Mika – Theatre Interview

By Anna Sadarangani and Leo Watt

What is your favorite part about theatre?

My favorite part about theatre is you get to meet a bunch of people who are also passionate about creating interesting and exciting art pieces and you meet a lot of friends that way, because you have similar interests. And it’s really exhilarating, not necessarily to be on stage, because I’m not on stage, but to just be in that atmosphere where people are excited to go on stage.

Have you been in any of the shows ever, and which ones?

So, I’ve only ever acted in one of the shows. I acted in “Check Please” last fall. And since then, I’ve just been doing stage manager.

What do you do as a stage manager?

It varies a little bit depending on how many other stage managers there are, or what the production is like. But it’s a lot of organizing actors, letting them know when they need to be where, making sure they are there when they say they’ll be there. And then, when you get to the actual show you do something called “calling the show”. So, I tell people when the sound goes and when the light goes. And that all happens through something called “cue to cue,” which is when I learn basically my version of lines, which is when I have to do light and sound.

Why do you think this club is an important addition to our school?

Our school isn't, super well known for sports, or anything, really, and I think theatre has allowed our school to have a very diverse range of kids, because theater, and film, are both very good ways to express yourselves. It definitely creates a good community and gets you involved in your school.

What experience or knowledge have you gained being a part of Theatre Temp?

Oh my gosh, so much experience like in time management specifically and organization. You really have to be on top of it because you're at school all the time working on theatre. So you get a lot of organizational skills and time management skills which you kind of have to, not only because you're telling people when they have to be where and making sure everyone knows their lines and knows they're blocking, but also because you don't have as much time to be at home doing homework. You sometimes have to miss a day of school for rehearsal during crunch time. You sometimes have an all-day rehearsal, so you know you definitely have to get time management skills down.

How has this club impacted you personally?

It has definitely given me somewhere to put a lot of my creative energy into. It is really empowering to start a show from scratch, like a lot of our shows haven't even been written when we cast them to then end up with a full piece that has the sound, lighting, props, costumes, everything. And that's really fulfilling, you know, it is just very stressful at times. But it really is worth it because. You learn a lot and it's fun and exhilarating.

What would you say to someone who was thinking about joining theatre?

Try it out. You can join for one show of the year and you don't have to do the rest and that's OK. And if you do one show you love you can get so into it. You can literally do anything you want. There's hair and makeup, costume, set, deck crew, front of house. All these different things that require different skills or different approaches so there really is something for everyone, so try it out. If you like it, that's awesome and we'd love to have you here. No, that's OK, we would. Like we're happy to have you for just one show or even one meeting.