On this episode of The Middle School Mind, Son has a special guest, Raphael, who is here to talk about stage fright and how they prepare for theater performances.

They talk about the process to get into a show starting with the audition workshop, the audition itself, call-backs, practices, opening night and all the feels associated with the closing show.

Audition Workshops

The workshop is like the pre-audition audition. You are generally divided by age and taken through singing, dancing and running lines.

Auditions

It can get extremely competitive at auditions. Brother against brother, Friend against friend. And Raphael says it’s important to look “fly” to the auditions. It’s important to keep yourself busy like playing cards to keep yourself entertained during auditions.

Call-Backs

You have a short amount of time to prep for call-backs. If you bomb your call-back, you may have just missed out on making the show. It’s easy to psyche yourself out when you’re checking out your competition. The directors usually don’t provide feedback during call-backs which adds to the anxiety.

Practices

You made the show - good for you! Middle schoolers need to balance school, other activities, family time and other interests in addition to the show. Son and Raphael practice at home in front of their stuffed animals for their audience.

Tech Week

Tech Week is crunch time where you prepare for the actual shows. The number of practices ramp up and you need to do run-throughs with microphones and costumes. You need to lean on your friends and trust your directors to make sure the show comes together.

Opening Night

The guys play Super Smash Bros on the Switch to take the focus off the show. The cast and crew are in full costume and huddle together and talk trash to relieve stress.

Closing Night

It’s a mix of emotions. We’re excited that it’s over but we also got so close to our castmates that we get so emotional. We also want to go out on top and give our best performance. We celebrate our show with an awesome cast party.

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On this episode, we featured our fellow podcaster, If You Give a Dad a Podcast. This is a nerdy dad podcast where they interview everyone from wrestlers, musicians and even a chiropractor. Listen to their show for all things nerdy.

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