November 18th, 2016- Day of the first performance

I would be lying if I said I am not scared to go on stage. The prospect of a large amount of people looking at me scares me quite a bit. However, I am more than excited for the performances. This will be the first time I am involved in a play where I will be seen. Before, when I was on tech crew, I was not in front of the audience when I made a mistake. Now, as an actor, I feel a large pressure for perfection. This extends beyond myself, the play is not one person, it is a community. Everyone must put in as much as they can to make the show great. When someone slips and drops a line, I need to be able to cover for them, because I will need them to cover for me if I make a mistake while on stage. This play has seen exponential improvement over tech week. In the beginning, we were afraid that the audience would walk out- and that was the best outcome- but yesterday’s dress rehearsal went phenomenally. I feel confident that this show will defy expectations. All the horror stories we, the cast, crew, and director, have told about a lack of line awareness from certain actors to incomplete sets and a possible four hour run-time are no more. I think this might just be great.

November 18th, 2016- After the first performance

I was right. What seemed to be a mess of a show not worth a canned good discount ticket turned out to be phenomenal. There was such a positive vibe between the actors as we went between the chorus room and the stage. Everyone was unable to control the happiness they had for how well the show was going. In between acts actors were hugging and giving praise to each other for their performances. You would not have known a line was dropped as someone was ready to save the line and keep the show going smoothly. Each time before I went out on stage, I did give myself a pep talk to remind me what I am capable of, and what I need to do. There was a true sense of unity with the cast as everyone played off of each other and worked together to create a sense of liveliness on stage. This was far better than what we previously thought we could hope for as the best, tonight was nearly perfect. I’m proud, the others are proud, and we deserve to be proud.

November 19th, 2016- After the final performance

It’s over. Night two went fantastically as well, and now it’s over. There was a bittersweet feeling behind the laughter and happiness seen during the giving of senior gifts as well as paper plate awards. The show we worked on since school started has come, we performed excellently, and it is over now. This would be the last time many of the cast worked on a play with each other. I worked three years doing tech crew for musicals and plays, but we usually came in during the end of the production cycle. This year, I was with the cast from start to finish, I got to know new people who I would have previously just ignored while I made snarky comments and hit random buttons. I will be forever grateful for all the memories I have made because I chose to step on stage. I was able to learn more about what I am capable of during this production, and it’s over now. I want to try more, more activities that I would have previously written off because I did not feel I would have the requirements to be successful. As the cast rushed to get out of their costumes, I felt like keeping mine on for a moment more, but the show’s over now. Tomorrow we strike everything. Tomorrow we tear up the set I spoke my first line on. Tomorrow, tomorrow all I will have left is memories of the people, the sets, the moments, but those are more than enough.