Musical Theatre
When I think back on who I was back when I was younger versus the person I am now, I am both equally amazed and proud of myself at how drastic those two people are. In kindergarten and grade school, I recall being very shy, hiding behind my mom or my dad’s back. I disliked meeting new people, and I was hardly able to strike up a conversation with them. Now, I can confidently say that I love expanding my network, although I still have some introversion in me here and there. There are some days where my social battery needs recharging. On days like that, I spend it reading, watching my favorite shows, or listening to music.
In fourth grade, I moved back to my home country, South Korea, after living in Hong Kong for seven years. From my previous experiences in school in Hong Kong and my love for High School Musical, I knew I always enjoyed theater, acting, and singing. My parents would tell me that I would sing a lot as a child, “much more than the average child,” they said. To this day, my friends know me as the happy and energetic friend who is always singing whatever song is stuck in my head. I didn’t truly discover and pursue my passion for acting and singing until drama class in fourth grade. I enjoyed every single improvisation game, from Zip Zap Zop to miming.
One thing many of my peers don’t know about me, however, is that I was able to gain more self-confidence through theater in my junior year of high school when I auditioned to be part of our school’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.” Granted, I still had a very small part because I was still very much in my shy phase, but it made me feel part of a community and allowed me to pursue my passion for singing and acting. I also gained lifelong friends from the production, and we bonded over knowing the choreography and stage blocking by heart, the starting note and lyric of each song, the exact millisecond of each opening line of each scene.
Some of my favorite songs from my Beauty and the Beast era are below:
“How Far I’ll Go” from Moana
One of the opening songs from Moana was the song I auditioned with and got into the musical. Being an alto, this song was a perfect fit for my range and allowed me to showcase the strongest parts of my voice.
“Belle” from Beauty and the Beast
The opening song, Belle, is particularly memorable to me because it was the first scene I was in. I recall each beat that we had to stomp on, the beat count that we had to circulate the stage across from, and the six-part harmony that we had memorized by heart.
“A Change In Me” from Beauty and the Beast
Even though this wasn’t my solo to sing, I have fond memories of mouthing this song with some of my castmates behind the theatre curtains as we waited for our next entrance where we stormed the town hunting down the beast.
“The Mob Song” from Beauty and the Beast
“Gaston” from Beauty and the Beast
Another song that I really enjoyed performing was the one where all the ladies swooned over the musical’s villain, Gaston. The instrumental is a mid-tempo medieval melody, but the upbeat choreography that our choreographer came up with was what made it so exhilarating to perform.
Here are some other musical theatre favorites that brought me to Beauty and the Beast:
“Popular” from Wicked
I first recall seeing the poster for Wicked in fourth grade drama class and I stumbled across Kristin Chenoweth’s performance on YouTube. I loved her expressiveness, bubbly energy, and ability to transition between dialogue and song.
“Hopelessly Devoted to You” from Grease
I also heard about Grease through drama class. I appreciate Grease for its portrayal of the 1950s and all its endless bops, but this song has to be my favorite song from it. I could relate to the sentiments of the song and admire Olivia Newton-John for the portrayal of the pains of heartbreak and lack of reciprocation in love.
“On My Own” from Les Miserables
Hands down the best song from Les Miserables, in which Eponine sings about unrequited love. I love this track because it’s another song to sing that compliments my alto voice range, but I can never reach that high E at the end of the bridge.
Music has always shaped my character as a person and provided me a sense of solidarity, but I will always be thankful to musical theater songs for allowing me to grow more confident in myself and recognize my ability to convey emotions artistically.
Here’s a link to the all these songs compiled on Spotify:
