Hurrah!

Tonight marked the addition of yet another one of my 'bread 'n butter' roles to my repertoire.
I arrived at the theater early (as I always do), to just be there, be in the air, get focused, and of course leave little goodies and treats and cards for my castmates.

Hair and makeup is kind of a big deal this time around since I have to be blond. My whole coloring is changed so I'm not washed out by the WHITE costume and blond wig and that requires layering of foundations, and a long time in the wig chair to push away all of my long dark hair and make sure the tight blond is the only thing that's showing.

And after all that, I only have one entrance in the first act and it's not even an aria!
So I warm up, I look at other music, I hang around the hallway, I listen to the show, and mostly I just wait until Act II when I do most of my work- aria,duet,aria, quartet, with a bunch of chatter and stage business in between.

How did I feel about my performance? You know that thing that I always write about- the weird nerves that sometimes happen and I don't know why because I'm feeling calm cool and collected about what's about to happen?
NOTHING. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I was smiling, happy, focused, I even ATE something today in the afternoon. I felt energized, and also like it was just rehearsal all over again and I knew what I was doing.

So strange! Maybe it's a pressure thing. House, people there..but no, there were people there to 'see' me tonight that have some future influence on 'things'.

But then again, NOT strange at all, because what I think I'm learning is that I AM prepared for everything I do, and honestly, I think that I do it quite well.
As I've written before-
WHY do I do this?
Work so hard? Put myself through the teachers, coaches, criticism, self-critiquing, everything that so easily could knock a singer down?

To hear the overture tonight.
To be backstage at the door two minutes before I go on for my first note.
To come off stage glowing and in a tizzy, not knowing where the music began or ended, because LIFE is the music, and I just lived for someone or something out there on stage.

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