By: Josh Melnick
OA Cappella, Tri-M, the musical; Senior Kayla Dalton’s high school experience has been defined by her role in the music department. Throughout her five years of involvement in the musical, almost every show was sold out, and received excellent reviews. As a result, the actors and actresses in the musical are almost as well-known as some of the star athletes in the school.
“Our musical department is equal with our sports department, which is so unheard of, ” Kayla said. “People know the soccer team just as much as they know [about] the musical. People know the football team as much as they know [about] the musical.”
That notoriety does not come without sacrifice. Sometimes, Kayla has to make the decision between doing her school work and practicing for the musical.
“I’ve had days when I’ve gotten [to OA] at seven in the morning haven’t left until twelve at night because I’ve been [at OA] rehearsing,” Kayla said of her schedule. “I have at least two practices after school every week from the moment school starts to probably June, when everything is done.“
Despite the endless practices, Kayla’s passion for music stems deep down, beginning as a child when she received a fake microphone for Christmas.
“It was a pink, plastic microphone and there was like a little thing on top so when you sang your voice would go out the small speakers at the bottom,” Kayla reminisced. “I remember staying [at a coffee table] in the living room for thirty minutes and singing into it, and I got mad when my parents started to laugh because I thought I was doing some serious performance.”
Interestingly, Kayla had not really pursued music until fifth grade, when she was one of the cards in Alice and Wonderland with the Easton Children’s Theater, or ECT. Her sister was also fascinated by musicals.
“I remember watching Cats [The Musical] with her, we had the DVD and we watched it like fifty times and there was this one part that I remember very clearly because of a certain note that one of them sings, it’s like really good,” Kayla said with a chuckle.
In seventh grade, Kayla was approached by her chorus teacher Mrs. Allen to see if she would be interested in auditioning for the high school’s production of Les Misérables.
“I was like, ‘sure, why not?’ And I went through the whole process of auditioning and it was between me and one other girl. The only reason they asked me to do it was because I was a short, seventh grade girl who could play an eight year-old… and I got the part.”
In that performance, Kayla received her own solo, and it spurred an interest that has never wavered. She began taking lessons and she became more involved in other parts of the music department, including the drama club. From participating in drama club, Kayla was given one of the most challenging roles of her career thus far. However, it ended up being the one of the most rewarding as well.
“The role I got was an old man. And I am a five foot tall woman, so it was a little challenging. And it was a funny role, it was a funny show. But the jokes were very outdated, so every time we’d rehearse it, it just did not seem funny to me… Opening night comes, I say the first joke, no one laughs.”
During that performance, Kayla explained that her character broke the fourth wall, which means that she interacted directly with the audience.
“And when no one laughed I looked out and went ‘nothin?’ And that made everyone laugh. So I kept on ad-libbing and that’s what made the jokes… So that was really cool and I was really happy how that turned out.”
Despite her positive experiences, the music industry is not all sunshine and rainbows, as Kayla has learned how to deal with some of the realities over the years.
“It’s music people, they’re manipulative and they try so hard to show that they’re better than you. It’s a very competitive world.”
Despite the competitive nature of the music industry, Kayla intends to study musical theater in college, with her top choice being Emerson College.
“I do want to go on and pursue theater because there are so many things you can do with it… In ten years I hope to be in Manhattan working at a theater or something like that… I just want to be happy.”
While reflecting on her time in the music department in high school, Kayla stressed the importance of not worrying about every little thing.
“To the future freshman, don’t try to predict what a director is going to do. Don’t get down on yourself if you don’t get an amazing part or an amazing role or solo or something like that. Anything can happen.”