Good Advice

well, it's here.
Performance week.
All that hard work is gonna pay off in ... like... 48 hours.
^.^

My advice for surviving this week:

1. Drink lots of water all week. You're using your voice 2 hours a night (on top of regular talking) -- keep hydrated and you'll be less likely to suffer from a sore throat. Bring a water bottle to school and drain it once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
2. Get plenty of sleep. Cut whatever else you have to cut out to get the rest you need -- ask teachers nicely about giving you grace for incomplete homework assignments if you had to go to bed early ... I'll help you with that whenever I can.
   
3. Take a nap on performance days. I'm not kidding. If I could force you to do it, I would. ;) You are going to be exhausted by the end of a performance night. Give yourself a rest in the afternoon
   

A few other wise words

• Every night's audience will be different. They won't laugh in the same places each night, they won't respond the same way to your lines. Some audiences are really "live" and interactive; others are more passive. Some crowds will energize you; others seem to suck energy out of you. Don't let that throw you.
  
• Don't try to talk over a roar of laughter. Part of comedy is timing. You can't anticipate the jokes (or you'll crack yourself up... which is tacky), but you can't just try to shout down the audience's responses. Work hard to maintain your concentration so you don't lose your lines.
• Cover for one another. Mistakes WILL happen. Someone will forget a line. Someone will trip. Something will fall off. A prop could go missing. (hopefully not! *knocks on wood*) Part of acting is being so involved in what's going on around you (instead of just spouting off your lines) that you can work with whatever happens. If somebody skips 37 lines .... you'll have to drag the scene back on track or shove your lines in somewhere else. Make it work. You all know each other's cues by now ... cover for each other.
  
• You won't do it the same way twice (or thrice). Not only is the audience different each night, but you won't perform the same each night. Realize that acting is a mental and physical skill that demands a lot of concentration and energy. No one can hit a home run on every pitch. Do your best. Shake off any mistakes you make and don't let them get you down. And then enjoy it.
  

This is your moment to shine.
Y'all look GREAT in your costumes.
The audience is on your side -- the room will be full of people who love you and are rooting for you.

I've been amazed at how much you all have worked together, loved one another, encouraged one another in the past three months of MND. Keep it up. Those relationships are worth far more than anything else right now.

Hold each other up -- we stand or fall together. =)



PS. I'm thinking we'll have the cast party on Saturday after the cleanup from the last performance. It just seems to make sense for the multitude of Clemson people. What do you guys think? Will you have the energy or desire to hang out & celebrate the end of a fantastic prodcution on Saturday evening?

PPS. I need your 25 word blurb!!!!!!!!!


Break a leg!