First-Year Musical Theatre Student Lands First Paid Gig

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As I take the stage this summer, I will continue to rely on the lessons that they taught me.

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This week, I hit two important milestones: I finished my first year of college at Marymount Manhattan College, and I booked my first adult professional musical theatre job. This summer, I will be in the adult ensemble of 5Star Theatrical’s production of The Wizard of Oz. As I have been reflecting on this past year and reeling about my exciting summer plans, I have realized just how much my first year of musical theatre training has prepared me for this job.

During my freshman year, I got the opportunity to hone in on my dance skills - a part of my craft that I had not had consistent training in previously. Every day of every week for 8 months, I woke up at 7 am and trained in ballet, tap, and jazz - I never missed a class. My dance teacher, Tera-Lee Pollin ’s fast speed of teaching choreography, while sometimes frustrating in the moment, taught me how to pick up choreography in a short amount of time. So when it came time for actual auditions, I was now prepared to focus on my character and presence in the dance call, rather than making sure I knew what steps happened when. It wasn’t until my dance callback for The Wizard of Oz that I realized just how proficient I had gotten at picking up choreography.

The same goes for my vocals. While I have always had pretty consistent vocal training, no teacher has given me more confidence or freedom to bring myself to my performance like my Marymount Manhattan College voice teacher, Rachel Zatcoff . Coming into the vocal auditions, I finally felt the freedom to bring my own personal quirks and individuality to my performance - something that I had not felt prior to this school year.

But other than performing techniques, my first year of BFA Musical Theatre training and my professors gave me so many audition techniques that made the whole experience so much more satisfying. Guest speaker, Lindsay Mendez ’s perspective on making sure you get to know the people who are auditioning you and striking up a fun conversation really helped calm my nerves. Tera-Lee’s tip of putting on headphones and listening to your favorite songs while taking time in a corner to focus and stretch was such an aid in feeling grounded in the audition room. My acting teacher Jesmille Darbouze Smith’s constant preaching of making sure you know your character’s point of view ensured that I gave a unique and personal performance.

This time last year, I was anxious and excited to see what life as a BFA Musical Theatre student would bring me. I got what MMC promised and more. I could not be more grateful for what this year has given me and it has been such an honor to learn from my kind and talented teachers. I can't wait for the next three years to learn more and absorb all of their incredible wisdom. As I take the stage this summer, I will continue to rely on the lessons that they taught me.

As the semester comes to a close, I wanted to reflect on what I've learned as a Student Blogger with BroadwayWorld, specifically in terms of discovering myself and my values through my writing.

While that uncertainty hurts the Type A side of me, the fear is motivating, and I find it to be extremely helpful to be somewhat on the side of the unknown.

Something that I feel is overlooked for actors is developing skills aside from acting. There's the pressure to just choose something and stick with it. I decided to share my experiences of trying things other than performing and how they have benefitted me, both as an actor and as a human.

Writing about theatre has not made me an expert, but it has made me a far more attentive observer, and that has been the biggest surprise of all.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Student-Blog-How-Lessons-From-My-First-Year-As-A-Musical-Theatre-Student-Helped-Me-Land-My-First-Paid-Gig-20260528)._