Zachary Levins Monologue

There’s a special breed of panic one has as they are about to walk into an audition. You can feel it all over, in your gut, in your bones; it’s everywhere. Take, for instance, Zach Levin, a 16 year old nervous wreck about to step into the singing audition for the school musical. He’s been preparing for weeks now, from the very moment it was announced. Sadly, going over the songs time and time again has done nothing to make him feel prepared. As he walks onto the stage, he is absolutely certain he will fail.
With that in mind, he begins his audition, two songs from the show. He starts the first off tentatively, gradually growing louder and surer of himself as it goes on. Halfway through, he peeks at the judge. No reaction. “That’s okay,” he thinks. “They’re supposed to look neutral.” Then, he begins the second song, the strongest of his set. It’s the villain’s solo, and he worked tirelessly to nail the characterization. Riding off the energy of the first, Zach starts the second song full force, no holding back. He glides through the notes with ease, hitting them all perfectly. Out of the side of his eye, he steals a glance at the judge, and what he sees almost makes him cry. In the middle of his performance, as Zach
She isn’t gonna make it.” Zach heard these words but, for some reason, couldn't understand them. There's a level of unreality which permeates any great tragedy. It descends like a thick fog over the eyes of the victim, forbidding them from truly comprehending the horror of their situation. At that moment, the fog of confusion had obfuscated Zach’s perception. However, slowly but surely, he begins to realize the situation, along with another fact of life. Nothing that happened today meant anything. Suddenly, he understands that, in the face of this extreme, his audition was absolutely trivial. It couldn't even compare to the importance of this tragedy. Breaking his train of thought, his mom speaks