On April 28, the Horizon Honors Secondary Theatre Arts program opened for their musical “Bye Bye Birdie.” After working and rehearsing for several months, actors and tech crew were thrilled to show audiences all their hard work.

“Bye Bye Birdie” follows Kim McAfee (played by Heather Janzen, senior) who is randomly selected by failing music corporation Almaelou to kiss worldwide sensation Conrad Birdie (Liam Perez, senior) before he goes into the army. Almaelou is run by Rose Alverez (Kassidy O’nan, sophomore) and Albert Peterson (Grady Newsum, senior), who navigate love and communication throughout the show. There’s many side plots as well, like Kim and her “steady,” Hugo Peabody, (Colton Johnston, freshman) as well as Albert’s mother Mae (Brailey McDaniel, senior). Throughout, Albert has to deal with growing up and chasing his dream of becoming an English teacher.

This was my second show at Horizon, and my first as an actor. Being an actor puts so much more perspective on the process of building a musical. Last year I did makeup, meaning that I didn’t attend rehearsals, so I never got to see how much work actually went into building the show. This time, I was in the actor’s point of view. There’s things that I didn’t have to do when I was on the makeup team, such as memorizing all my cues to go onstage, remembering blocking onstage, and the genuine pressure of making sure you’re doing everything correctly.

Another great thing about being an actor is watching my friends who have different roles than me do their own things. They do different things such as quick costume changes, fast hair and makeup alterations, or dealing with their own props. I never used props or changed my hair and makeup since all I really did was dance, so seeing others handling other responsibilities for the show was very interesting.

Theatre is such an amazing experience, and I really learned a lot about myself while doing “Bye Bye Birdie.” Not only that, but I made so many new friends and gained memories I know I’ll keep forever. It’s truly amazing to see everyone in their element, onstage and off, and I would encourage anyone to see this program’s next shows.