Although not technically an official college student yet, I’m taking more college credit hours than some of my friends who actually are in college, and I find myself seemingly busier and busier every week. So like any rational person, I decided to cut some things from my schedule.
Did I say cut? Sorry, I meant add. Add things to my schedule.
This past Tuesday there were auditions for a local musical called “Strays”, an original musical written by a couple of locals here in Sherman. The show focuses on the plight of stray pets that have been lost or abandoned. It is told from the animals’ points of views, so most of the characters are cats and dogs. It is written as a ‘dramedy’, with a serious message couched in comic songs and dialogue.
So, feeling as if I had nothing better to do, I decided to try out for it. I was cast in three roles: a Puppy, a Show Dog, and a Begging Dog. As the Puppy I sing a song which is basically about being a hormonal little dog, and as the Begging Dog I sing a verse in a song entitled “Least of These” about ownerless pets desiring to have a home. The songs are good, and I am excited to get to sing them, but that is not what excites me most about being in this production of “Strays”. What excites me the most is that I get to originate the characters, or ‘create’ them, if you will. Since it is an original production that has never been performed, the characters are completely and wholly mine, I have a thrilling amount of freedom as to what I can do with my characters. Obviously the directors/writers do have some say in the characters, but in this play more than others I have freedom to invent. Theater is about creating and being, and in this production I will have the most freedom I have ever had to create and be my character.
Every Angle 