We all dread it, but if
you perform on any kind of frequency, crippling things happen in real
life that don't belong on the stage: Laryngitis, flu/sickness, food
poisoning, or personal crisis.
On a recent occasion I had
to perform while in the height of a bought stomach flu. I had chills
and fever, cramps, kidney pain and nausea. Yet, my character was not
sick and so the audience did not want to know that I personally was.
My close friends in the cast knew to rise me before my scene to make
sure I would get on stage in time, but my true saving grace was
honest practice. The audience never was the wiser.
We always hear to rehearse
like you are in a performance and now I have a new reason. It was
that muscle memory saved me from my reality. The second before
entering stage in rehearsal I was involved in my character, and this
time in performance I had that to rely on. Back stage I was barely
able to stand but on stage my character was an over-determined, ratty,
mean, bitch of a woman.
The hardest part for me
was definitely exhaustion and how this sickness affected my
breathing. Breathing was not a problem for spoken dialogue, I just
choose a few different points of focus, but alas for the sustained
singing in the higher ranges. It is hard to flex those muscles that
don't care about your characters needs. I thank my professors
enthusiastically for the years of excellent training they afforded
me. It is because of them and their wisdom that I could rely on the
technique and trust the physical exploration I have come to be able
to employ.
The audience did not want
to know, I did not want to show it, and proper training afforded the
result: a standing ovation.
