All In A Day's Work – Day 7 at NHSMTA (Last Day)!

Posted on July 3rd, 2013

Good mid-morning DSM Fans!

I can’t believe how quickly time has flown – Dakota and Cameron are already home from NYC! Yesterday was their last day at the National HSMTA, and it was a nice change from the craziness that had happened all week. Check out their final thoughts about their trip below!

DAKOTA:

The last day was bittersweet. We got to sleep in a little bit then headed over to Tisch for the last time. We were fortunate enough to have a casting agent talk to us about the business and answer any questions we may have. One of the best parts about this experience was hearing the different perspectives of every side of the professional theatre world. After she finished Ken Gash from NYU gave us a really inspiring talk about theatre. One of the things that really stuck with me was when he said “Theatre is the language of the soul.” He just kind of reminded us that even though this week was hard and frustrating, it was all worth it in the end (we performed on BROADWAY). And it’s true, I feel stronger. I feel like I have a new found confidence I didn’t previously have, and hopefully when I go to school this fall with a major in musical theatre performance everything I have learned  during this experience will help me be the actress and person I have always wanted to be. They told us on the first day that we would come home feeling different and I definitely do. I feel even more passionate and driven then before, and it’s very exciting.

CAMERON:

Alas, the adventure has ended. After the best night’s sleep I’ve had all week (probably due to a mix of relief and exhaustion), we headed to Tisch to have a discussion with a casting director from Bernie Telsey’s office–the biggest casting office in New York, I’ve been told. She told us about how a casting director’s mind works in an audition: they ultimately don’t care about where you were educated if you’re absolutely right for the role, the first moment they see you, they’re placing you in all different roles in their head based on your appearance, and they usually know if you’re right for a role vocally after the first 6 bars or so. She also added that although a person auditioning may not be right for the part in that specific show, casting directors are usually working on a number of projects, so in their minds they’re trying to see if you match any other parts they need to cast. After that, Ken Gash, head of the New Studio on Broadway, gave us an inspiring and educational speech about what we accomplished this week. Something he said that I really liked went along the lines of: “Theatre isn’t about headlining or being a star. It’s about seeing words or notes on a page and putting your humanity in it to reach out to the humanity in others.” That’s only a snippet of Gash’s speech. Almost every sentence was an inspiring piece of brilliance. Finally, it was time to say goodbye to all of the friends I had made this week… Some truly remarkable people. Performing alongside such fantastic young actors and actresses was an extremely humbling experience, and I know I’ll be hearing great things about plenty of them in the future. This trip was enormously educational, inspiring, humbling, unforgettable, and above all: FUN. I’ll miss the big talent and the big city, but it feels pretty sweet to be back home.

Arriving in Dallas! What a trip!

Thank you Cameron and Dakota for providing us with all the inside scoop from the National HSMTA this week! We’re so proud of you both and look forward to seeing your careers in the future! Thank you for representing DSM so well, and we wish you the best of luck at college in the fall!

Also, thank you to you all for following this blog during their journey! I hope you have enjoyed hearing from Cameron and Dakota as much as I did.

Have a great day!

-DSM Amanda