I will never forget from this musical is the song 'All for You.' It was always the song I was most nervous about singing because I had to remember what seemed like three million words, choreography, AND crazy acting moments. It was the song I'd gotten yelled at for not knowing the words to and always the one I hoped we wouldn't have enough time for at the end of rehearsal, but one of my favorite memories happened during this song: It was the last show and during the number, I remember being so out of breath that I could barely sing my ending line, but after I did, the applause started... and kept going... and then there was a whistle... and it kept going... kept going. It felt like it would never end. That applause went on for so long. My ending pose was looking up at Holden (who played Horton) and I remember just staring at him for like a full minute and wondering when it would end. My parents said I'd gotten one of the longest rounds of applause from that show, which is simply incredible. Now, I think about that and I realize how far I've come since I first started performing.
Until this year, I never considered myself a great singer. Looking back, I realize that I have literally worked my way up the ladder to get where I am today. Freshman year, I only had the part of a featured dancer and my title was "Featured Dancer." From then, I moved up to a small one-line singing part and I was called "Princess #2." The next year, I actually had a name and a ton of lines and dancing roles, but only one line of singing, and I was named "Patsy." This year, I had the full package: I had a couple songs to myself and lines, and although I didn't dance much as Gertrude, I was able to choreograph the whole show. If that's not the definition of starting from the bottom and working your way up, I'm not sure what is. That's an incredible feeling. I used to dream about getting to bow by myself instead of with a group, but instead of a solo bow, I got to bow with one of my favorite people that I never would have gotten close with if it weren't for this musical (thanks for being the best bowing partner, Holden). I am the happiest when I'm talking about musical and all of the people that I met through it, and I'm so blessed everyday to say that I had an experience like the one I had this year. As a kid, I used to think high schoolers were celebrities if they were the leads in the high school musicals. I really wish that girl could have known what she'd accomplish one day and that she'd be one of those so-called "celebrities." Isn't it crazy how life works that way?
👏👏👏😉😘