SICK BEFORE PERFORMANCE, ANY SUGGESTIONS, BESIDES OBVIOUS?

[Eldemila]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 9:53am

Daughter woke up with a cold, has a show at 2pm today, sold out, no understudy.

Other than the obvious tea & honey, anyone have a suggestion of things that seem to work to at least clear up her stuffy nose so she can sing and not sound so nasally? Is sitting in steam the route to go, or is there anything that clears up the sinuses really well, really fast?

Thanks for any input - willing to try just about anything to get her through this show.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 10:16am

I had a show yesterday, and woke up with absolutely no voice. I don't know if your daughter has that problem of a soar throat, but oral steroids work like a miracle. I had actually been sick for about a week and hadn't gotten better and these were amazing. Other than that, Sudafed is a good quick-clear of nasal stuff.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 10:24am

gargle warm water with salt. Steamy shower w/ face right under the water, and a steamy towel over head for a few minutes. Hope that helps!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 10:26am

Steaming hot bowl of water. A glop of Vick's Vapo Rub in water. Face over bowl. Cover head with towel. Breathe in deep. Repeat as needed.

[Eldemila]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 10:39am

Will try your suggestions - with the exception of the oral steroids - I take it that's a perscription?

She said she feels her voice is getting worse than her stuffy nose. Hope this clears up quickly, besides today she has 4 performances next week.

Thanks for your suggestions - I welcome any other ones as well. Desperate times = desperate measures! She NEVER gets sick and of all times, this is the worse time to be sick, she has so much singing in this musical.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 10:50am

It is a prescription, but I just went to urgent care and they gave it to me right away. It's not my first choice, but I had no other choice, and they really do work amazing. I was 75% better in a couple of hours.

[Eldemila]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 11:42am

Will keep it in mind for next time, but hoping there won't be a next time.

Remembered I had bought this small collapsible facial steamer years ago. Whipped that baby out and have her breathing in steam, ran to store and got some stuff to put in the water, doing the second round. Bought one of those shower vaporizers but no time for her to do it now.

She's due at the theater in 20 minutes - hoping she can get through this show and get better before the Thursday night show.



Thanks again for your help!

[hannahshule]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 1:35pm

Stress may have something to do with her sudden illness. It seems that whever I have a performance or somehting, I get sick a day or two before. But usually with the above treatment, I'm over it pretty quickly.

[Eldemila]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 2:10pm

Could very well be stress playing a part of this. She's a graduating senior and beside having 4 performances this week, 4 next week, making a final decision about college and then trying to figure out how we are going to pay for it, I'm sure it's been stressful for her. I never thought about it like that.

THANKS!

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 2:23pm

This is disgusting but my drama teacher SWEARS by it and it sure seems to work:

Steep an onion in boiling water. Once the onion is done steeping, take the water and use it to make peppermint tea. Add honey to taste and drink it all day long.

Hope your daughter gets her voice back!

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 4:34pm

so.....how'd she do, and what musical was she doing?

[hannahshule]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 5:54pm

Yeah stress seems to equal death for the immune system.

I've actually tried that onion thing, and while rather unpleasant, it works!

(I hope today went well for your daughter!!)

Posted: 4/30/06 at 6:26pm

What's the obvious?

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 6:43pm

I was going to ask the same thing.

And as much as she wants to perform to the sold out theatre, if she has many more to go, cancelling might be a better option than getting worse and not being able to do any...

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 6:52pm

and WHY no understudy!!!!!

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 7:35pm

Stress may have something to do with her sudden illness. It seems that whever I have a performance or somehting, I get sick a day or two before.

This is so true. We had our performances of Mame this week, and our four lead girls are sick. We're all graduating seniors which is just so stressful. Plus AP exams coming up and rehearsals 7 days a week. We even had them on Sundays. Just no time off. Stress DEFINITELY adds to the illness.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 8:08pm

I think the lack of understudies might just be a sad fact of highschool. We don't have understudies, and we've never had them before.

[Eldemila]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 8:33pm

Thanks to you all for all the suggestions. She made it through the show but towards the end said she started to get worse. The next 4 days she's going to have to take it easy and get better. Have a ton of onions in the house, so we'll even give that a go.

Elphaba - she's in Seussical and plays The Cat in the Hat

The obvious is the steam. It's all these other great ideas you throw out that I was hoping to find, and I thank you!

The reason for no understudy, honestly, I can't say for sure. Many times they do double cast their principal parts, but my daughter has never had an understudy in all the roles she's had over the years. Maybe it's taken for granted that they know she can be counted on to know her lines and that she is always there. This is a kid who's never missed a day of school in her life, 13 years perfect attendance. Like I said, it's a rare occurance that she gets sick, so I'm sure it took everyone by surprise, including her.

Though she is a senior ready to graduate, this isn't a musical at school, it's a community theater. She would never even think about not going on with the show, it wouldn't be an option for her, unless of course she was dying or dead!

She just came out of the shower after using one of those Sudacare Shower tablets. Seemed to help clear out her stuff nose, at least temporarily - now to work on the throat.

What's this stuff called Entertainers Secret? Is it something worth buying?

Once again, thanks to alal of you - I truly appreciate you taking the time to respond and give me some advice. I also thank you on behalf of my daughter.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 9:07pm

I just saw a production of Seussical today. That's funny. I hope she gets better soon.

[Eldemila]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 10:04pm

Thanks for the good wishes Ashley. I guess it must be a popular show to do now. I haven't seen it yet, going Sunday.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 10:40pm

hope she feels better soon......a fun play.