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Ever since middle school, I have participated in some type of school choir, in many performances with different genres and my favorite by far was one in high school that was a Broadway based performance called Rick’s Café. For this show, my peers and I gathered a group that would sing, dance and act out a song from a Broadway musical and it would be one of the many different acts performed at Rick’s Café. For my senior year Rick’s Café, I participated as one of the background goddesses in the song “I Won’t Say I’m in Love”, from the Disney musical, Hercules.

I found four other girls in my chorus class that were willing to put in the hard work and enthusiasm to be in the act and we began rehearsing. After a few rehearsals of learning the music and choreography and giving our all to perfect our group act, it was time for us to audition in front of our chorus professor. Although we had some issues while putting together the act, at the end we got it all fixed and were all on the same page. Soon enough, we got through a very nerve-wrecking audition and my group and I were informed that we had made it into other show along with 25 other acts. Following that were endless late rehearsals and an incredible amount of stress trying to get everything just right. Luckily, we made it to the weekend of the show where we would be performing on Saturday.

I felt the expected-yet not appreciated butterflies in my stomach and sweaty palms yet I was confident we were going to kill it. Backstage overflowed with adrenaline and excitement and I couldn’t seem to shake the thought that my whole family and some close friends were sitting in the audience peeling their eyes open for when I came out. Once the show began it was soon enough my group’s turn to get our microphones and go on stage. Ready to perform we all walked onto the high school auditorium stage and positioned ourselves for the first note to be sung by Meg and then off we went. For this act, my peers and I had to sell it by being really dramatic in our acting and showing how much Meg, the main character, is in love with Hercules although she can’t seem to admit it. We used dreamy eyes, swaying dance moves and smooth harmonies in order to set a mood for the audience and act our part to perfection. Although we were only the background goddesses and not Meg herself, we still had a big responsibility when it came to setting the scene. The group was also responsible for any props and lights that we needed for the performance so we decided to use just an illuminating light and a chair for our set. As for the costumes, the background goddesses wore ancient Greek goddess dresses we found online and Meg wore a dark violet dress performers communicate with the audience. signing up for.

The act was going smooth as a whistle until the tech crew made an unfortunate mistake and turned down the wrong microphone which caused my microphone to be silent and my harmony to be very faint. After a split second of confusion and then realizing what was happening, I had to continue with the show as if everything was alright and in fact had to project my voice so the harmonies could sound balanced. Eventually the tech crew was also informed of the mistake and they apologized and fixed it to where my microphone was back on again. Once the song ended we exited the stage and I took a deep breath after what felt like holding my breath for 4 minutes. We were all very content with our performance even with the mishap that occurred. We waited for the other acts to perform and then went out once again to take a bow and that was the end of my last Ricks café. I felt my heart pulling and although feeling saddened that I was never going to do the show again I also felt relief and happiness that it had all worked out like it did.

While the majority of other chorus concerts that we did throughout the year in this chorus were concerts of holiday songs or foreign and old hymns and pieces, Ricks provides variety in the programs for the performers and the audience and that’s why it is loved by many, including myself.