No score and three years ago bus 13 brought forth onto Sharon High School, myself, conceived in basic algebra, and dedicated to the proposition that all tater tots are not created equal. Teenagers are constantly inundated with news stories of kids changing the world resulting in students like myself seeking out opportunities to make our mark. Desiring to see change in the world is not enough anymore. However, it does not always seem possible because once a barrier is set, it may seem impenetrable: such as getting recruited for the NBA, preventing my hairline from receding, and the Sharon High School Theatre Company (SHSTC) doing Hairspray for their fall musical. Our warm-hearted director, Mrs. Dennis, is better known by our company as “mama”. She has longed to direct Hairspray, but acknowledged our paucity of black performers due to a history of white-focused musicals. Not only would those black…show more content… Although the final decision was not to be made until after vacation, I spent the week-long period gathering information about the proposed productions; I emailed directors in Massachusetts and analyzed countless websites to compile a comprehensive table that concluded Hairspray was an excellent choice for our company.
If I hoped to make Hairspray happen, it was a necessity that I seek out black performers. Being a show centered around several injustices, especially racial inequality, staging Hairspray without enough black students would be an egregious blemish on the theater company. Over the break, I contacted students through social media and ¨sold¨ the attributes of the company. Once school resumed, I strengthened the bonds with black students I had made over vacation,visiting athletic practices, chorus rehearsals, and the middle school, emphasizing the potential value and diversity they would bring to our
