The last entries of the series.
Day 28 (February 25) - Friday night rehearsal. It's raining hard outside but there's a lot of fun and humorous energy inside with the actors, tech guys and myself. The ladies and I run through the scenes over and over and find that we are forgetting lines and stumbling about with the dialogue. Not terribly so but this certainly does not give us the peace and confidence we need for the next evening's actual performance, in a hall full of our church family, at a celebration that it took us 75 years to get to. We laugh it off trying to stay positive but inside I'm thinking, "Oh, no!" I'm nervous enough as it is and now I'm frantic about whether or not we (mainly ME) are going to remember our dialogue and have this be a smooth sail or a bumpy dune buggy ride. Aaarrgh!
Day 29 (February 26) - Performance day is HERE. And I somehow, by the grace of God, actually had a great night's sleep. Still nervous that I'm going to forget a line tonight and then faint right there in front of everyone. Not only that but I'm insecure and worrying that our scene isn't going to be as entertaining as the two hilarious, male performers that our skit is sandwiched between. I'm having some serious performance anxiety and can't wait till I'm on the other side of this evening's celebration. I pray.
During the day, I practice my lines - over & over - and then I spend the rest of the day sleeping. This is the only way I can deal with nerves...that, plus breathing deeply...and praying.
Late afternoon - I make it to church and start looking for my actors. I find one, then two...where's the third one? After running around in circles for ten minutes we all find each other. We run down to the choir room and quickly go over our lines before two of the actors have to run back up for choir rehearsal in the sanctuary.
It's going better. The adrenaline and excitement are kicking in and the lines seem to be sticking. We depart until dinner.
We make our way into the hall for dinner...scattered about. My husband and I eat our dinner and I'm feeling like I'm ready to walk the plank. Thankfully my stomach doesn't feel sick (I normally don't eat right before performances). I call and wave to each of the actors in the Hall to meet me on the side.
We're gathered and we make our way into the small room/closet on the side to rehearse in peace, as the Hall is quite boiterous with the congregation having a fabulous time. We go through our lines quickly and it is close to perfection. Thank God!
We exit the small room and are miked.
The first part of the entertainment goes up and talks for....well, he was allotted 8 minutes, but he goes on for at least triple that time. I'm anxious. I pray.
Finally, it's our turn. We turn on our mikes. Wait a minute! The light on my mike isn't turning on. Does my mike work?! Two of the ladies are already on the stage. Whatever! If this doesn't work I'll just yell out my lines.
I say my first line and...the mike works just fine. Whew!
I stumble over one line, but thankfully, I've had enough experience to know that the audience doesn't know what the lines are so whatever I say will be fine. I breathe and get most of the line out. It's all good. And, I keep a smile on my face the whole time. Hahaha! Whew!
The scene is over so quickly I wonder if we skipped any lines. It's probably fine because the other actors would've noticed I'm sure...right?
My husband videotaped the scene so I'll be able to watch it.
I can now enjoy the rest of the evening. My husband rubs my back to calm me as we watch the next entertainer and I chomp down on some dessert that's waiting for me at the table.
When we got home I immediately watched the tape. By the grace of God we not only got through it but it looks like we enjoyed it (which, to some degree, we did).
I'm so happy we got through that! Why did I ever doubt?
When can I write and act in the next scene? :o)
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