By Gauri Midha ’21, Contributor

This year Cincinnati Country Day School’s upper school did A Chorus Line as the spring musical. The musical was about people who are auditioning to be in the chorus of a Broadway musical. Each character told their own story and the struggles that they went through in their life. I played a character named Connie Singh (originally Connie Wong.) She struggled with being a short Asian girl who was never taken seriously because of her size.

As a freshman, this was my first upper school musical. I have seen many in the past and always dreamed about joining them on stage and being a part of it. When I auditioned I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t done much theater stuff before this and I was terrified of what people would think. When I got to the audition I saw the atmosphere that everyone was creating. Everyone was encouraging others and making sure that they felt that they could do the best that they could do. Evey one no matter if they had done this before or not encouraged everybody and made sure that they knew that they were amazing and could do it.

It was very nerve-racking being a freshman and seeing all of these upperclassman that seemed so good and experienced at what they were doing. During the rehearsals, being one of three freshmen at most times was very scary at first, but throughout the show I became very good friends with people that I never would have expected to talk to me. From them I learned many skills and important ideas that really helped me be the best I could on stage. They showed me how fun it is to be in the musical and how it can be stressful at times but very rewarding in the end.

During the show I saw how hard everyone worked and how much they also enjoyed being on stage. Everyone acted as a confident booster for people. When someone would do great on their part or even if they messed up, everyone would rush to them and say how much of a fantastic job that they did. These small details helped me feel comfortable and made me love theater even more.

My experience as a freshman in the upper school musical was nothing like I though it would be. Although I expected everyone to only focus about them and their friends, there was not a single person who I didn’t talk to and didn’t help me when I struggled. I went into the audition being scared but I went out after the show with many new friends. Overall, my experience in A Chorus Line was one that I will never forget, and I am excited to show other kids how amazing it is.