Through an exciting partnership with Baltimore Center Stage Theater (BCS), the 9th grade theater ensemble, which includes myself, and two theater sophomores are making their big debut onstage.
For most of us, this will be our first professional show, which makes the experience even more memorable. But, it hasn’t been easy. Balancing classes at Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) and rehearsals at BCS has been a whirlwind, filled with many ups and downs.
This journey started in the fall of 2024 when theater department head Becky Mossing told us 9th graders that we would start workshops a few times a month with a group of people in the education department at BCS – including Tony-nominated, Obie Award-winning Stevie Walker-Webb, the new artistic director of the theater.
Every Thursday, we would jump into exciting and creative activities like walking around the room mimicking different elements, or learning how to create artistic bios for future use.
Soon, we were informed that we would all be cast in BCS’ production of Akeelah and the Bee (AATB), a professional show complete with equity contracts and adult actors! We experienced a mix of nerves and excitement as we prepared for the auditions.
After a long period of rather excruciating waiting, the cast list finally came out. Everyone was given a role. Some students were also cast as understudies, such as Shiloh Hopkins, who described the differences between her two roles.
“I play the district pronouncer and Georgia’s understudy. It’s hard to have multiple speaking roles. I have to memorize all of both lines. But I do have different processes for getting into different characters,” said Hopkins.
AATB’s lead, Akeelah Anderson, is played by Natalya Benton. This will be Natalya’s first show, and the first time she’s ever been on stage.
“When I had got [Akeelah], I was like, ‘Oh crap, this is really amazing.’ I felt really blessed and really happy,” said Benton.
On February 25, we started rehearsals in the Adrus Rehearsal Hall in Center Stage. This big white room was marked with tape to shape the stage we would eventually perform on. The very first day of rehearsal, we began with a table read and introductions amongst the awesome production team—including the director, Jerrica D. White.
White welcomed everyone with her warm smile and positive energy. She shared her unique vision for the show with the cast.
White let her creativity shine as she made adjustments like personalizing the script to have the location set in Baltimore, Maryland, rather than Chicago, Illinois, or in 2025 rather than mid-2000’s.
“I knew I wanted to do a version where Akeelah was more alternative. I think that was my first big choice that I made when I was thinking about the style of the show,” said White.
White’s creative spirit built a great atmosphere. From the start, we began rehearsals with “mat time,” where we grabbed yoga mats and listened to music while stretching.
White created a great playlist for the show and our rehearsals, including a wide variety of tracks such as Tyler, The Creator’s “Sticky,” Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5,” and “Flight of the Bumblebee,” composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
“I always have just taken a mindset that I want to get the most out of every experience,” said White, and she did just that.
White’s clear vision for the show came with themes she wanted to share: “No matter which character you’re resonating with the most, the point of the story is that it takes a village to make success happen.”
She’s come a long way as an artist, starting out at the College Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati, and working her way up to a playwright and director. Her advice?
“I think the biggest thing is to dream big, work hard, and think outside the box,” said White.
The standout cast included seven adult actors who were extremely welcoming and kind. They were truly an inspiration to everyone, showing us how you can continue acting for as long as you want. Some of them balanced jobs and roles in other shows while rehearsing for AATB.
The production team set out lots of snacks, like fruit and chips, and drinks, like tea, water, and coffee. They also provided catered dinner every night. Needless to say, we were set for our four-hour rehearsals. But the period of bliss soon came to an end.
Work started to pile up, hours of sleep started to decline, and the countdown to opening night grew closer and closer. As supportive as our academic and arts teachers were, we still felt overwhelmed.
From there, it only got harder. Tech week arrived, and soon, we started ten-hour rehearsals that cut into school hours.
Every day, we left BSA at 11:50 a.m. to arrive at BCS at noon. Tech work began, which was exhausting. “HOLD” shortly became our absolute least favorite word, because it usually meant standing on the stage for a good fifteen minutes and waiting for the lighting or sound work to be straightened out.
“The rehearsal process has definitely been challenging,” said freshman actor Kailah Johnson. “I really wish I would have known more about it going in, then I would have been more prepared. But, I’m not gonna quit, because why waste such a beautiful opportunity?”
“I’m used to having time at night for homework, some me time,” said freshman actor David Rittner.
“I’ve lost sleep, and I can’t spend time with my family and my other loved ones,” said freshman actor Celeste Crespo.
Nonetheless, we all continued to put in hard work. As an ensemble, we stuck together and supported each other.
As freshman actor Chloé Sheppard said, “The whole ensemble, we support each other. I feel like we balance each other out. If anyone needs anything, we always know we can come to someone in the ensemble.”
Benton, who plays Akeelah, worked extremely hard throughout the rehearsal process. She learned as she went along, creating a process for working nonstop that will keep her aware and ready to go, along with embodying Akeelah’s character. Tech week was especially challenging for Benton, as she was fasting for Ramadan.
“Doing [Ramadan] during a process like this was very hard, because, like, we’re around food constantly. You step outside and see 19 pizza boxes, and I’m in an ensemble with, like, 17 kids who eat up all the food fast,” said Benton.
Our school schedule changed upon the start of tech week. Our arts classes turned into study halls, where we would have time to complete work for classes we were missing that day, or catch up on overdue assignments. Some teachers, like Ms. Grouzard, a history teacher, allowed us to come up to their rooms during a specific period and join in on a class. This was very helpful because we were able to get the lesson and work done in person, rather than at home.
“I like to be in class while we’re learning so I can understand it more. It’s one thing to have the notes and the slides, but it’s another thing to actually be there when the teacher is explaining it. I don’t like having to miss that. Plus having to sacrifice that class time also means possibly sacrificing my grades,” said Sheppard.
Eventually, previews started for AATB. A preview at BCS is like a full dress rehearsal, since everything in the show is still being worked on and actors are allowed to call “line” if necessary to be given their line if they happened to forget it. For some cast members, this was their first time being onstage in front of an audience, so the experience was even more memorable! Previews were great preparation for opening night, which seemed to have a lot of hype around it.
Finally, on March 28, it was opening night! We were all instructed to wear green or blue– AATB’s colors. The lobby of BCS was decked-out with all things AATB, and it was bustling with people. A handful of freshman Stage Design and Production (SDP) students were able to usher for the show.
We performed wonderfully, and were showered with love and admiration as we made our way from the dressing room to the lobby, where a big crowd was waiting for us. We were so grateful to see so many BSA faculty members and students there to support us.
The afterparty was complete with a DJ, snack table, and photoshoot area. People were coming up to us right and left with congratulations.
Through all the ups and downs of AATB, our ensemble stayed together. We learned so much about performing, about BCS, and about what we can do as actors. Once this is all over, we will most definitely reflect on our accomplishments. Each ensemble member has a different thing they are taking from this experience.
“[AATB] means a lot to me because I wanna go into this, and having something like this that I can put on a resume is valuable,” said Crespo.
“This experience has really shown me that it’s stressful, it’s hard work, it takes time, it takes dedication, it takes focus, but I can do it if I put my mind to it. And I think that I have proved to myself that I can do it,” Sheppard said.
“This has made me more grateful for where I am and wanting more people to be doing what they love,” said Hopkins.
But it isn’t over yet! AATB is still going on until Sunday, April 13th, so grab your tickets at BCS’s website or box office to attend the show! As Rittner puts it, “It’s been nice to see what we’ve been working on for a few months come to life.”
To contact this writer, email Muse Newspaper at musebsa@bsfa.org.
Featured photo by Baltimore Center Stage.
