Community Ensemble Theater (CET) is starting up once again with a quirky musical set in the ‘70s called “Disaster!”. After school on Thursday, Jan. 10, and Friday, Jan. 11, students will sing a song for Quinn Strassel, the director of CET, and Brian Rose, the musical director. Singing in a room alone is a mammoth bravery test for anyone. As everybody prepares for auditions in a different way, a junior at CHS, and CET veteran, Sonja Benjamin-Carey relies on repetition.

“I wait until my house is completely empty, and just do it [the song] and over again,” Benjamins-Carey said.

Freshman at Skyline, Eliahna Heimann, does a deep analysis of the lyric.

“I go over every line and envision the choices I’d make if that were my part. I’m really trying to put myself in the story,” Heimann said. Heimann also tries to keep in mind that her audition is not the end all be all.

“I remind myself that auditions aren’t always the best representation of someone’s abilities, it’s just what you can do in that minute,” Heimann said.

Romeo Klobucar, a sophomore at CHS, focuses on what he can do best: comedy.

“I’m not the best with my voice,” Klobucar said. “I don’t have much training and I don’t have that inherent super-skill, something that’s helped me sell it is to focus on why it’s a good song in the show and why it’s funny and emphasizing that.”

During the moments just before he goes in the audition room, he uses deep breathing and positive thoughts to keep himself calm.

“I try to bombard myself with words of affirmation like ‘I got this’, ‘I practiced it so much’ and ‘I’m not gonna mess this up.’”