Here’s Aaron Sauer’s post from Day 2 at the National High School Musical Theater Awards, sent after breakfast this morning:

So, as I had hoped, breakfast was delicious.

Yesterday was a very tough day all together. First off, we took the opening number which we learned yesterday and added the staging and choreography. The dance instructor demanded that everyone listen to her at all times and not to question what she did; no one was allowed to speak. Despite that, she was smiling and made the experience enjoyable. She really was professional and we completed the entire number in two hours!

After that we began our solo coaching sessions. These sessions take a song of our choosing, either from the show we won our awards from or others in our repertoire, and pick it apart. The majority of what we did today in our songs was look at the characters and how we can truly delve into the emotions present in the lyrics and what we can do to make it real in our lives.

One of our instructors even posed situations, or used the other competitors as props during songs to change intention or to heighten emotional need in the scene.

I was completely blown away by the results.

To start, everyone is incredibly talented; there are no clear cut “Gods” of the stage that we can easily spot and say that they are going to win. Especially not after the coaching sessions!

Performance numbers that were rather uninteresting were entrancing after just a few directions from our coaches!

After the coaching was all finished, we rehearsed medleys. Male contestants would gather into groups of four or five, as would the female competitors, and sing. Our musical director took pieces from our winning musicals and mashed them together with each other.

I will be singing a portion of “Who am I” with the other actor that played Jean Valjean. They sounded great once they were learned.

Later that night, we went to see “West Side Story” on Broadway. I danced for eight or nine years in different studios so I could TOTALLY appreciate the demanding physicality of the production. Alas, my slender dancing figure was lost miserably when I played football and started lifting weights, but I still can dance to my heart’s content! The production was amazing!! I bought a book and got the actor that played Tony and Chino to sign it as a present for my girlfriend. She’s going to love it!

We all got back late, and I flopped in bed at around midnight. This morning I was one of the first people downstairs who didn’t look like a zombie. I can thank Don Bosco for my defunct inner alarm clock!!

Anyway, it’s off to breakfast yet again and onto the day. Remember the words of Ghandi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world”