Solo Show Progress

Soooo, my solo show opened tonight. I wrote my piece and performed it, along with 3 other actors doing their own pieces. It went really well! Sure I flubbed my lines a little - but thats gonna happen. Overall, it was well received and I am glad that first night is over - now its time to really go in there and just have fun!

And I know this is a really good "bootcamp" I'm putting myself through in many ways. I've learned a lot. Agonizing about "linking" my sentences together so they appear as a complete thought. Learning where to take my pauses, where to speed it up - with intention. Losing my voice - but then grounding myself into my breath. (my director says that a lot of solo performers appear to "lose" their voice - but its really just our physical reaction to doing something scary - the voice says "I'm not gonna let the audience hear me," and starts to shut down. Isnt that interesting?)

You'd think performing something you wrote is easier. Nope. Its different. And yes, some things are easier so far (emotional life), and some things are more challenging (creating the proper rhythm in my speech). The things I learned were much more technical. And I know that's something I need right now - I've spent a lot of my classroom time and coaching learning to create emotional life. Which is very important - but only a piece of the pie.

Doing this show has been very tough on my relationship. And I dont know what the answer is for that. Except to figure out how not to be a freak when I have a show coming up. I get VERY needy and expect everything to be dropped so that I can be waited on. Not something I'm proud of, but hey, I'm learning.....at least that part is over --- for now.