The State Street Players

Annie

Walking in, the knot in my stomach kept growing and getting more and more tangled. I had been doing theatre for years. Why was this so stressful? Camp was just beginning, auditions weren't even until the afternoon. "Hey Chloe, great to see you again!" a voice called out snapping me back to reality, it was my director, Patty. I looked down to see her orange tinted hair, which matched her very spray tanned face. "Hi'' I responded, that was the only thing I could get out of my mouth. "You're in Miss Kelly's group sweetie" she said, "and because you're a teenager now, you're the group leader!" I was already worried about myself, but now I had to worry about a bunch of whiny kids? For real?

I walked into the auditorium to find my group. I walked down the aisle to find them lodged in the very front, all the way in the right corner. I gave Miss Kelly a big hug, I hadn't seen her since last summer. She was tall, just like me, and had brown hair so dark it was almost black. She was the assistant choreographer alongside her aunt, Miss Edi (short for Edith). Miss Kelly bent down so that her crop top covered her tan stomach, "Chlo, I'm depending on you this time, I'm gonna be choreographing, so you'll be in charge most of the time." The second oldest of the group was a girl just around the age of eleven, maybe twelve. She was a stout Italian girl, and was talking to my friend Nicole. "Chloe, this is my friend Ava" said Nicole, "she was in The Wizard of Oz with me last year." "Hey" Ava said blandly: there was something off about this girl, I just didn't know what.

Patty gave a long spiel as she does every year, explaining what happens in the camp, and welcoming all the returning campers, and the newcomers. The groups were then separated to play what we call the "name game". In this game each person has to say their name and something they like to do. Everyone after the first person has to repeat what every person before them has said. Miss Kelly went first, "Hi I'm Miss.Kelly, and I like to dance." This game went on and on in what seemed like forever. Surprisingly, we were the first group done.

The game and introductions ended up taking up the first 3 hours of the day, so it was already lunch time. I was relieved but nervous. Before lunch we had to fill out audition sheets. We had to write basic things like our name, height, age, and circle what parts we were auditioning for. I ended up circling Pepper, Duffy, Lily, and Hannigan. Pepper had been my dream role since I was little so even though I knew I was a little too old I gave it a shot. I finally got to sit and talk with my friends, but that meant auditions were coming closer. We went outside for lunch every day and sat in the grass. It was great because it was nice to not be stuck inside the whole day, but it was always very hot. I sat with my friends Lizzie, Eddie, Ryan, Kathleen, Hope, Alex and April. I was very happy that I got to see them. We discussed our audition songs and found comfort in each other before the nerves set in.

Lunch went by in a flash. That's when the panic set in. I got back into my group and we sat waiting through the auditions never knowing when we would be called. The worst part about auditions was that you not only performed in front of the staff but on stage in front of all one hundred kids in camp. Ava ended up going right before me. She sang "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. It definitely was not the right choice for a musical theatre audition but she did sound very good. She pompously strutted off stage. "Good job Ava", I whispered to her, "I know" she responded. "Chloe Ferucci" Patty called. Shaking I nervously climbed up onto the stage. "Hi... um I'm Chloe and I'll be singing "Defying Gravity" from Wicked." It started off fine but when it even went slightly high I went up into my undeveloped head voice and didn't sound so fine. I received a light applause before I walked back to my seat. When I sat back down Ava turned to me and said "The beginning was okay, but you should have kept it low." she remarked.

All of the other auditions passed and it was time to go home. I anxiously awaited my mother and tried to be calm. All that night I tossed and turned. I could not deal with the anxiety. I couldn't sleep at all.