Hello, I'm Mara, and thank you for checking out my blog! If you have not yet read my little explanation page here, then do so! Basically, this blog is all about my journey at Idyllwild Arts Academy, the arts boarding school I will be attending as a theatre major in the fall. Since I haven't started Idyllwild yet, these early entries will be about my anticipation about next year and how I ended up at Idyllwild in the first place.
I was in my first play when I was eight-years-old, as a tiny dwarf in Snow White. I was instantly hooked, and I followed that play up with acting lessons and numerous other plays at my community theatre. I also discovered a passion for musical theatre after I saw Wicked for the first time at eleven and became enchanted by the way music and songs can enhance a production. Since at the time, I lived in a small town in Southwestern, Michigan and did most of my theatre in nearby Indiana, I was beginning to run out of resources (we had trouble finding good voice teachers close by). Because of this, we moved to our current home in Tucson, Arizona, where I started voice lessons, continued acting and dance classes, and found a wonderful local community theatre which I have been blessed to be a part of. I've also done school theatre and have done many acting intensives during the summer, including Arizona Theatre Company's Summer on Stage, which I would recommend to anyone in the Tucson area.
My journey to Idyllwild happened like this: this year, I started doing school via distance learning, after a lifetime of school in a normal classroom setting, so that I could have more time to focus on my theatre. I also started becoming serious with the idea of a post-graduate year, so that I could exclusively focus on my theatre and refine my craft before entering the rigorous audition process that is necessary in order to be admitted into college theatre programs. It was then that we began looking at Idyllwild, Interlochen, and Walnut Hill, the three arts boarding schools in the country, as a possible way for me to spend my post-graduate year. Idyllwild is located in Idyllwild, California, in the mountains above Palm Springs; Interlochen is located in Interlochen, in Northwestern Michigan; and Walnut Hill is located in a quaint suburb of Boston called Natick. There are many arts high schools in this country, but those three are the only boarding schools. All three also offer summer programs.
After visiting Walnut Hill, I reached the conclusion that two years would be better than one, and I decided to apply for next year, with the idea that I would spend two years at the school. Walnut Hill only accepts applicants for a post-graduate year if they have not already attended the school, so I decided to reapply as a junior (I am a junior now). I then began working on my application and audition video for Walnut Hill. After that one was sent in, I started a similar process for Idyllwild and Interlochen.
Since this entry is already getting too long, and I'm trying not to give into my habit of overwriting, I will continue the story in another post by telling you about my visits and audition to Idyllwild!
