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Sarah Lewis

11 October 2018

American Music and Dance Academy

Unpinned - College Application Essay

October 12th, 2017, opening night for​ Anatomy of Gray, ​a play by Jim Leonard, Jr. After

six weeks of rehearsals we were finally ready to show the community what they had been

waiting so patiently for in their seats. Heart thumping, a blackout began, we rushed to our spots

on the stage. Then the lights rose and I felt at peace. I was up there on that stage doing what I

love. I had not spoken a word yet but I would have been content to sit under those lights all

evening long. We gave a good performance throughout the first few scenes, something to be

proud of for years to come. However, a slight miscalculation in safety pins threw the whole

record running.

It is one of the last scenes in the first act when my character—Rebekah Muldoon—and

the doctor, Galen P. Gray are out on a boat ride together. The boat we used on the set was a

platform framed by casters with a large stick we used to push off the ground and steer. When

done properly, it truly looked like you were floating on a river. Finally, it was my turn to steer

the boat back to ‘shore’. I stood and started pushing off the ground however, the boat did not

move. As I heard the audience laugh, I wrote it off and kept pushing, I would be laughing too if I

had to watch this weak little teenager try to push a set piece and no one is moving. That was until

I looked down and saw my skirt pooled around my ankles. In the process of me standing up and

leaning over to push the boat, the one safety pin in my skirt came undone. Immediately I started
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panicking, I quickly maneuvered myself and unlocked the casters, pushing the boat to safety, all

the while pulling my skirt up with one hand. We did not make it fully to shore before my fellow

actor was getting off the boat and pulling me with him. Throughout the whole ordeal we never

dropped a line and our voices never waivered. In a better state of mind, I would have been pretty

proud of us. That marked the end of Act One.

I was so embarrassed I felt like I could not breathe. They cannot prepare you for an

experience like that in any acting class. I stood backstage, gulping water, trying not to think

about how long my skirt must have been down before I had noticed. As soon as I had walked off

stage I had people swarming me asking if I was okay. I was sure I would be scarred for the rest

of my life from that moment. Then the assistant director walked in. You could tell she was

slightly panicking over the situation as well but was doing her best to mask it for my sake. I do

not remember much of what she told me but one sentence, “I am so proud of you for staying in

character, only a real actor would be able to do that.” Everything felt better after that.

I still felt a little humiliated but all of a sudden it seemed more like a blessing. In that

moment my thoughts of myself swarmed through the air. It was a wave of self-confidence I had

forgotten about. It is a moment that my fellow actor and I can look back on and laugh. It is a

failure that taught me I truly am a good actor, it made me believe in myself. The show went

on—with more safety pins—and on our closing night, as the lights went down, I tacked that

show as the best thing I had ever done. If high school theatre can make me feel that way, I cannot

wait to see what college theatre brings.