The Theatre Fam is the Best Fam

When I was in creative writing, my favorite topic to write about was theatre. If you can't tell already, I really have a passion for it. Lots of my friends liked my pieces and I felt like sharing some of them with you.

This first one is a personal favorite of mine. This was the first one I ever wrote for my creative writing class. The topic was to write about a groups stereotypes, and obviously I gravitated towards theatre kids. I showed this to a few of my friends, who  loved it, and even my theatre teacher. She told me that it was very heartfelt and genuine. She even asked me to print her a copy of it. So here it is.

The Theatre Fam is the Best Fam

My Theatre Family

We are the theatre family. We are loud and obnoxious. We like to spend most of our time in our theatre class room and love every second of it. We act different in front of theatre kids than we do around our other friends because we are allowed to truly be ourselves without fear of judgment. We support each other through everything. We bond over Hamilton and any other show we are listening to at the time. We wear our cast shirts no matter how long ago the show was. We spontaneously burst into song and don’t care who is staring at us. We have playbills covering our walls from all the shows we’ve seen. We are wild and crazy, but extremely awesome.

But when there is a show that is a whole different story. If we are lucky enough to be cast, our whole

world changes for months. Our rehearsal space becomes our home away from home. We basically live there until we finish striking the set. We lose any reminisce of a social life. When anyone asks us to hang out, our favorite line is “I can’t, I have rehearsal.” We try our hardest to be off book as fast as possible, but it doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, we are not off book until the week of the show. We know not to touch other people’s props because the stage manager might actually kill us, but we do it anyways. We laugh and joke with our cast mates, telling stories of previous shows we’ve been in. We try our hardest not to get sick by taking every cold medicine known to man. We know the closer it is to show week, the closer it is to tech week, A.K.A. hell week. During tech week is when we really feel like we live at the theatre. We live off of pizza and junk food and do our homework when we are not on stage. This is also the time where sleep becomes a word with an unknown meaning. We fall behind on homework but somehow we are able to catch up. We perform opening night and we are extremely nervous. After that, it’s a breeze. We take our final bows, relief washing over us. Then, we strike the set, beginning to feel sad that it’s all over. After the show closes, we go through PSD (Post Show Depression), not knowing what to do with ourselves anymore. That’s when we start looking for the next show.

I love my theatre family, and no matter what happens, I know that this is where I belong.

Sincerely,

Carlee

Instagram: The_Theatre_Corner

Twitter: Theatre_Corner

Tips: Getting over a Cold

Now let's be honest, the worst fear of any stage actor is getting sick before any audition or show. I will admit, as I am writing this, I am currently sick with a cold and I have an audition on Wednesday. I thought since this is a common fear and quite frankly happens often that I would tell you guys my secret for getting rid of a cold as fast as possible.

Firstly, I must say that this will not work with the flu and other illnesses such as mono, but if you have the common cold, this should work every time.

PC here

Now the first thing I always take when I am sick is a zinc lozenge. They come in a multitude of flavors and help to end colds faster than is you just leave it. And believe me, I hate leaving colds. I like to use the brand Cold-Eeze because that is what I grew up with. I tend to take three of these every day usually after every meal. You don't want to take them before a meal because zinc lozenges numb your taste buds for a little while. I would also space out each Cold-Eeze by at least four hours.

PC Here

The next thing I take are echinacea capsules. They are herbs ground up into powder and put into a capsule that you take orally. It helps to boost the immune system and helps to fight colds. I usually take one capsule with breakfast and one capsule with dinner.

Other than that, I do the usual things you would do when you have a cold. I drink a lot of water to keep myself hydrated. I take naps because rest really help. I also take warm showers and drink tea because the steam and warm liquid help to soothe the throat and clear the sinuses.

Also, I would keep a few boxes of tissues by you at all times. I know it seems like a no-brainer, but I have gone through a whole box in one day before. In fact, I ran out of tissues the other night. It's always safe to have extra in case you need it.

This is what I do when I need a little bit of help getting better faster. And I can tell you that this has worked for me many times. The best example is when I was in my last full length show, I got sick the week we opened and I was only really sick for one of the performances.

Hope this helps you when you need to get better faster than what would happen naturally.

Sincerely,

Carlee

Instagram: @The_Theatre_Corner
Twitter: @Theatre_Corner