Bianca Hines Ensemble: A Short Story

I hurried to get dressed with a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up past my cast. I also wore a red tie and black skinny jeans. I could only sing so we had to use the track guitar. Last thing I had to do was my vocal warmups. I finished and went to the side of the stage. My mind was swirled with thoughts as the video ran and our cue was said to go on stage. My microphone was on me and I was as ready as I was ever going to be. We all ran on stage and started to play. We started with undisclosed desires. Since I didn’t have my guitar to play it gave me a chance to rest and just

I walked into the building in front of me, not wanting to interact with anyone, even my singing instructor, Shauna. Shauna greeted me with a smile, and we headed back to her lesson room. I scanned over the colorful binders on her bookshelf, trying to find a good song to sing. Finally, I settled on a song from one of my favorite musicals, and we got started. Soon, I lost myself in the song and all of the negative feelings from before melted away. By the end of the lesson, I was energized and smiling. My miserable day was a little more bearable, and instead of feeling overwhelmed, I felt ready to take on the challenges that I was facing.

The night was coming to an end; parents were slowly showing up to collect their kids. The DJ announced it was the last song of the night. It was our theme song. Jaimie and I swayed together on the dance floor belting out the words we knew by heart when we heard what sounded like

Those girls were a division higher than my team; so, as I watched their arms gracefully swing from side to side; their legs kicking into the air in a beautiful battement; and, the nearly flawless transitions, I wondered how much hard work and how many rehearsal hours they put in to achieve those movements with such ease. The spotlight highlighting their every move had me in awe. The song slowly started to fade out and the loud, obnoxious thumping in my chest resurfaced. With shaky legs and uneven breathing I hesitantly made my way onto the stage and got into position. Looking into the crowd, I could see hundreds of faces staring back at me; some familiar, some I had never seen in my life. This gave me a feeling of nostalgia taking me back to that first day of dance class when all eyes were on me. I could not hear anything around me except my heartbeat in my chest. I remembered how aesthetically pleasing the dancers prior presented themselves on stage and told myself to get it together. I had to give it my all and not let my team down, but most importantly I could not let myself down. I looked at my friend, who posed just to the left of me, for reassurance and she gave me such a genuine smile. I could see it in her eyes that she believed in me. I looked at my surrounding and thought “This is what I’ve been working towards. This is where I want to be.” All the negative thoughts that previously invaded my mind faded. My breathing began to even out as the lights dim signaling that the song would start any

Brittany Russel sang “Nobody Love”, she sang with magnificent range and gave the audience a nice pair of chills down their arms, because you could tell she sang from a personal perspective. She carries this certain style where it’s very raw and emotional. To bring an upbeat into the room Madison Slamka and Gillian Marino’s performance of The Beatles “Come Together” allowed the audience to release their worries and stress of the week that lay behind them. Their duet performance was entertaining and colorful, the two girls added their own style which gave the performance an extra twist on the song. This allowed the girls to not just sing the same style as the original artist, but to take the next step and recreate a clever, melodic song into something that was their own. One of my favorite performances of the night was The A Cappella Group. Their three numbers were amazing and left me wanting so much more. Even though Callie Atkinson was a featured soloist performing Hold my Hand, the groups back up was essential for the emotional feeling of the song. As incredible as their performances were, there was this one distractions to the group. The random movement of their upper bodies drew attention away from the

The day after the Fall Play auditions my sophomore year, I went up to my drama teacher who also happened to be the Fall Play director at the time. I was curious and sad that I didn’t make the cast and if I’m being honest with myself, I was a bit humiliated and angry that I didn’t make it. In my mind it made sense that because I was in the play last year, I would automatically make it. However that was not the case. When I went up to my teacher, Mr. Boles, I asked as calmly as I could, “Mr. Boles, I just want to know what I did to not make cast.” I will never forget what he said to me. He turned to look at me, crossed his arms and said, “You weren’t good enough.” Plain and simple. Cut and dry. Just like that.

"I’m so nervous,” I complained to my mom as we walked into the Waukesha Civic Theatre. “What if I’m not good enough. I haven’t even prepared that much!” It was a crisp September day and some leaves had already started changing color. On the way home from school my mom told me about a play that the theater puts on near us every year and thought I would be good for it. Since I had only heard about the audition that day, it gave me a few hours to pick my song and be prepared for whatever part they wanted me to read. The next song that came on the radio was the song “Edge of Glory” by Lady GaGa and because it was in my vocal range I thought it would be good for me. Little did I know that this audition would change my view of theater.

I wish that Jason could sing with me but there was no argument when Echo told me the song only required one set of vocals. After getting lost in my worried thoughts for a minute, my mind went back to reality when the lights dimmed and the crowd got quiet. My heart raced and it took all my strength to stand still and hold back tears. "Now everyone, this is our last entry for the competition but I've heard great things from this group and am sure they will impress you. Now playing the song (song name here) is (school name here) Middle School's Junior Music Group!" The announcer said in an excited voice. My stomach sank when he basically told the crowd to have high expectations but I knew I couldn't chicken out now. The curtains started to separate and bright lights started to blind me from the large crowd, which was good in this case. I knew now that I was facing the biggest challenge of my life and that if I failed to complete this challenge, my dreams of a musician would collapse, so I didn't take this lightly. I adjusted my posture one more time and with trembling hands I signaled Tori to begin her

The last thing I wanted to do was start over, nevertheless I didn’t have a choice. I knew if I moved again, there was a chance I wouldn’t make it. Not long after, I found out my friend had died. Her brother murdered the rest of his family along with her. She made my move easier when I was there. I would miss her, but she made me realize how truly messed up the world can be. I missed home, so much that if I couldn’t be there, then I didn’t want to be in the world at all. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t go back home, that chapter has closed, and it was time to open a new one. It was pivotal that I burn down the stage, throw away the costume, and figure out who I am. The pain will always be there, but I am stronger for

Now that I could see beyond the audition, I remembered why I had wanted to be in the ensemble in the first place, and I desperately wanted to know if I had made the cut. After what seemed like endless waiting, Mrs. Vermillion finally posted the list. My eyes immediately went to the Soprano column. When I saw my name, I hardly dared believe it. Slowly, the realization that this was not some mistake began to sink in. It was the most incredible feeling in the world, like I could have flown if I wanted to.

This was all a gateway into a world I have never seen myself in. Once the show ended I continued to search for ways to be involved in the theatre department, being enrolled in the class wasn't enough for me, I needed more. Quickly I developed a passion for theatre and continued to find new ways to do it. The summer of my freshman year I was involved in a play in the park. During one of our performances a tree fell down onto the area we

In my eighth grade year at Sierra Middle School Ms. Anderson, the drama teacher, announced that our school would be performing the musical “Oklahoma.” Although I had never seen the musical, I knew that it was widely known, and I had a lot of enthusiasm. Auditions finally rolled around, and I auditioned for the three female ‘leads’ (truly the lead is different depending on how each of the parts are portrayed): Laurey, Ado Annie and Aunt Eller. After almost three days of stressful waiting I grabbed my friend

I remember not being very confident at all, because I did not know what to expect. We went and bought a dress, shoes, and then got my hair and makeup done. I had practiced walking for weeks before this beauty walk, and so when I got on stage, I wasn’t nervous. I smiled, walked as slowly as possible, and made sure I kept eye contact with the judges. When we were called back out on stage for top 10, which is when I became extremely nervous, I did not think my name would be called, but it was! I had to go on stage and walk again, and this time my nerves took over. I finally got off stage and went backstage to relax for a minute. When we were called back out, it was time to announce the top 5, and the winner. While I stood there waiting, they starting calling 4th. 3rd, 2nd, and 1st runner up and I never heard my name, so I had lost all hope. I will never forget what happened next, the announcer said and the Miss Duncanville for this year is… Kalee Jones! I was shocked I did not move from where I was standing for a

My mom knew I was beginning to have a passion for theatre she also knew I had to overcome my extreme shyness . She made the decision to take me out of my small school, and enroll me in a public middle school that offered theatre, From that point on, my life changed. I made new friends, I got involved with after school activities and sports. One day while picking me up from softball my mom wanted to take me to see a play called “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” at The Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA). I knew from that moment that CAPA was the school I wanted to

Going into college, I planned to achieve my goal of becoming a Physical Therapist by excelling as an academically-studded student. Life triumphed my naive goals and quickly introduced me to the harsh realities of the real world. In the second semester of my Freshman year, I lost one my greatest childhood companions. My teenage cousin collapsed during a basketball game due to a sudden heart attack. I was heartbroken by this unexpected news. No prior personal loss or life experience prepared me to handle the turmoil. Successive losses in the family persisted throughout the course of three years, including my two dear grandmothers who helped raise me. My Mother, my life role model, fell into a massive depression which led to the separation of her marriage. My brother, who idolized our cousin, spiraled into