A Day to Remeber

I went to the show (High School Musical) on Sunday a little tired and not to into being there. It was a Sunday and usually half of the audience falls asleep part way through act one on Sunday's. So I get ready for the show. shave, brush teeth, hair, make-up and costume. Brittany (Gabriella) and Jesus (Troy) and I are leading warm-ups when Tricia (Our SM) lets us know that there are two very special girls in the audience today, both in wheelchairs and one of them is terminal. She went on to say that it takes a great effort for them to go out to fun things like this and so to really give it our all. How could we not after hearing that. So we head downstairs and prep for the show. Things seemed a little disjointed as we had some new faces back stage (Long story). However, when places was called we went and prepped for a fun show.

I don't remember a lot of the show. I know that the "Audition" scene finally went right, I know that "Status Quo" was a bit too fast, I could barley eat my whole lunch. and I know that Britt and Jesus sounded awesome on "I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You." It actually was the best performance we had done yet. During "Breaking Free" Lindsay (Kelsi) and I our dancing our butts off behind the curtain getting ready for the finale and she told me that during the reprise of "The Start of Something New" that troy and Gabriella sing when making up she saw one of the girls in the wheelchair out there mouthing the words with them and smiling away. When the curtain opened and we go into the finale there were smiles and cheers and kids bouncing in their seats. And we get to the end of the song, the last time through the chorus and there she is, right in front of me, eyes and wide as I have ever seen with a smile as big as the ocean.

After the show the cast goes upstairs to the loft for a meet and greet "Wildcat Pep Rally." It's always fun to see how they flock around Troy, Gabriella, Ryan and Sharpay. They are really good with the kids too, talking with them signing autographs. Well as the crowd was thinning a bit they brought up the two girls. I saw Emily first. She is a beautiful young lady, probably 7 -9 years old. I'm not sure what it is she has exactly. She smiled a lot but never spoke, I'm not sure she can. Her mom thanked us for being so kind to her and for the show. We signed autographs, as our characters, since the kids don't care who we are. I then saw they brought up the other little girl, she was the one in front of me during the finale. Her name is Karly. Britt and Jesus were there signing autographs when I saw her. Justin (Ryan) and Jasmine (Sharpay) jumped in when they were done, and Lindsay and I were next, the Nick (Chad) and Jaimie (Taylor). As the line of cast members kept coming over to her, her face just lit up. She couldn't believe that the "High School Musical" kids were talking to her. Her mom was in tears, Tracy was in tears, Jesus' mom was in tears. Jaimie was welling up, I was welling up Brittney was. To see how appreciative they were that we did the show and took time to talk to them was crazy, I'm just a student trying to learn enough to make it in the world, and they wanted to meet us. About ten minutes went by and they ask if we could crowd around for a picture. Of course we did and when it was done I looked at Jesus and he yelled "What team" "Wildcats" it's the wildcat chant you know... 1. What team, 2. Wildcats, 1. What team, 2. Wildcats, 1. What team, 2. Wildcats, 1.Wildcats, 2. Get your head in the game. We kind of cleared out after that, but I saw Tracy and Jesus' mom just in tears almost sobbing it seemed. Later I ask what was up and Tracy told me that after we chanted Karly just sat there and for a second she thought maybe we scared her, but then her she looked at her mom and brought her hand up to her face, like "OMG I can't believe that just happened" her mom instantly burst into tears and Tracy was gone after that.

I was talking with Jesus after this about how, it is these moments that remind me why I do this. We were able to take these kids away from their life and the pain for just a couple of hours, but it meant so much to them. I felt kind of like an ass, because I had come in with such a negative attitude that day. Who would have thought that a maybe 9 year old kid would remind me why I want to perform. I love theater, because it effects people. It changes people. Sunday was an amazing day, and I;m so happy that I got to have that experience.