I raced to the doors of the auditorium, thinking of nothing but my own name and how it looked written down. There was no way I was going to be disappointed because I didn’t see my name on the list. Only a few people were gathered in front of the white paper freshly taped to the light brown doors, and my small size allowed me to easily make my way to the front of the mob that was slowly forming. I tentatively looked up at the list, praying I saw my name at least somewhere on the list. I looked up to see the big bold title “Cast of The Wiz,” and ignored the blurb about signing your initials next to your name-if your name was lucky enough to be on the list. I barely had time to register that my name was directly across from the character name “Dorothy” before I was pushed aside for someone else to get a good look at the list. I couldn’t believe it. From my newly appointed place on the side of the mob, I read the names of the cast list, in order of appearance:

I was the lead of an entire show, and all of my friends were going to be right there with me, sharing the stage.
Three months, and buckets of blood, sweat, tears, and hairspray later, I watched the curtain call of the last of the four shows of The Wiz from the wings. I watched as the ensemble took their collective bow, and moved to the sides. I watched Alex, dressed up as the Gatekeeper, bow with Rachel as Aunt Em, Zak as Lord High Underling, and Courtney in her Head Monkey costume. The four of them separated and made room for the witches to curtsy, Mary, Julia, and Miranda. Michael as the Wiz was the next to bow, removing his hat and practically touching his nose to the floor. David, as the Tinman, Connor as the Scarecrow, and Jake as the Lion came out next each taking a separate bow before parting ways. That was my cue. I jaunted out onto the stage, and when I looked out into the audience, every singe person was standing. People were cheering, everyone was applauding, and I could hear my name being yelled out from audience members. I took my bow, and looked around as the rest of the cast made their way towards me to do a full cast bow. The curtains closed, the music stopped, and the people stopped applauding, but being a part of that moment on stage is a memory that will stay with me forever.