On Wednesday, Jan. 31, Theater held their first “Miscast” show in which students act in roles they wouldn’t usually be cast in, in hopes of giving students the opportunity to be more comfortable with stepping outside of their comfort zone in roles. Theater teacher Gina Hinojosa hopes it won’t be the last Miscast showing as she believes “every kid should be able to live whatever fantasy they want.”
“It was a lot of pressure as a freshman, especially because there’s a lot of seniors in there that are really experienced in that kind of stuff,” freshman Taylor Gore said. “I’d never done something like that before so there was definitely some pressure, but it was definitely freeing once I was actually performing, rather than the build-up.”
Senior Gabe Glinski believes that the show gives underclassmen a good opportunity to become more comfortable with acting and theater itself, as it’s hard to audition for shows as an underclassmen, but in Miscast, you don’t have to.
“[Backstage dynamics] did change a little bit, a lot of people I talked to were kind of a mix of nervous and excited because they didn’t really know what they were getting into since they don’t get to play that kind of role a lot,” Glinski said. “Some people were like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’ and other people were like, ‘I’m so excited that I finally get to play something that I’ve never gotten to before.’”
The show also allowed for students who don’t normally play roles of the opposite gender the chance to do so.
“I am not usually able to be cast as a guy or like seeing male parts, despite the fact that I can usually hit tenor notes,” Glinski said. “So it was fun to be able to actually perform in that role.”
Sophomore Maxton Newman performed a scene from the show ‘Sweeney Todd’, playing Mrs. Lovett, which is a traditionally female role.
“It’s a character from one of my favorite musicals, so I thought it would be really fun to try out,“ Newman said. “I knew the musical enough to be very familiar with the character, but I kind of found ways to change up some of the lines a bit to be more of a male character.”
The class only started preparing for Miscast after coming back from winter break in early January. The low-stakes environment allowed students to prepare for a lighter role without the stress of a full theater production.
“I honestly just practiced as much as possible,” Taylor Gore said. “I tried not to think about it too much or else I would overthink a lot, but I just had fun [with it].”
Hinojosa believes that Miscast offers a chance for growth for everyone.
“As a freshman, it’s to get a feel of what it looks like to perform. And then sophomores and juniors, it’s just rehearsal” She said. “For seniors it’s to prep you for your college auditions, so I think it benefits all ages”.
Miscast gives aspiring actors a great opportunity to experiment with different characters and performances in a safe environment.
“I was always interested in playing that role,” Glinski said. “But I definitely would have been down to play others like whenever we were first casting, I volunteered to play as the mom or the other female character Alana, but eventually we settled on me being Jared, I totally would have been able to go for the other ones, but I think it fit best for like a miscast character for me.”
Despite the laid-back production, there was still some anxiety backstage.
“The first run-through I did on the stage, I was holding the microphones we had,” Glinski said. “By the time we came off stage, my hands were shivering from the sweat from my nervousness.”
Though some performers struggled with stage fright, Hinojosa saw it as less of a hindrance and more of a way to get the nervous energy out.
“I think in any type of performance, it’s going to help you because you get to read the energy of the audience,” Hinojosa said. “I think putting them on the PAC stage was a little nerve-wracking for them, but once they were on it, they used that anxiousness as energy”.
