Lily Rinchiuso, actor and social media intern
I had always thought I would be a performer before anything else. Whenever my dad would have the audacity to suggest that maybe I should be a director, producer, or manager instead of an actor, I would smile and nod but then immediately think about the theatre sized hole in my heart if I EVER tried something new.
But when me and my (not so willing) dad auditioned and got into Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with our local Decatur Underground Theater, both of our lives were changed for the better. During Joseph my dad and I were just the doting actors, though he always commented on wishing he could get a picture of our Joseph behind the curtains when the fog and lights shined on his face just right. I still didn’t get how he could focus on other things when we were living our dreams of being in a musical. Then just one year later my dad and I were in our third DUT musical; Bye Bye Birdie, but this time he was on the board as the Assistant Marketing Director, which almost by relation meant I was also a marketer now.
One day, early on in the rehearsal process, my dad trusted me with the Decatur Underground TikTok page. The reasoning was half because he trusted me because I was in his Digital Entrepreneurship class, the other half is because he was too old to understand TikTok.
We watched in amazement as the video hit 1k views in 20 minutes.
So right then and there my dad appointed me with all social media access for the show. Not only was it exhilarating to see a show come to life over the course of 3 months, but it was also rewarding to watch a video hit 25k views or see my advertising campaign come to life with everyone wearing buttons I came up with. This may not seem like a huge deal to some, but as a 17 year old in small town Decatur, IL the opportunities the DUT family have given me can never be overstated.
For our current musical Nunsense, I took a step off stage and behind my phone and computer instead. I thought it would be a hard pill to swallow, but I have enjoyed writing, shooting, editing videos and writing social media posts. It has given me a completely new perspective for a form of art that I love. And while I’m adding the finishing touches to Nunsense, my brain has already had a million ideas bouncing around for audition songs and campaigns for the next show.
I will be excited to hit the stage again, but I am just as excited to see what a freshly turned 18 year old will have learned from a year of experience. Thanks to Decatur Underground Theater, and my dad, I have found a love for musicals both on stage and online.
DUT is Decatur's Premier Musical Theater Company, bringing Awesome Musical Theater to Decatur, IL Since 2010.