We’re nearing the end of spring break, and this is the last AnchorNews Staff Day in the Life, but it’s an exciting day—well, at least for me. IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!! Okay… in all honesty, my birthday is not an exciting day. I hate it when it’s turned into a big deal, so I instead choose to spend my day at home. And, in all fairness, my spring break as a whole has been uneventful, so let’s go back to exactly one week ago (a day you’ll actually find interest in reading about): closing night of my senior play, Ms. Frankenstein’s Monster.

I didn’t wake up until about 10 a.m. The previous night, the cast went to dinner at Applebee’s (per tradition), so I got home pretty late. This morning, I took my time to lie in bed and relax before the long day ahead.

I got out of bed around 11 a.m.—yes, I took my sweet time. Upon getting out of bed, I got dressed and ready for the day, eating a small breakfast that would hold me over until our cast’s late lunch/early dinner/whatever you want to call it.

I got to CMS right at noon (our call time), thinking I’d be late, but I was right on time! Because it only took me about five-ish minutes to get into costume, I decided to hang around for a little bit. I got into costume at about 12:30, which left me with time to hang around until about 1:30. During that time, I signed and wrote notes to people on our papers to each other in the hallway, as well as sat around and talked to other cast members.

Once the clock struck 1:30, it was time to get into show mindset—that is, time for warm-ups! As a senior, I have taken the lead on cast warm-ups. Some favorites from this season have been Zip Zap Zop, Bonnie Bonnie, and Pterodactyl; if I remember correctly, before the 2 p.m. show, we played Bonnie Bonnie. We also did our Energy chant before the other seniors and I gave pep-talk speeches to the cast, and then we went on our merry way.

Showtime. Once the clock hit 2, it was time to perform the first showing of the day. Since I’m only onstage for about three minutes during Act II and at the end for bows, I spent time in the hallway finishing up my notes to others.

We finished at about 3:45, leaving us just over 3 hours until our next show. That may seem like a lot of time, but it’s really not—we had a lot to do in such a short time! Right after the show, we ran out to the hallway to greet our guests.

As we finished, we headed back to the stage to take pictures with the cast, crew, and directors. Usually, we’re told that we have around 10-15 minutes to take photos, but that never quite goes to plan. 

Afterwards, it was time for lunch! Yes, 4:15 is “lunch” for the cast; I know it’s late. In this time, we talked, played games, recorded TikToks, and got some rest in before putting on another performance.

At about 5:30, it was time to start preparing for the next show. We put on our costumes and touched up our makeup and hair as needed. For me, this simply meant re-putting on my costume and fixing my hair. Once I finished, I sat in the corner and made bullet points of things to highlight for my senior speech.

Once 6:30 hit, it was time for our last round of warm-ups. We started with some articulation warm-ups, including “I slit the sheet,” “I pluck mother pheasants,” and “To sit in solemn silence.” After that, we played one last game of Pterodactyl, our personal favorite from the week. We also counted as a focus warm-up, then we did one last Energy hype-up.

At 7, we hit the stage for the last time. For the majority of this show, I decided to hang around backstage and watch the show from the curtains, admiring our hard work over the past few months.

Once the show wrapped up (around 8:40-ish), we took our bows, my last ever bows. It was a surreal feeling, but I had no time to feel things because it was time to sprint to the hallway to greet our guests.

It might have been around 9 by the time we finished our last show, but the night just began. No non-theatre kid will understand the feeling of strike. After getting out of costume for the last time, I checked the strike list. I don’t think words can describe how delighted I was to find out that I got classroom and front-of-house duty; I absolutely despise dressing room duty, and I’ve had it for the past few shows.

I went with my other “team” members—Maggie, Bronwyn, and Layla—to the front of house, where we tore down cast bios and photos. We then went to the cast hall and tore down each person’s name/notes to hand back out to the cast. After we finished, we helped the others with their jobs as needed before catching a breath in the auditorium.

Before wrapping up with our jobs, the seniors gathered in the costume closet and signed our names, per tradition.

We were quite ahead of schedule; we hit senior speeches around 11 p.m., but those got us back on track with our typical schedule. All of the seniors sat in front of the rest of the cast/crew as we delivered our speeches. We had a five-minute time limit, but upon realizing it after, that was apparently thrown out the window (mine was somehow 6:30…).

We wrapped up speeches before midnight, but after signing each other’s bricks of the castle and crying/hugs, we found the time had hit 1 a.m. That’s when I left.

I got home shortly after 1:10, and I quickly did my nightly routine and took my things downstairs to my bedroom. As I was putting my things away, I watched the clock skip right to 3 a.m. (RIP my sleep schedule). Soon after, I dozed off to sleep for the night.

That concludes my day in the life of my last day as a theatre kid. I hope you enjoyed coming along with me!

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