For Sara Kidman, the stage of the Cultural Arts Building is as familiar as the living room, kitchen or bedroom of her own home. Kidman has been acting in Page’s high school musicals since she was in fourth grade. Kidman, the daughter of Steven and Sandra Kidman, is now a junior at Page High School. 

In last week's production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” Kidman played Narrator One, a role she was very much looking forward to playing.

“I'm very excited for this role because I will be on stage singing and dancing the entire time,” Kidman said before last week’s series of performances. 

In recent years, Kidman has played the role of Gretel in “The Sound of Music” (2016) and Mrs. Potts in “Beauty and the Beast” (2022).

“Personally, I don't enjoy acting very much, but I do love to dance, sing and learn choreography,” Kidman said.  “I don’t do a big personality shift when I play a character. For instance, when I played Mrs. Potts, I didn’t shift into playing a kind, old lady. I was basically Sara, not Mrs. Potts.”

Whether its dancers performing their moves with sharper, crisper motions, or actors delivering their lines with greater confidence, Kidman enjoys witnessing her fellow actors, the play and all its elements improve day by day, week by week.

“I like seeing how much easier it gets once we’ve done it so many times,” she said. “Once you’ve reached a point where an element is good, you can focus on other things, such as making it more energized.”

There comes a point in the rehearsals where the singing, the dancing, and the line delivery start to gel, and the cast – who are comfortable with the performance – can let their own personalities shine through, and the production itself begins to manifest its own personality, its own nuance and flavor.

“There are some scenes that we have more fun with,” Kidman said. “The energy is higher, and the scene turns out better. I like watching that development.”

After eight years acting, dancing and singing in front of a large audience, Kidman rarely gets butterflies or feels nervous during a performance. 

“It still happens a little,” she said. “When I’m singing a new number in front of people for the very first time, like when I sing in front of cast members for the first time, it’s kind of scary. But once we perform for real in front of an audience, by then I’ve done it so many times it no longer makes me nervous.”

For Kidman, acting in the fall musical is a family affair. The musical’s directors – Lynda Nolan and Dawnell Robertson – are her aunts. She also shared the stage with five cousins and two brothers. Sharing time on stage with family members makes the rehearsal experience a lot more enjoyable for Kidman. 

“It is fun with family and cousins,” Kidman said, “because you’re working with people you already know super-well. It makes it easy.”

Kidman plans to attend college after she graduates from Page High School, but she hasn’t yet decided what college she wants to attend or what she wants to major in.

Kidman also takes orchestra part time and plays on the girls tennis team in the spring.