The theater department have wasted no time to get things rolling for the fall musical, “Beauty and the Beast.” The interest meeting on Aug. 28 kicked off the start of the new production with a full classroom of students buzzing about the opportunity to audition. 

   Freshman Nikita Singh’s current position is backstage with the crew, who measure, design, and build the set, as well as move it during the performance. She kept a level head going into her application process. 

   “The worst that’s gonna happen is that they say no,” Singh said. “I wasn’t very anxious when applying.”

   After being accepted into the production crew, Singh got to meet the rest of her team. With five crew members and her manager, she had a lot of new opportunities to make friends. 

   “I’m learning a lot of people’s names and faces, and it’s fun talking to everyone,” Singh said. 

   As she met her new teammates, the members all went through extensive safety training with drills, saws, and power tools. This training is necessary for the job; many students get  excited to use them, and Singh is no different.

   “I’m interested to see what it’s like to build props,” She said. “I guess I’m most excited to use the power tools.”

   But most of all, she is excited to show off her hard work on the night of the show.

   “Afterwards, […] you feel all fulfilled, and everything is all like ‘we did it guys!’ That part is fun.” Singh said.

   While there are still weeks until the show is performed before a crowd, Singh, along with other freshmen cast and crew members, are already feeling settled into the theater community. 

   Freshman Riley Haefner has similar positivity towards the production. Haefner approached auditions differently than Singh. The young actor had to audition, unlike Singh’s written application for the crew. 

   “The night after the interest meeting you have to write a thirty-second monologue, memorize it, and then perform it,” Haefner said. “It was daunting, because it was my first time writing a monologue.”

   The monologue wasn’t the only thing that needed to be memorized. 

   “We also needed to memorize thirty seconds of a song and perform it, too,” Haefner said. 

   After their successful audition, Haefner was met with a second struggle. 

   “I was worried about being a freshman, because that’s not cool,” Haefner said.  “But yeah, turns out it’s not an issue at all.”

   After getting past all the anxiety in the beginning of the rehearsals, Haefner started to branch out more. They started by joining in the weekly “Cookout Thursday,” where the cast and crew go to Cookout near the school every week. 

   “It was so fun to all eat together and get to know people more, even though I was anxious because it was short notice,” Haefner said. 

   At face value, theater is about acting, singing, and being on stage, but Haefner finds different worth in it.

   “It’s a place where you’re all doing the same thing, you all like the same things,”  Haefner said. 

   The feeling of community in theater is universal, as Singh also agrees. 

   “I realize that a lot of people here are exactly like me.[…] It’s fun finding people that I know and I can get along with, so it wasn’t difficult making friends,” Singh said..

   The senior cast and crew strives to be a welcoming community for the incoming freshmen, as Singh and Haefner have found it to be. As preparations for the show start, the freshmen have already found a place to belong.

“Beauty and the Beast” will be on stage at Deep Run High School Nov. 2-4. Discounted tickets can be purchased in advance online for $12. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15.