Student Blog: Singing for a new world.

Hola Broadway World! I am still over the moon and still processing the fact that after all these months I got to perform with live audience in Toronto. Today I want to share how it was for me this enriching experience.

Getting to be part of "Songs for a New World" specially in the reality we are experiencing today, has such a deep meaning for me, my cast and creative team... like all of the rest of the world, we were locked down for more than a year doing everything online and now standing in front of an audience singing about how this characters feeling the impulse to change their lives and pause for a second to reflect on their relationships, dreams and hopes and have a lot of realizations during these songs, was the perfect way to be back on stage.

For me, there is nothing like live theatre. I kind of forgot how the whole experience was, doing Tech Week standing under the lights, adjusting the last details, doing a number over and over again from the earliest in the morning until the sun sets down again but you know that all of the love, energy and passion everyone is presenting, is worth it because when is opening night and audience come to sit down and go on board with you through this story, there is this magic that I can't explain with words, and better yet, getting to tell this story again to a group of new people and even if we are all prepared and we know our track, everything is different from the night before. We got to do that for 2 weeks and that is what I live for, that energy that runs through my body while dancing, singing and storytelling at the same time, being this open channel where I need to follow and respect all the work we have done in the last month but keeping open to any unexpected event and bringing something new each night to keeping every intention fresh.
For me was such a privilege to be all the way from Mexico in a stage in Toronto singing to "Just one step", which has the fastest lines in the entire show and being part of this cast where I felt listened and valued.

My parents came all the way from Mexico to be in the show for closing night. A past version of myself would have been nervous and a bit anxious, but this time I was feeling so proud and confident on all the work and joy I was bringing and I think that is the best way to give back to my parents after all the support.

As I mention, I am still processing everything, a part of me still thinks that on Monday I'll go to rehearsal and receive notes and see all my castmates, but the other part of me that knows this journey is over, is beyond thankful to have had the experience to sing to Jason Robert Brown´s beautiful, complex and intense songs under the guidance of our Randolph College creative team, for a new world that needed to experience this. Our song was heard.

Claudia Quintero a Mexican and passionate girl.