Exciting changes at the beginning of this year! After getting an offer to become a witch and perform with the acclaimed Celestina Warbeck in Diagon Alley, I quickly packed my bags, got on my broomstick and flew to Orlando. The rehearsal experiences was one of the best of my life. The creative team as well as the vocal and dance captains were so supportive and up-lifting. My fellow cast-mates were just as amazing. There were 9 Banshees and 3 Celestinas training in for the week. Everyone came prepared to work hard and learn quickly, but also be kind in the process. Sometimes rehearsals can be stressful and moods can get sour but that never really happened because of the amazing people we had in this group and training this group. It felt so special and rewarding.
After the first week of rehearsals was over, we moved out of the studios and into Diagon Alley for "overnights". These rehearsals went from 9pm-5am. I was so scared. I was not sure how my body was going to react to such long nights. It also got freakishly cold for Florida! Our captains handed out hand warmers to keep us from getting too chilly! The best part of this experience was getting to be alone and working in an empty Diagon Alley. People travel from all over the world to get to spend a few hours in that park and I got to spend entire evenings in it. When I had breaks I would walk around and look at things that I might not have enjoyed if surrounded by tons of people as one would be in the middle of operational hours.
As someone who grew up loving the Harry Potter books and movies, this all has been such a dream to live. I love getting to sing about "dementors" and "He-who-must-not-be-named" and getting to dance with a bludger's bat.
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