Tool number one, the mind. Actors use their minds to envision the type of character they want to portray while off and onstage. It is often up to the actor to come up with the character’s personality, movements, and mindset. While the script may tell an actor what to say, the actor uses his/her personal knowledge to bring the character to life using experiences and techniques from his/her own background.

“I actually get really specific and I go through in my mind what my character would have went through when they were growing up,” senior Tori Gowland said. Gowland, like many other actors and actresses, utilizes her use of imagination to create previous experiences in her characters life to further get a feel for who she is playing.

Tool number two, the body. An actor’s use of his/her body can tell a story within itself. This tool is essential in communicating emotions; from their face to their hands.  As the mind thinks of a way to demonstrate how a character feels, and the voice directly says what they feel, the body is the final puzzle piece in fully explaining the intensity of his/her emotions. The main importance of the body is to show and detail facial and bodily expressions.

“I like to use facial expressions a lot, I think it reads well,” senior Molly Sgrecci said. Sgrecci takes advantage of facial expressions to broadcast a more in depth story line to the audience.

Last but not least; tool number three, the voice. Actors use this to show how she/he interprets his/her character’s lines and what the character wants to communicate the the audience. The way that an actor says these lines, however, is what really gives his/her character the depth that embodies the situation he or she is enduring. However, while the voice is one of the actor’s most prominent tools, each actor has his/her own way of perfecting it and using it to their advantage on stage.

“For my voice, I just try to understand the character and what type of musical it’s for,“ senior Joey Mazzara said. Mazzara uses his voice as the tool to translate his lyrics/lines to best fit the character’s personality.

From their minds, to their bodies, to their voices, actors and actresses find these three tools as the essential translators when portraying their role, according to whom they imagine their character to be, effectively and entertainingly to their audience.