As I hinted at earlier, we had a great show last night.
Our preview on Thursday went pretty well. We had a small but enthusiastic audience, and there were just a few flubs throughout the show. I think overall it gave us the confidence that out official opening night would go well. On Friday, most of us managed to get to the theater early so we could run some of the tricky spots that hadn't worked as well as we'd hoped the night before.
It seemed like we had gotten all out good nervous energy out the night before and couldn't find it for our opening. My personal show was... meh. I forgot a couple words, and wasn't supporting my voice like I should have been, and though it could have been much worse it still wasn't great. There was the lack of energy, but I think the main thing that threw us off is that some parts of our orchestra didn't get specific cuts in the music, so at times there would be extra bars, or the song would be played in two different keys at points. It's hard to be in the moment when you're worried about what you'll hear next. There were spots that some people had to just speak their words instead of sing them.
I had all day yesterday to think about the previous performance and the one coming up. I don't know about you, but when I'm nervous or agitated or I just need to occupy my mind for a period of time, I clean. But even when my room was spic'n'span and my laundry was done, I was more nervous than ever. It's so frustrating, not knowing what to do about that feeling. I stopped taking xanax a long time ago and didn't have time for a nap, so I had some chamomile tea. It's almost embarrassing to admit that I felt so weird I wanted to cry. It seemed like if I did then I would feel better, but I couldn't even do that. So tea was my next best option.
Funny how as soon as I get to the theater I always feel better. All my crazy bad nervous energy soon turned into good energy and I got the feeling we were going to have a great show. As soon as we started, I was sure of it. And a good thing too, because Evan and two other friends of mine were there to see it. We had a couple sound issues in the beginning, and I messed up some of my words in the exact same spot as the two days prior to that, but the orchestra was fantastic and the audience got more enthusiastic as the show went on. I've said it before and I mean it: I'm so very proud of what we did last night. I know it wasn't the personal best for some people, but as a whole it was definitely the best we've done yet.
When we were finished our director, Robert, came back stage to congratulate us on such a success and inform us that...... there's a possibility of extending the run. I think it would be amazing to have more than just 3 more shows. We've gotten great feedback, and it's a show that a lot of people wouldn't normally get the chance to see. So I'm crossing my fingers that this is going to happen. :)
I'm feeling pretty okay today. Maybe it's because I'm working and don't have the whole day to wait around for the show tonight. I still get little flashes of the weird nerves, but I'm mostly excited. I got a couple video clips of when we were running parts of songs last night, so I'll try to get them up here.
**Tickets can be purchased at www.plays411.com/chessinconcert - select nights have discount tickets with the promo code "bargain"**
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