BACKSTAGE BLOG – Feeling Pretty Inspired
 |
| Michelle Rajotte, Ian Subsara, and Julie Keough-Mishler sneak in a selfie on break |
 |
| Ian Subsara rehearsing, while Andrea McCormick takes center stage |
 |
| Wess Cooke making us all feel emotions during rehearsal |
 |
| First day rehearsing with our fabulous band! |
Hello, my name is Rocky Paterra, and never before have I shared a road with a horse and buggy. I am a newcomer to American Music Theatre and to the Lancaster area in general, and I am so proud to be a singer in Inspire with this incredibly talented and hardworking cast and production team! I’ll be taking you behind the scenes of this beautiful spectacle because everybody knows that what happens on the stage isn’t nearly as exciting as all of the drama and gossip that goes on leading up to opening night!
After the singers spent a week with our wonderful music director, Andy Roberts, drilling this music into every open space in our brains, we met up with Artistic Director Andrea McCormick and our two dancers, Corey O’Brien and Missy Clayton, to combine our superpowers and put this thing on its feet. So far, the results have been astounding. I watch the passionate, detailed, and extremely athletic work of Missy and Corey, and I think to myself, “Rocky, what have you accomplished in your life?” I fight the urge to feel inferior while listening to the powerful and angelic voices of Randy Jeter, Sarah Timm-Hess, Julie Keough-Mishler, Ian Subsara, Michelle Rajotte, and Wess Cooke.
We’ve been rehearsing on a basketball court at the Worship Center, and I must admit that singing and dancing on a basketball court is much more fulfilling than when I tried to play basketball in middle school. Did you know that you can’t run with the ball? Anyway, Andrea has really kept us on our toes (quite literally, in a sense) when it comes to learning these routines, and I’m so thrilled to say that we did our first full run through before the second week was up! That was a good feeling indeed. This is not to say that our work is anywhere near finished. In fact, it is only just beginning. The lovely Sarah Timm-Hess put it best in this quote of the week regarding choreography: “There’s a personal circle I’m missing somewhere.” We’ve all missed that circle at some point or another.
So welcome to Inspire, where our unofficial mascot is Celine Dion in a red latex body suit. Rumor has it that Ms. Dion will even be taking time off from her Las Vegas residency to see our show. This rumor was started by me. Please spread it so that word reaches her by opening night!
— Rocky
