By Bella Leonard '21
A week before tech week, Mr. Strohmeyer pulled myself and a few of the ensemble members aside during a rehearsal to explain that since Viz's production was the first of the eligible Saint Louis High School Musical Theatre Awards productions to open, Fox had asked us to perform two numbers on live TV. At this point, the leads had already been notified that this was happening but to me, at least, I immediately started freaking out. Although many people do not realize it, the world of television is drastically different from the stage. This is due to the fact that the camera picks up everything. A week after being notified of our performance, I arrived at Viz with my fellow ladies-in-waiting and got into costume and makeup before the first bell even rang. It was a surreal experience frantically walking down the senior hallway after changing out of my school uniform and into a medieval-era dress while students gathered before their classes started, giving looks of confusion as we walked past. When we finally arrived at the station at 8:00 and were informed we had the 9:45 time slot. In other words we had a lot of down time. Being able to practice our routine before performing dramatically helped calm our nerves and before we knew it, it was time to go on. After arriving back at school, my nerves finally calmed, and it was funny hearing teachers say, "I saw you on the news," because you knew there were multiple viewing parties going on at once. I am forever grateful being able to go to a school that cares about the fine arts and encourages students to participate and get recognized for their talents.
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