My First Play

I was always a drama queen, but my first chance to be on stage came when I was in third grade. The call came over the PA system saying that there would be a school play, and that they were holding auditions for students third through sixth grades.

I was intrigued! It sounded like a lot of fun, so I talked to my mother and we agreed that I could stay late at school and attend the audition. I walked into the school library that afternoon with a mixture of excitement and fear- a fear which quickly escalated because everyone was bigger than I was. I was the only third grader who came to the audition. Some of the sixth grade boys that were there were twice my height!

I listened to the speech made by the teacher as I sat by myself at one of the tables. I watched a few other students read a part, and sing a song. My turn came, and I read a part and sang a little piece of a song. That was it. It was over. Audition done.

To my surprise, however, when the cast list was posted, I had actually gotten a part- and it was a big one! I played Lily the Fairy who escorted some bored kids on their search for "Happiness Land". On our way, we found "Music Land", and "Candy Land" and a bunch of other lands before realizing that all of these different lands made the kids happy- sing the finale, the end.

Rehearsals were fun, and I loved playing a fairy- I WAS a third grade girl after all. They gave me a cream colored tutu lined with sequins, and I had a little crown, and a wand! They gave me these green wooden wings that were strapped to my back. One wing wouldn't work properly and kept swinging back and forth while the other one stayed straight. It made me look lopsided.

Was I a brilliant actress? Um, no. But I remember people laughed (I hadn't MEANT to be funny- maybe it was that darn wing), and they clapped and cheered at the end. I felt like the most important Oscar-winning actress ever. It led me to do many plays in my school career- an opportunity I am forever grateful for.