BWW Blog: Opening Red Doors at Muhlenberg

Greetings fellow thespians and Broadway fanatics! I am so excited for you to join me in my Broadway World Blog journey. My name is Kiana Holmes, and I am currently a freshman at Muhlenberg College majoring in theatre with a double minor in dance and music. I am originally from right outside of Denver, so being this far away from home is a big change. I've been at school for about two months, and I am loving every second of studying what I love.

An average week at Muhlenberg for me is pretty exciting and exhausting. I start off my Monday morning bright and early with 8 am music theory. Singing is definitely my weakest of the three musical theatre areas, so I try to absorb as much as I can in my music classes. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I take modern dance with the most energetic teacher. I'm currently focusing on keeping my confidence and making bold choices when we do improv. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I take ballet in the basement of my dorm (how lucky am I?!). We do a lot of work to correct our technique, but also have a lot of fun. My main focus in that class right now is to work on integrating my breath with my movement.

The class that makes me most excited to continue my work as an artist is my Monday and Wednesday theatre and society class. We just finished our unit on theatrical activism in a global context and are starting my favorite unit- the American musical. I love that class because I am a strong believer that theatre is the key to changing the world; it inspires my passion for storytelling. On Fridays I take a dance lab class (lots of movement, improv, and connecting with our peers), private voice lessons with the coolest teacher (we are preparing for summer stock auditions!), and my theatre and society acting lab. One of the benefits of being in a BA program is that I am required to take classes outside of the performing arts. I am currently taking a freshman writing seminar about the wilderness. Although it does not directly correlate to my musical theatre training, I'm learning a lot about how to be a critical thinker and how to put my thoughts into words. And I am, after all, a Colorado girl who loves the spending time in the great outdoors.

While my classes are all an adventure, I have even more fun outside of class. I love hanging out with friends- we love to eat at the number one college dining hall in Pennsylvania, have movie nights (my flick of choice is always Newsies), or rent out dance studios and goof around. We are also a two hour bus ride to New York City, and I've taken advantage of that bus a few times to see shows, take classes at Broadway Dance Center, and go to the Broadway Flea Market. Muhlenberg puts on around forty shows a year, so there are endless performance opportunities. At the beginning of the year, I spent most of my free time reading plays, learning 32 bar cuts, and picking out monologues. Now that auditions are over for first semester, I'm currently rehearsing in two student choreographed dance pieces. I'm a swing (understudy for multiple roles) in one of the dances which has been a really fun challenge. The rest of the semester will be jam-packed with preparing for summer stock auditions, seeing the many shows Muhlenberg has to offer, and, of course, studying hard.

Every building doorway at Muhlenberg is painted red as a sign of welcoming friends and visitors alike. As I open this new "red" door to my Broadway World Vlog, I welcome you in joining me. I can't wait to share more of my college adventures!

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