The Muny is a place many St. Louis area residents enjoy attending. Warm summer nights kept cool by the theater’s large whirring fans, the singing of strong voices and dancing that makes your feet tap along to the beat. Senior Kayliani Sood experienced all this during this past summer, but this time she found herself onstage as a member of the cast of “Newsies.”

“I loved seeing how a professional company worked since I’ve only been a part of studio dance, which is very different,” Sood said.

According to Sood, she has always wanted to be a part of the Muny due to her love for musical theater and desire to be part of a professional company. After auditioning for the Muny Teens her freshman year and not making it, she waited until last spring to try again. Her audition consisted of learning a dance combination and preparing 16 bars of a song. She sang “Johnny One Note” from the musical “Babes in Arms.”

“I just wanted to try [auditioning again] now that I had grown significantly,” Sood said. “They had left my mom a voicemail saying I made it, and I remember hearing the news in French class and being really excited.”

Rehearsal began July 26 and went through opening night, Aug. 7. The show ran nightly until Aug. 13.

“Schedules for rehearsal got published every night, so you’d figure out who they needed every day,” Sood said. “So I wasn’t up there every day which is why I could still make it to some of band practice.”

In “Newsies,” Sood acted as a passerby in Act I, was a part of the song “Brooklyn’s Here” and tap danced and sang during the song “King of New York.”  

“It was cool seeing Kayliani representing North at The Muny as well as the band program,” Amanda Denno, senior and fellow band member, said.

Muny Teens are able to be a part of productions until the summer after they graduate high school, so Sood hopes to relive the experience once again for The Muny’s hundredth season next summer.