Becoming An Actress Kristina Stasi

Sitting in the throne on a platform, I boomed, "You swam the moat?" across the stage littered with actors. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced over at the audience to see their reactions to my demeaning character. Scattered emotions ran through the auditorium: proud smiles from friends and family, wide eyes and open mouths from fellow students, and surprised and shocked faces from the little children. After playing several small parts in community theatre, this was the moment I had been waiting for: it was my time to shine on stage in front of my school.

The aforementioned line was from the musical Once Upon A Mattress (a twisted version of The Princess and the Pea) where I played Queen Aggravain, an obnoxiously loud, malicious, and protective woman. My co-star, Matthew Stephens, a nationally recognized thespian, was the one who coached me during auditions to repeat that line with different styles within the line itself and as well as in my voice. Sure enough, when I announced those lines, the audition judges were smitten with me. The following week, the cast list was posted, and as I looked for my name, I knew my time had come. I had snagged a main part.

As an actress, this was a new experience for me. I had never...