This production has been an amazing ride. I now feel like I’m a hero who just finished his mission. The process was extremely challenging and every rehearsal I faced a new challenge, and I had to constantly be making changes to the way I acted or said certain lines. The final result to all the hard work was a performance for three straight nights and an amazing feeling of achievement at the end of it all.

Back in September, I auditioned for the role of Fagin, and was given the role of Mr. Brownlow. I was very enthusiastic about the character I had been chosen to play, and I was eager to learn all my lines. The first few weeks of rehearsal, we were allowed to read off the script, which helped me become more familiar with what I had to say in each scene. After going off script for the last month of rehearsals, it made it easier to focus on our acting while we already knew what we had to say. Every week, I was given new feedback which was a great experience for me because I got to perfect my acting rather that just make it good. Although I didn’t always enjoy the rehearsals, they helped the whole crew prepare for the performance, which we were all looking forward to. For the first few weeks we were rehearsing with Ms. Jackson or Trae individually without anyone else watching, but towards the later stages, we had to perform in front of the rest of the group, which helped prepare me to perform in front of a larger audience. My confidence grew during these sessions because before this performance, I had never performed in front of a large audience by myself. On UN day and in Concert Band, I was in a group performing to a larger audience whereas for Oliver, I was more isolated. I was nervous for the three big performances but I was still excited, which made the experience so much more enjoyable for me.

The first night was very nerve racking to say the least. It was the night where I would get to display everything that I had learned. There were a lot of people I knew in the audience, and I felt nervous but I knew that it was just a performance and if I messed up, the show would still go on. I waited in the changing room for the start of the performance as I only come in during Act 2, and it made me less nervous because I could hear that everything was going well and despite a few mistakes, the audience was loving it. I first went on stage during the song at the end of the first act, “Consider Yourself”, and it wasn’t as nerve-racking as I thought it would be. That moment on stage settled my nerves and allowed me to enjoy the performance more. I was on the stage a lot during Act 2 and I executed everything very well, and didn’t forget any lines or miss any queues. At the end of the performance, we all congratulated each other and set ourselves the goal of being even better the next night, as we needed to be louder on the songs.

The next performance didn’t make me feel as anxious as the first one after how well I acted on the first night. This time, my family was in the audience, my parents and my two younger siblings. I had more friends at this performance and the audience was even larger and more excited after hearing how good it was the previous night. The songs that I was in throughout the first act were all better than the previous night, and we sang much louder and better than Thursday. Once again, I didn’t make any mistakes and the scene during the intermission was better. The intermission scene involved Oliver picking my pocket and the police catching him and bringing him to me while everyone is crowded together in the auditorium foyer. On Thursday, I ran too fast and bumped into a few people, and I also wasn’t loud enough. This time, I was almost too loud and I made sure not to run too fast and make someone drop their drink. After the performance, we were once again satisfied with our performance and ready for the final night.

Photo Creds: GeckoNet

The final night of a production is definitely the biggest, and it is called the Gala night. This means that the auditorium is turned into a restaurant and we perform for the customers while they eat dinner. I was warned about how we would add extra scenes for the gala night, and I was ready when Trae handed me a new monologue to read out to the audience which was about a page long. This monologue was actually the menu of the main courses that the audience could choose from. This new challenge made the final night even more enjoyable and after I got a few laughs from the audience from my menu-reading I was very happy and relieved. Once again the performance was excellent and we were all happy at the end. It got very emotional for the seniors because it was their last production. I still have one more production to go through next year before I get emotional, but nevertheless, this year’s Oliver production was still an amazing journey and I’m looking forward to what next year’s production has to offer.