By Michelle Gao

Gargoyle assistant editor

Posted Thursday, April 12, 2007, The OG, features

[Note: Junior Michelle Gao is a cast member of Uni High's spring musical, Cole Porter's “Anything Goes.” For the rest of this week she'll give us a firsthand look at what goes on behind the scenes as cast and crew work to put on the best show they can. Click here for Sunday's entry, here for Monday's, here for Tuesday's, and here for Wednesday's.]

IT'S HARD TO define dressing up. I came to school today in a long white dress that severely hampers my ability to breathe. My sister, on the other hand, came to school in a cute green and white polka-dotted shirt paired with jeans, and I've seen other people in various stages of in-between.

(Let it be known that Ethan Berl, who plays Billy Crocker, is not dressed up at all.)

But it's opening night tonight. Unlike yesterday, when I couldn't keep my eyes open for all of first and second hour, I was wide awake when I walked into school this morning. I suddenly have energy again. And I'll probably get more and more awake as the day goes on. Opening night is always, always exciting.

About yesterday:

4 p.m. — I walk down Green Street with Hannah Lake-Rayburn. About half a block ahead of us, a huge group of seniors talk and laugh as they head to …. Well, actually, I don't know where they are going for dinner. But they are talking and laughing, regardless. Every one of them is clad in a blue “ANYTHING GOES” T-shirt, as are Hannah and I. We feel special.

4:30 p.m. — After successfully getting food from Qdoba, Hannah and I join Jamie Weiser, Claire Johnson, James Smith, Aran Yoo, Sheri Grill, and Anna Cangellaris at Za's. We tell weird, weird stories as we eat. Jamie makes new discoveries about life. Aran threatens to bite people's ears off. We scare the single college student who is also there, who is trying desperately to ignore us.

5 p.m. — We've come back to Uni, and we ride the elevator up to the South Attic. Stepping out of it, I smile. The entire room is a mass of blue shirts. Even Director Barbara Ridenour is wearing one. We are a cult. Or a cast. One of those.

5:05 p.m. — Preferring not to use the school's curling irons again, my sister and I have brought our own. We set up camp near the water fountain in the South Attic, plugging the curling iron in, setting out makeup and hairspray on one music stand, and propping a mirror up on another. I begin to curl Maria's hair after telling her not to make odd noises unless I really hurt her.

5:06 p.m. — “Michelle, are you halfway done yet?”

“No, shut up.”

5:07 p.m. — Alex Cahill comes over. “You need to do my hair again.”

I groan. “Yeah. I know. Do you know what stuff you need to get ready?”

“Yeah. Gel. And a comb. And a spray bottle.”

“I always knew you were smart!”

5:09 p.m. — “Michelle, are we halfway done yet?”

“No, shut up.”

5:14 p.m. — “Michelle —”

“NO.”

5:50 p.m. — Maria's hair is finally done. She has squeaked and flinched multiple times despite my warning. I didn't burn her once. She goes off to do her makeup.

I look around; I was supposed to do Jackie Hedeman's hair again, but Hannah said she had it covered. I look over; Beckaa Wallig is actually the one working on Jackie's hair now, but she seems to be doing all right.

Paige Martin had come over while I was in the middle of Maria's hair and asked me to curl hers as well. She sits down, and I start on her now. I'm about a fourth of the way through when Beckaa comes over.

“Are you curling Paige's hair? Just curling? Is that it?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Well, I can do that. Can you go do Jackie's?”

I agree, and relinquish the curling iron to Beckaa before trotting off to the other side of the South Attic.

6 p.m. — “Michelle, they all failed!” Jackie tells me, meaning Hannah and Beckaa. I laugh, and look around. “Where's the spray bottle? Oh, shoot. I told Alex to go get it… ALEX!” I shriek at the top of my lungs. “Where are you?”

6:10 p.m. — Jackie's hair is done. I gaze at it in complete adoration. It looks absolutely brilliant, much better than the night before. Jackie and I hug, and I take a minute to savor the wonderful sensation of doing something well. And then I plunge back in.

6:13 p.m. — I am standing before Alex Cahill and Robert Croisant.

“Robert, you need to move,” I tell him sternly. “I need to do Alex's hair.”

We spray it first with water. We have a brand new bottle of gel today. I look at it with a pained expression.

“Alex, it's blue,” I whine.

“Yep.”

6:20 p.m. — Alex's hair is gelled and slicked back. My hands are officially disgusting. But it looks good. I go back to the water fountain so that my sister can curl my hair.

6:25 p.m. — Hannah sits in front of me so I can pin her hair back while my sister curls mine. It's a train.

6:45 p.m. — Mrs. Ridenour comes into the South Attic and tells us to hurry up. We're going to be late. She also wonders why many of us don't have our costumes on. Maria is still curling my hair, and I have no makeup on yet. My costume is still hanging on the rack.

We rush as Mrs. Ridenour gives us notes from the night before.

7 p.m. — Miraculously, everything makeup- and costume-wise is done. We actually have a small audience tonight. Most of us are all smiles.

There are glitches in our final run-through. Our costume person arrives in the middle of the show and rings the buzzer loudly as we're being video-recorded. The people in charge of lights come on too soon, and we have to stop and run it three times.

The four Angels (Maria, Anna Cangellaris, Emily Kamm, and I) finally get their white pants for “Anything Goes,” the musical number at the end of the first act. We discover that we all have colored underwear on, and the pants are completely see-through without even being under the stage lights.

We also get our black dresses for “Blow, Gabriel, Blow.” We cannot dance in them; Anna almost falls over during the dance, but thankfully manages to stay upright. I hear a terrible ripppp as I walk up the platforms. But we keep going.

We stay for notes afterward. There are positive ones as well as negative ones; Mrs. Ridenour starts out by saying, “We have a good show, you guys. There are still a few things to iron out, but we have a good show.”

Which sums it up pretty well, really.

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