What Participating in Arts !Oglethorpe Has Meant To Me.

          Wow, what a way to spend part of my summer. I never dreamed how much fun it would be to participate in an Arts!Oglethorpe summer production. I also never imagined how much time and hard work it would take.

In 1998 my sister Laura went to see the production of Oklahoma! and when she came home she raved about how much fun it would be to participate in a summer production. The next summer when it came time to try out for the next play, Cinderella, I was so excited. We got all worked up about the audition, rented the original movie, found the script and had copies of all the songs. I think we drove my mom crazy with all of our singing. Then it was time to strut our stuff. My legs were shaking as I walked up to the second floor of the Old Crawford School House where the auditions were being held.

"Hey! It's the Mallonee sisters" I heard someone yell, who I would later know as Bly. There were about ten other people there with the same, "what am I doing here", look on there face as I had. I took a seat on a wooden hay bale and waited my turn. Then before I knew it, it was all over and I had to wait the longest three days of my life to see if I even got a part.

Sunday slowly rolled around and I was thrilled to see that I was going to be Cinderella. That was when my busy schedule of laying out by the pool and sleeping in was interrupted, but I didn't mind one bit. At first we only practiced a few nights a week, but as opening night drew closer I spent almost everyday with Prince Christopher (Brandon Card) practicing and even painting parts of the set.

Opening night was absolutely wonderful, the whole cast was so much fun to hang out with back stage and the excitement of an almost full house was exhilarating. Every show was equally amazing even though my crown fell off in mid-waltz it was gracefully caught by Brian Lance and the magical pumpkin had a little bit of a problem we urged it on with an original cheer by Bly. Anyone who has ever been in an Arts!Oglethorpe production knows that even though the plays are awesome the best part is the cast party after the final night. There is so much food and everyone has become great friends it was so nice just to sit down and say, "Ahh, it was fun ,but AHH! It's OVER!."

I had such a great time in Cinderella I had to be in the next production which was Oliver. This time I didn't get as big of a part but I still had a great time. Dressing up like a boy was a little painful, but I learned that in acting even though you may not get a huge part every person in the production is still very important.

Over the last two years I have been encouraged by my participating in Arts!Oglethorpe to pursue my dream of being a performer. My stage presence has dramatically improved by the summer production and even my friendship with my little sister has strengthened because of all the extra rehearsing we have done at home. I am really looking forward to this summers production of The Boyfriend. My involvement in Arts!Oglethorpe has meant a lot to my teenage life, even though things didn't work out between Cinderella and the Prince.