Purple Haze
Looking back
By Lauren Bagian

April 1, 2010

After finishing the high school musical only a few weeks ago, I sat in the Northern High School auditorium on Thursday, March 25, anxiously awaiting the elementary performance. Remembering my own days of performing with the elementary cast, I was excited to see Annie, Jr.

When the performance depicted Annie being adopted and then the plan to get her back that was foiled, I leaned over to my mother to ask, “Were the elementary shows always around an hour long?” She nodded and told me they were that long when I was in them, too. I was surprised, for I always remembered the long months of rehearsals learning the dance numbers and songs that led up to the performances at the end of March. But as Dr. Lemon says at the beginning of each show, “These are little children who have worked very hard.” And it was then I realized that, yes, those children work incredibly hard to put on such an amazing performance! In fourth grade, trying to tackle a 3-hour show like Oklahoma! with a long list of songs and a daunting number of lines would have been impossible. I remember getting my Rocky of the Rainforest script in fifth grade and counting up my amazing 34 lines and one whole song to myself. I was terrified yet excited, but I knew I was going to have to put in a lot of work.

Congratulations to all the elementary performers. You all have put in an incredible amount of work and you have so much talent that I know the high school musical directors cannot wait to get their hands on you in a few years. When I come back to Dillsburg to see the high school musicals in later years and I see some of your names in the program doing professional shows such as Footloose and Grease, I won’t be surprised at all to see the wonderful performances you put on. However, always remember where you started, how you first learned to memorize all those lines and how much higher the highest note you can hit is than what it was back then. It will give you even more confidence and pride about what you are doing. Congratulations, again, and bravo.