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#1

nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 6:55pm

for anyone who has ever performed/always performs in a show, do you ever get nervous prior to going on? I always do...I worry about it a lot...I always have the adrenaline rush!! sometimes i think i am going to forget a line...i've only done that in one show...has any stage fright caused any of you to mess up in a show?
#3

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 6:56pm

It's normal. Happens every opening show for me no matter how prepared I am.
#4

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 6:57pm

It's natural to get nervous before a show. It's also good because it does give you that adrenaline rush. Just as long as it doesn't get in the way of your performance.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
#5

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 6:58pm

hey! it only happened once!!lolness!
ric
#6

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 6:59pm

i don't get really nervous before, just excited really.

but afterwards, all the adrenaline is built up and my hands shake like crazy! it's so funny.
"grace, you're stuffed in a box getting rid of ass plaque. let's face it, this evening is a bust."
#7

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 7:02pm

my legs are shaking during the show...my voice was a little shaky during one audition...but a few minutes into it I am fine and I know that the audience is there for me...also i've done mainly community theater and say "hey...its only community theater...no one will remember this..." and the director always says "if you mess up...it doesn't matter...the audience doesn't know the show.."
#8

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 7:04pm

When I'm in a chorus/minor role I rarely get nervous, but if I have more of a spotlight character, I either am about to a) pee my pants right before the show, or b) pee my pants right before I go onstage to sing alone. Nerves and adrenaline help me emote much better, and I usually get worried if I'm not nervous ...
Coimhéad fearg fhear na foighde.
#9

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 7:25pm

"also i've done mainly community theater and say "hey...its only community theater...no one will remember this..." and the director always says "if you mess up...it doesn't matter...the audience doesn't know the show.."

Great way of thinking....
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>> “I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>> -whatever2
#10

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 7:26pm

hey...is that sarcastic...lol
#11

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 7:26pm

I always go to the bathroom about 5 times befor I go on.
#13

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 7:46pm

I get a little nervous, but mostly excited. I don't get stage fright, though - all the nervousness (if any) disappears as soon as I get onstage and say/sing my first line.
#14

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 7:50pm

I get a little nervous, but it's more of a rush at this point. Wonderful to focus into useful energy for a performance.

I have a friend who would ALWAYS have to poop before a performance.
#15

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 7:51pm

I used to get nervous before shows, but many people on the cast get much more nervous than I do so I spend my adrenaline energy doing nerves excercises with them so obviously I have to be calm to keep them calm.
But we didn't have any coffee filters...so I used all we had which was...toilet paper...and we didn't have any coffee grinds so I used..peanut butter..and I found that...all you get is scalding hot peanut...water... <---Why should you always memorize your monologues? Oh yes...there was that one Chorus Line audition...
#16

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 8:03pm

It has been said that the amateur actor gets nervous on the opening night of a show. The professional actor gets nervous the moment they are handed the script and realizes what work that is ahead in creating and building the character. Opening night for the professional is then just energy filled and exciting.
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
#17

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 8:10pm

I think that pab has it more correct. It is not so much fright you are experiencing on opening night as it is adreniline (unless you are not prepared to go on).
David walked into the valley With a stone clutched in his hand He was only a boy But he knew someone must take a stand There will always be a valley Always mountains one must scale There will always be perilous waters Which someone must sail -Into the Fire Scarlet Pimpernel
#18

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 8:39pm

Gwen Verdon likened the feeling to being a racehorse behind the starting gate, saying we often confuse fear with excitement.

Also, I find that it helps to be "in the moment", thinking as the character rather than standing outside it worrying about yourself.
#19

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 8:42pm

when i perform its scary for me until i say the first word of what i'm doing...then i'm fine and it all flows from that first word
"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel
#20

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 10:14pm

i was once told it's a GREAT thing to be nervous before a show because you're in tune with what you're doing. If you feel over confident, something is bound to go wrong. I always get nervous right before going on... fear of forgetting a line,a song or a dance move but, 5 minutes into it, I tend to calm down.
#21

re: nervous prior to a show

Posted: 4/17/05 at 10:36pm

It's crazy how nervous I get before shows, even if I've rehearsed the scene, play etc over and over again a million times. I just have horrible stage fright that has stuck with me for my whole life. :-P Once I'm on stage and saying my first line it vanishes but up until that point I'm literally hypervenilating backstage in the wings.
I wanted to get something that an "ex"-junkie like him would really appreciate and cherish....it's a brick of heroin shaped like a heart. -Scrubs

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