We open tomorrow and my voice is gone

Throat coat won't get your voice back in a day.

All the steam you can take, and 10x the water you can handle.

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Throat coat is a tea and available at most grocers.It is splendid. Sit in a steam room if you belong to a gym. Sueleen, you are soooo bad. Love ya kitten.

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Apple Cider Vinegar. Two tablespoons in a glass of warm water. Gargle it then spit it out. Then take the same amount and swallow it. Do this every hour for as many hours as you have. Worked for me in seven.

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Buckley's Mixture!

It smells like body oder and tar and tastes even worse, but it works wonders!

isn't there a shot that you can get? i remember seeing alicia keys getting one before she went on for the grammy's. that may be a little radical though.

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A friend of mine got really sick before she opened as Maria in the Sound of Music and was walking around with a bottle of vinegar all day just drinking it straight... im not sure if it was a specific kind or if she mixed it with anything but try it lol.

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I wish I had some advice - I lost my voice due to allergies on the day before we opened once, and even with some allergy shots from a local doctor, nothing changed.
When I'm in a show, I drink tons of Throat coat, always keep some Ricola's on hand, and even when I'm not performing, I drink a lot of water - it keeps me very healthy.

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Bustinloose -

Sounds like you're making the right call. Justa word of precaution. As a musical director-type person, I've dealt a lot with singers on steroids. It happens more frequently than you'd think (and probably more frequently than it should - if it were up to me, I'd tell the actor to stay home, get vocal rest, and let the understudy go on.) But it's a fact of the industry.

One thing to be VERY CAREFUL of - your voice on steroids will feel like it's never felt. You will feel like you are indestructible and can hit notes with a ferocity that you've never had before. The problem is, whatever is causing the damage is still there. Steroids mask the symptoms - they don't cure the disease.

Too many singers take the steroids, then sing as though they're healthy, which they're not. That's when the problems come. If you're doing damage to already wounded cords, that's where you start to build up scar tissue and bad things like hemmorhages can happen (years down the line.)

This is not meant to scare, just to point out that you still need to be as careful with your voice on the steroids as without - even more so. The temptation will be to, as your name implies, "bust loose", but do yourself a favor and resist. You are still singing on a sick voice, even if it doesn't feel like it.

Break a leg!

Too many singers take the steroids, then sing as though they're healthy, which they're not. That's when the problems come. If you're doing damage to already wounded cords, that's where you start to build up scar tissue and bad things like hemmorhages can happen (years down the line.)

I am so glad you mentioned this, because I was going to say the same thing.

I personally have never had to resort to the steroid shot (knock on wood), but I know lots of folks who have and then ended up needing surgery down the line because they oversang while under the "influence" of the shot. There's nothing wrong with the shot itself; it's just what temms said: the temptation is to blow the roof off the joint, 'cause you (falsely) feel great.

For the record, when I'm vocally fatigued I always go with drinking more water than you ever thought you could drink (as Rath suggested), plus vocal rest.

Break a leg, and be careful!

I've found that a teaspoon of olive oil does wonders.

And the moral of this story to all directors and MDs is...don't let your understudies fall by the rehearsal wayside, you never know when you'll actually need them.

We're waiting with bated breath.

Updated On: 10/25/06 at 09:17 AM