BWW Blog: Christopher Castanho's 2016 - A Year In Review

Christopher and the Shenandoah Conservatory Musical Theatre Class of 2017.

I'm a very positive person, being able to see the silver lining of every situation, and do not like to admit or submit to hardships in my life. But to be completely honest, 2016 has been a difficult year. As life can be tumultuous, it can also be magnificent. Alas, here we are, at the conclusion of our year, and I thought I'd do a little "Year In Review" of my 2016.

This year I turned 21, attended my cousin Annie's wedding, saved the 4th of July with some dear friends (as pictured below), met Brett Bramble- an individual who walked across the entire United States in honor of his sister- at the beginning of his journey, went to go see my favorite podcast "Throwing Shade" perform live in Washington DC, voted in my first Presidential election, and more. Also reading a plethora of both plays and novels, all the while discovering new musicians and songs that both stimulated and fascinated me.

Frankie Thams, Trevor Schmidt, Katie Davis, Dan Morton, Christopher Castanho, and Michael Dikegoros saving the Fourth of July.

I got to perform over 50 times this year, in musicals, cabarets, and even on television! Every time I get up to perform I learn something new about myself and this world we live in. I even got to perform outside in Shenandoah Conservatory's production of Illyria. A high point of my year was being both an actor and production assistant for CPTV's series "The Cobblestone Corridor". I had my own dialogue, 'close-up' shot and everything!

I saw some impeccable pieces of theatre, and then some...not so impeccable pieces of theatre, but I always think that you're more appreciative of the good work once you've seen the bad, right? (That's what I tell myself in order to not feel lousy for spending a lot of money on the ticket.) Having seen 10 plays, 13 musicals, and performed in 4 musicals- 2016 wasn't too shabby. My memory of The Hartford Stage's Anastasia actually glimmers in my mind, having the privilege of meeting Ahrens & Flaherty after the show is definitely another highlight. I am also very grateful that I saw the new musical "Come From Away" in DC, which reminded me of the power of community and love.

I got to assistant direct Shenandoah Conservatory's production of "City of Angels" which is by far the biggest project I have ever been a part of and truly felt artistically fulfilled during that process. I was also granted the opportunity to direct a student-written play called "June 16th" by Jaya Joshi for Shenandoah's "Playwrights Performance Group".

I started writing for a website called "The Odyssey Online" in January, which helped springboard my current career of writing for both BroadwayWorld.com and The Huffington Post. My Odyssey article "An Open Letter to Those Who Leave During Curtain Call" received over twenty-eight thousand views and was shared all over the world. My "Coming Out" article for The Huffington Post was also very well received, encouraging others to live life as their true selves. I got to participate in a playwriting workshop with Stephen Adly Guirgis, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and also co-creator of Netflix's "The Get Down". To top it all off: Sheri Sanders and I announced our article series "Musical Theatre: The Wild Side" where we discuss social topics through the lens of the musical theatre community- first article being released in the new year!

I am incredibly fortunate for all that life has in store for me. I graduate in 2017 and cannot wait to see what's next!

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