The heat of the lights, murmurs of the crowd, stage freight.
Through the jitters and stress of remembering lines, junior Adele Hellekson has been through it all. Hellekson has been involved in musicals nearly her whole life. She started with her church’s choir in preschool, later moving on to join any choir she could. Theater came a little bit later, Prairie Fire began in third grade.
“I remember Prairie Fire,” said Hellekson. “I feel like oh, this was so long ago.”
Hellekson was a sophomore when she got a leading role in “The Wizard of Oz”, as the Cowardly Lion.
“‘King of the Forest’ was really fun,” Helleksen said of her favorite song that she performed. “They let me have fun with it.”
A big part of being in musical and theatrical productions is knowing your lines and lyrics. Rehearsing can be hard to do when you have school work and other commitments. Helleksen learned to juggle her personal life, work and her commitment to theater. She reads her lines whenever she is able, even during class.
Being on stage in front of people can be nerve-racking. Forgetting what you have to say or missing your cue. The stress of theatrical performances can take a toll on the body. During “The Wizard of Oz”, she lost lots of sweat due to how heavy her lion costume was. She described that her not passing out in front of the lights and under all the weight of it was “pure magic”. Along with all the sweat she lost, she also lost weight due to the stress of it all.
But that wasn’t her toughest role. During the fourth grade, Hellekson had walking pneumonia during her school’s production of “Sleeping Beauty” and was poked in the eye.
“I was in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ my fourth-grade year,” Helleksen began, “and my mom would do my makeup and my hair backstage. She was trying to do my eyeliner on me and got it in my eye. Oh, and still to this day I remember the corner I went to and cried in.”
Although she hasn’t dealt with much stage freight, she does get nervous during choir.
“Growing up, I didn’t really care,” Helleksen started, “but now that I get into the bigger stuff, I get progressively more afraid during choir.”
Helleksen has helped herself get over her stage freight and be able to manage it.
“I can’t see the audience because of the lights,” Helleksen said. “I have the courage to get up here and do this. Most of the people out there, if they’re gonna judge me, they don’t have the courage to try. It’s on them for feeling that way.”
The music department has offered many fun experiences for Helleckson. One example was last year, the choir was able to go to Tennessee.
“Getting to go to Nashville and sing on Honky Tonk highway,” said Helleksen. Another favorite memory is attending All-State. “Doing All-State, I would walk around the hallways and people were singing everywhere. All around campus like just everywhere. It was beautiful.”
Being in theater also comes with having dream roles in productions.
“I think Anna from Frozen would be fun,” Helleksen said. “‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’, I would love to be Annabeth. There’s also Veronica from “Heathers”. I’d also like to be Penny from ‘Urinetown’.”
Although Helleksen has been in many shows, “Chicago” has been her favorite so far.
“The sets were phenomenal,” she said. “And I’ve made so many friends and bonds that I didn’t have before them.”
In “Chicago”, Helleksen received the role of Velma. She went into her audition with minimal knowledge about the film.
“I walked into it knowing a little bit about ‘Chicago’,” she said. “But I watched the movie after I found out what part I got. I like to do that because then I’m not expecting a part and then get disappointed. I don’t like to expect what I’m gonna get.”
Her favorite song to sing from it is “I Can’t Do It Alone” due to how vocally and physically challenging it is. Another of her favorite parts of this production is that Diane Heaney is back to direct it after she retired from being the choir teacher. Helleksen enjoyed having her as a director.
“I miss Mrs. Heaney,” she said. “She’s done it so many times that she has a procedure and she knows what works for her and she gets things done. She puts her full intent into doing this production and treats it like her baby.”
Since preschool, Hellecksen has outwardly expressed her love for music and plans to keep pursuing her dream. After school, she plans to continue in the music or film industry.
See the production of “Chicago” on April 9, 10, or 11at the Albert Lea High School auditorium at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased on GoFan or at the door.
For additional behind-the-scenes content of the school’s theater productions, make sure to follow Albert Lea High School Theater on Instagram and Tiktok: @/albertlea.hs.theater!
