Accolade copy editor junior Serenity Li auditioned last semester to join the cast of the spring musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and director Annie Pagano — theater teacher Christian Penuelas’ substitute director — cast Li as one of Joseph’s brothers’ wives. With Penuelas’ approval, the junior will document some of her experiences — before and during rehearsals — leading up to opening night, Friday, March 7. Be sure to stay tuned in the A&E section to read her earlier entries and to read the rest.
Rehearsal No. 1: Tuesday, Jan. 7
It’s the first rehearsal ever!
The whole day I had a kick in my step — a reaction to the energy I got from my excitement about the upcoming event. As I passed my friends in the halls during the school day, I would greet them and ask, “Are you ready for the first rehearsal?” To which they would reply the same, “Yep.”
Behind my excitement, I had a lingering pressure behind me. I really wanted to perform well because this marked the first time in an official high school production, and I didn’t want to disappoint my friends who were very skilled in acting.
For the first time, I would see most of the cast, excluding a few sick members, of our production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” a musical based on the Old Testament Bible story about the son of Jacob, one of Israel’s patriarchs. Jealous, his brothers betray him and send him to Egypt, where he goes through highs and lows.
The rehearsal started 90 minutes after school, which meant I could rest at home; during my ride back, I saw two car accidents on the freeway, making me 30 minutes late. I sat in the car, talking with my sister who drove me.
While our conversation seemed lighthearted, my mind was not. I kept wishing I left earlier or already had a folder to write notes in and dinner ready so I would not have to waste time and miss half an hour of our first rehearsal.
I always hate being late to events, so I resolved to get to the next rehearsals on time. I felt the pressure of making a good impression on myself and hoped my late appearance wouldn’t make the director think I wasn’t competent enough to participate in this production.
I walked into the choir room of the Performing Arts Center, and it felt like everyone was looking at me. I found my friend and sat down near her in the back; I felt pretty embarrassed to be so late but curious to know what we were doing.
I put my bag down and asked her what we had done so far; the director and choreographer introduced themselves, and we went over the basics of the rehearsal.
Meanwhile, I took a look around the room. I saw lots of familiar faces and saw students talking to each other. Many people discussed homework, what they looked forward to in other rehearsals or just spent time on their phones. Then, our choir director called us to attention and started handing out the sheet music, holding all the lyrics to the musical soundtrack.
Students who played the Brothers’ wives, which included me, had to sit next to a Brother as people had to share sheet music. We sang through the whole musical to get a feel for the harmonies and speaking parts. While I was singing, I listened to my voice and noted when I needed to take a breath between lyrics, when I needed to sing and what parts I had to be quiet at.
The soundtrack included slow songs, tunes that had us dancing and ones that, near the end of our run-through, made my throat hurt a little. One that I enjoyed, “Poor Poor Joseph,” is performed in the middle of the first act and is very upbeat; the whole cast found themselves dancing to it.
This was a deciding factor in why I wanted to audition for the musical as it showed me how brilliant the production was in the character dynamics and story. Everyone was bobbing their heads, swaying and singing. We basically sang for 30 minutes straight so we could quickly review the songs in the musical; I never done so before.
My vocal cords were exhausted and felt hoarse; at our break I realized how much work I would need to put in to get used to singing this long. I didn’t get to eat dinner before my rehearsal and thankfully brought it with me in a lunch bag. A mediocre dinner of rice, chicken and cabbage had never tasted so good before.
While we sang, I could feel my empty stomach as I inhaled and exhaled. I could hear a grumble from my abdomen every other minute, and once we had a break, I practically inhaled it because of how hungry I was. At the end of the musical run-through, the director gave us some advice after hearing our hoarse, faltering voices: Get familiar with the music, and rest your voice.
Though my first time learning this production wasn’t, and still isn’t, perfect, I know what to anticipate next time. I know now to come prepared with a full stomach, sing more to train my vocal cords and make every effort to get to rehearsal early, if not on time.
