The theater room is all nerves as students prepare for their auditions. They sit and whisper lines to themselves from their stapled packets while others pace the room, gesturing emphatically. In just a few days, these students will know their role in the next FHC production, “You Can’t Take It With You.”
But what happens after high school for these aspiring actors? On-stage careers are incredibly hard to come by. Out of the thousands of high schoolers that dream of becoming the next Idina Menzel or Lin-Manuel Miranda, only a few hit it big.
Junior Connor Becker dreams of being an actor, but knows how difficult it is to hit it big in the profession. Though he has many wholehearted supporters, such as his mom, there are others who support him in different ways– or not at all.
“My dad, he’s a little more realistic about it, but he still supports me. He says, get into a good theater college, but maybe do a double major,” Becker said. “[But] my extended family is like, that’s a pretty risky career. Some of my friends even say, are you sure about that?”
Though the doubts of others can be hard to take, it’s the doubt that comes from within that makes Becker question himself the most.
“Sometimes I’ll have bad days with theater and I’ll think, is this really what I want to do? Especially if I have a bad audition,” Becker said. “I’ll think, am I good enough to even do this? And also, there’s just the whole thing of it being a very uncertain career, there’s no guarantee, and it’s very competitive. So it’s scary, but it’s something I at least have to try to do.”
Although the spotlight focuses on aspiring actors like Becker, on the opposite end of the spotlight is senior Grace Wakelam, president of the theater troupe and lights crew head, who wants to become a theater teacher. Her love for teaching combined with her years in theater has spun itself into a perfect career option.
“I was like, okay, this could be really cool. I like this idea. And then I talked to my director and she said, it’s fun,” Wakelam said. “It gives you a good idea of the future for theater and it makes you feel like you want to educate more people because not many people are educated on it. And I think more people need to be.”
Like Becker, Wakelam faces her own doubts about her future in theater. She worries about the competitiveness of the field and the demand for theater teachers in the future.
“It’s not a very common thing that people do, especially here. So I think that if we get more education on it, if we get more people interested, it’ll boost me up a little bit more. But everyone is so supportive of my choices in it. So I think in the future, as of right now, nothing could stop me from doing it.”
