My first Story Theater Experience

Honk Jr. is my first show with Story Theater Company and I have to say, I am absolutely in love with STC and acting. What I love most about Honk is that already I’ve gained so much from it. With Honk, it’s not a very well known musical, which means we can come up with our own ideas. It’s not as easy to watch youtube videos or rely on previous knowledge. We are able to communicate and come up with ideas of our own, which will put a more unique and personal addition to the story.

So far in rehearsals, I can already see a lot of the development in our characters. The choreography that we have for one of the songs Poultry Tale is so set on the story, I can already imagine the characters clearly and feel all their vibes. It’s amazing how much choreography and story we can have in just one song.

We have Elizabeth to thank for our choreography success. The first time I heard Kivan say her name, everyone started jumping for joy. I didn’t know exactly why because I never had met her, but once I did I knew. Elizabeth, like all the leaders in Honk, are so amazing. They make theater fun and are so caring. Yet when things need to be done they get it done, and teach us well.

Story Theater Company’s environment is amazing. It feels like home. This is my first show, but I have already made so many new friends. Everybody at STC is so welcoming, and it’s easy to get along with everyone because the community is so set on learning about theater. Nobody judges you when you sing and everybody is open to new ideas.

Along with our warm ups, we have been doing several exercises that teaches us about theater elements. So far we have learned about Tempo and shape. With Tempo we are able to put in more emotion into our character. Whether it is slowly walking towards our beloved or running away from danger, it’s how we make those movements that allows us to play into the emotions. With Shape, we have to think not how to move with our shape, but how our shape would move. These exercises tie in with the acting which teaches us how to fully develop into our character. How our character moves, feels, thinks, and learning how to show that to our audience will make Honk Jr. an even better production.

I truly believe that Honk will be an amazing show. I can’t wait to continue discovering our character’s roles and learn more about theater history and theater in general. I am excited and proud to be a part of this great production, and I can’t wait to grow more as an actor.

Anika Slowing

(Ensemble)

"My Seventh Show"

We always start rehearsal with warm ups and stretches. It’s a chance for all of us to get focused and get ready for what we are going to do that day. During warm ups, we also learn helpful skills that will help us with staging, like tempo and our shapes. Learning shape and tempo during warm ups helps us discover how our characters would move. Warm ups give us a chance to forget the rest of our problems from outside and just focus on rehearsal. What happens during warm ups sets the stage for the rest of the rehearsal. After we’re done, we start on the agenda for the rehearsal.

This is my seventh show with STC, and I’ve loved each one of them. Every show I’ve been in has been a learning opportunity. I’ve learned all the basics of staging; downstage, upstage, plains, and levels. All the information that I’ve learned carries from one show to the next. Story Theater Company has always focused on learning about acting as well as putting on the show. This show is no different. During this staging process we will be learning about musical theatre; it's history and terms. So far we’ve learned about the three different types of musicals. There’s jukebox, book, and concept musicals. Honk is a book musical, which is the most story-centric. I’m really excited to be able to learn more about it as we embark on our own musical theatre journey throughout Honk.    

Kendra Caufield

(Ensemble)