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STEM AND singing?? Two of my favorite things EVER!

In the beginning of April my friend Faith and I signed up for a musical called Pitch In. We were both fans of Broadway's Taylor Louderman, we saw that she wrote a musical, and signed up two minutes later (it was a very impulsive decision). We sent in self-tape auditions, and as I was watching the last movie of the Star Wars saga, we got the cast list. I got cast as Mel, the very shy but driven leader of the Science Club for the first act, and Devon, a jock, for the second act. Of course I wore my Cubs jersey for that role. Even before the first day of the workshop, I got to meet most of the people I was cast with through Zoom. It was so incredible to meet people my age who do theatre all over the world. Throughout the 3 Day Workshop, I learned from the creative team: Hannah Klopfer, Nat Zegree, and (of course) Taylor Louderman. We had the final show over Zoom, and like any closing night, it was very emotional. However, what I didn't know was that wasn't the last time I would be singing those (super catchy) songs.

2 months later, I got an email from the team saying that they would like to put on a fundraising reading, with a combination from the 6 workshops they have held since then. I was so excited that I got to reprise my role as Mel, and even more excited to be a part of a new cast and learn from them as well. We dove deeper into the script, AND learned 2 more songs. What I thought was most interesting from the second time around was our need to connect through a screen. We learned pretty quickly that acting in person is completely different than over Zoom- making human connections was 10x harder. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out what direction to face so it looks like we're talking to each other. Although it isn't exactly like live theatre, it definitely helped soothe my performing deprivation. Being creative for a week made my quaratine a little bit more tolerable.

AND if that isn't exciting enough, the proceeds will go towards Girls Who Code and the Dramatists Guild Foundation. I am so grateful toward the creative team for choosing Girls Who Code, as I am trying to start a Girls Who Code Club at my school this year. I have been in love with coding and computer science since freshman year, and have been advocating for Women in STEM ever since, which inspired me to start the club.

The "show" is on July 8 @ 7pm EST. To see it on Youtube Live, go to DonorUp and get your ticket for a minimun donation of $5. The link will be active for 24 hours, if you are not available at 7.

Scroll or tap here to see the Broadway World article below.