Even when I'm out of high school, its drama still follows me... and I am pretty angry.

So here's the story- even though he said "over his dead body" when some of us suggested we do HSM last year, a few months later, he went, "Hey, I have a great idea- let's do HSM!" So it's my high school's fall musical this year.

That's actually one part of the drama right there- THEY'RE CUTTING OUT THE FALL PLAY! This is a tragedy- I look forward to the fall plays each year, even when I'm not in them, and not everyone can sing, so the play is their only in-school opportunity to perform. I always get a little annoyed around play time because they can't figure out why no one knows we have a school play. I can tell them- it's because there is absolutely no advertisement. We spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on our musicals and buying t-shirts and banners and ad space and stuff and the fall play gets one picture in the yearbook in May.

Anyway. So they decided to do HSM and I was super excited when I heard that a lot of my friends got called back for the four main characters. I was especially excited because one of my closest friends was up for Gabriella! This friend is probably the best singer I know, and she's very mature and professional. Up against her were two of my friends and a girl I know vaguely, but like. So I talked to her constantly over the course of her callback and the day after (the day before the list went up). She said she felt the audition went well.

The list went up yesterday. My friend is not Gabriella. Nor is she Sharpay, Taylor, or Kelsi. She's Martha. Now, Martha is a great role, don't get me wrong. But it's a huge drop from Gabriella. My other friend got Gabriella, and though she is a fantastic singer and actress, she's not as mature and professional as my other friend. I have taken acting/singing/dancing classes with her and I know that when she's sick or even just tired, she throws her performance away. If you ask her why she's holding back, she'll say, "I just don't feel like it today," and if she's sick, she refuses to perform. An audience can usually tell if you're sick, and they'll forgive you, but they won't forgive a lazy performance. Don't get me wrong- this girl can sing and act with the best of them... but only if she feels like it. (And, not that I'm a huge supporter of seniority, but my friend's a senior and she's a sophomore.)

The point is that my friend was more qualified for the role. The worst part is that this is making her look at herself in a very bad light. Not talent-wise- she knows she deserves the part. But she told me last year that if she were up for the part of Gabriella, she would be discriminated against because of her weight. Now, my friend is not fat, but she is not stick-skinny (she looks good at the weight she is, though, so it shouldn't be an issue). The girl who got the part of Gabriella is very small. Of course, I don't know that this was one of the reasons, but I'm sure it came into the discussion. If it did, I am super angry. Both girls have great voices, and they'd still have great voices if they were as big as a house or very homely (which neither of them are). Weight should not be an issue for a role like Gabriella.

But besides that, something cool did happen last weekend- I shot my first short film, and I had the lead! I think I wrote that I auditioned for a local film company twice, once in August of '07 and once this past March. Nothing came of either of them, though they seemed to like me. Then, a few days before I went to school, I got an e-mail from the company asking me if I was free on Labor Day. I said I was, and they sent me the script.

It was really fun shooting, and a completely new experience for me, because, besides makin movies with my friends and extra-ing, I've never done an actual film. So the multiple takes and getting notes and needing to apply them right away was something totally new. We used three different locations- two were in the same place, and one we had to drive a short distance to. There was one scene that I had a lot of trouble with, and I had to play it as a different character than Angela, which was my character in the script. And it worked- they really liked that take. And now I know why it takes so long to make movies- the film is only three minutes long and we shot for five hours!

Monday is the meeting for my school's drama club, and I can't wait!!!! Since freshman aren't allowed to audition for the shows, this is my only creative outlet at the moment.