S.M. Stevens, author of the Bit Players book series for teen and young adult musical theatre-lovers, wanted to be a star, but didn’t have the lack of inhibition or abundance of self-confidence to make it to the top (of her high school drama program). Like Sadie in Bit Players, she wowed the directors at the audition of her high school play, only to lose the lead and find out later it was promised to a friend of hers in advance of auditions. Stardom slipped from her grasp while the unfairness of high school life was confirmed again.
She worked for three summers following high school in a university–based theatre program, as a “clown” in Stop The World, I Want to Get Off!; as Ensemble/Maid in My Fair Lady, and in the lighting booth for The Music Man. She also worked stage crew and in various front-of-house jobs including Box Office Manager at her college.
In all of these settings, she discovered the true miracle of musical theatre: the highs, the lows, the hard-to-describe bonding with your cast mates and crew, and that special something that makes performing in a show different from any other experience life has to offer.
She hopes Bit Players – the book and this blog — will bring you into this world in an entertaining and thought-provoking way. If you’ve never been in a show, read the book and get the buzz that way; if you have done shows, you’ll know what Sadie is talking about and thinking and feeling. Either way, come back often and join the conversation about what makes musical theatre so special.
S.M. Stevens is also the author of the children’s novel Shannon’s Odyssey, and adult novel Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. For information on those books, visit authorSMStevens.com. To contact Stevens directly, use this form or email her at smstevens127@gmail.com.
Bit Players 