Tisch sophomore Amy Seidel knew she wanted to be a Broadway star since she was 11 years-old, and she is in the process of achieving that dream in the Tisch School of the Arts musical theater program. She is now on her third bag in one year, as each one breaks because of her rigorous course schedule and the amount of items she carries on a daily basis.
Inspirational notebook
Seidel demonstrates her passion for her major by keeping a record of her inspirations. She tends to bring a black leather notebook everywhere with her and jots down inspirational quotes, things that resonate with her in classes or even lines from specific Broadway shows she wants to watch, such as “Big Fish” and “If/Then.”
Tap shoes
Seidel’s black leather heeled Mary Janes are her favorite dance shoes. She needs them for her tap dancing classes, where she is taught not to think like a dancer but like a musician.
Jazz dance shoes
Seidel’s jazz shoes are white but are slightly torn from the front. She has owned them since high school and refuses to stop using them even though she has a new pair. She finds these particular shoes to be the most comfortable and wants to use them as long as she can.
White board
This rectangular whiteboard is for Seidel’s speech class where she transcribes words in the International Phonetic Alphabet. A person with any accent can read IPA, and he or she will say the exact sounds as another individual with a different accent. Seidel uses this to learn different dialects.
Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors”
Seidel has been carrying Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” for her acting class because she needs to learn dialogue and enact scenes. Although she considers herself a lover of Shakespearean tragedies, Seidel is enjoying this play.
Collection of lucky pennies
Whenever Seidel finds a penny that is heads up, she puts it in the pocket of her bag. She said this habit dates back to when she was attending her NYU auditions when applying to the university. As Seidel was entering her car, she found a penny that was heads up and picked it up to find it was from 1994, her birth year. Seidel said this gave her luck and helped her in some part to get into her dream school.
A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Oct. 7 print edition. Ritansha Jalan is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].
