Student Blogger: Emily Ownby

The leaves on the tree outside my dorm window have begun to change from green to orange. Vocal ensembles have begun working on Christmas tunes. Midterms are a few weeks away. Dance class doesn’t make me as sore anymore. The semester is well underway.

I can't believe I'm finally back on campus. The last time I was here was in March of 2020. The difficulty of a year of online college made my on-campus reunion with my friends that much sweeter. I was greeted with big hugs, and my heart was so full. I moved into my dorm and looked forward to getting the semester started. I couldn't wait to eat with my friends in the dining hall and enjoy movie nights, or late-night milkshake runs. But first, I would have to get through Week One.

I’m packing up to move back to campus for the senior year of my BFA Musical Theatre program. Here are ten items from my must-have list for Theatre/Music/Musical Theatre Students. 1. An online document organization system. Scan sheet music or sides with your phone and upload them to an online platform. I use Google Drive, which allows me to log in from any computer and access my files! A digital copy is always available and ready for printing. Other things to add to your online database include resumes, headshots, and accompaniment recordings.

Adulthood is coming into focus, and for a life in professional musical theatre, there are some sacrifices I’m not sure I’m ready to make. I want to build my own rule book, and be authentic to myself, but how? Everything is so competitive, it seems impossible to get work if you're not the perfect blank and malleable chess piece that producers can use. The logical part of my brain says 'Just be true to yourself and the work will follow!' But how do I pay the bills while I wait for the work?

Quarantining? Didn’t make the cast? Busy with a job or family responsibilities? No theatre in your area right now? There are so many factors that impact a young actor’s work opportunities, but not being able to add a role to your resume shouldn’t limit your ability to continue growing as a performer. Between Covid Quarantine and show-less summers, I’ve discovered a few ways I can flex my musical theatre muscle from home, sometimes just scrolling on my phone!

I am the target audience for Disney+’s “High School Musical The Musical The Series.” I’m a musical theatre major, participated in the high school theatre, and repeatedly watched the behind-the-scenes dance tutorials on the original High School Musical DVD when I was seven years old- but I still haven’t watched the series completely.

Going into my first retail job was a little frightening, but I knew I would be building skills that would serve me well post-graduation. But I didn’t know how closely these skills would relate to theatre.

I only saw the most practiced and polished version of the performance on social media. I didn’t see the three hours’ worth of takes they worked on to get the perfect shot. I didn’t hear the groans over vowel shapes and breath support. I just saw the finished product of others, while I couldn’t escape the mistakes and learning that I was doing.