You know that nightmare where you go to school without pants on and nobody thinks it's weird?
Or what about the one where you have to simulate sex on stage in front of an audience of hundreds? Oh, come on, you can admit it.
Those may seem nightmarish to you, but for musical theatre senior Shoshana Freisinger, it's how she's living out her dream.
Her character, Melanie, in last year's production of "The Cider House Rules" required Freisinger to not only moon fellow cast members, but also to have a sex scene with her male co-star.
"Basically, I had to pretend like I was giving a blow job on stage," Freisinger said. "It was intense, but it was fun. I was good friends with the actor, so it wasn't that big of a deal."
Maybe the sex scene didn't faze her, but Freisinger said she still found complexity in the role.
"Melanie was such a challenging role for me," Freisinger said. "She was a very bitter person, she had a lot of pent-up anger and she was a bully. With stuff like that, you can't fake it. You have to really become that person."
The Northern California native says she ultimately has her sights set on Broadway, but could also see venturing into the talk show world as a viable future career.
"It's important to have other options in life because you always want to make sure to cover your ground," Freisinger said. "I'm going to get a grad degree in relationship, family and marriage counseling and then have my own talk show. I want to be the next Oprah."
Freisinger, who will be playing Ronnette in the School of Theatre Arts' April production of "Little Shop of Horrors," believes she has an innate talent for interacting with people, and acting has sharpened her interest in psychology.
"I like just sitting and listening to people," Freisinger said. "Doing any role or watching other people in roles makes you think, ÎWow, I really understand what that character was going through,' and, in return, that helps you to understand and relate to a variety of personality types."
The role in which Freisinger finds the most of herself is Mama Rose from the Broadway musical "Gypsy."
"Something about that role just connects to me," Freisinger said. "She's bossy and she's crazy. I could be that character."
Whatever the challenges acting presents for Freisinger, she says she's ready to face them.
"This is what I love and it's hard at times and it's stressful," Freisinger said. "But it's what I want to do with the rest of my life, and that's how it's going to be."