A little bit less than six months ago, I was working on monologues—at that time, it wasn’t my own, but that of Shakespeare. I was the producer of the last Shakespeare class I would have in High School, and I was making the most of it.
I wasn’t the sole producer of this play, I was working with my co-producer and we had lots of help from our directors who were all very good. But, I was head producer, and because of this I had the last say in the casting.
I was working with one actor, who played Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, and he was doing the most amazing job. I remember very clearly, knowing in my head that this actor was definitely the one I wanted for Petruchio. He had the strength of an ox (perfect for carrying his leading lady), the work ethic of an over-achiever (good for memorizing lines), and the all the charm and charisma one could hope for in a leading man.
I have always been very much into the theater and music.
When I was younger, my cousins and I were obsessed with boy bands. We would learn all of their songs and dances, and we put on insanely elaborate performances at family gatherings. I was the youngest cousin, though, so I always ended up having the crappy parts.
Soon enough though, I got my part. Two of my cousins and I decided to form a band. We didn’t have a name, and we performed on the sidewalk using my uncles’ ukulele (or as we called it, a cuatro), a bucket with a string attached, and some maracas. We only knew one song—“Your Love” by the Outfield. I was six years old, it was my absolute favorite song, and I got to be lead singer/maracas player. We made horrible, horrible music, but that’s okay because I was the lead singer.
Soon after that, I started making better music. I took lessons to learn how to play the steel pan. This is perhaps the coolest instrument I have ever played. My teacher thought that I was amazing, and encouraged me to become a professional player, but I was satisfied with just playing at school assemblies. Now, that I’ve stopped playing for so long, I definitely wished that I would have continued with that. I still crave the way the rhythms rolled through my wrists as steel connected with rubber and beautiful sounds resounded.
I stopped playing the steel pan because I moved here to America. I couldn’t really find a satisfactory teacher at the time.
When I moved here, I was entering middle school. Those were three wonderful years. In middle school, I was in the drum line. It was a weird afro-fusion drum line, and I played the jamblaya and the claves.
When I entered High School, I was overwhelmed. I was getting four-five hours of sleep a night, and didn’t have much time for anything. But, I started making time for things. Especially things I really enjoyed. In High School, I started doing things on my own. I picked up guitar and ukulele, and started really getting into theater.
I was in two bands—one, a temporary band made to woo a girl for my friend, and another one of my own, which still exists but is inactive (and extremely so). The other band members are at colleges in lands much too far away.
I went to countless concerts, and made cool new friends at these concerts.
I’ve always been into Harry Potter, but I started getting into wizard rock, and made awesome friends who make habit out of touring the country, singing about Harry Potter.
I started reading myriads of screen plays, and going to a plethora of broadway shows, and off-broadway shows, and off-off-broadway shows. Eventually I made a couple of friends in that business too.
Overall, I have had a pretty good amount of years doing this, and I hope to continue with that, both on my own, and hopefully in Baruch’s performing arts programs also.
