The Thespian's Alphabet-H

H is for the heat.

Now, don't get me wrong. I AM a whiny person. But anyone will tell you how rough it is. What makes it worse is that half of the musicals we've done or so have been with period costumes, so we don the long skirts, boots, heels, ties, and dress shirts-and end up sweating like crazy.

Maybe it's just me. But summer is my favorite month of the year. I can deal with high heat levels-some of the time. But this, really, isn't fun. Hot lights+makeup+period costumes=a mad stripping and getting back into regular clothes at the end of the performance.

It's crazy!

Also, compounded onto that, is the fact that EVERYONE. Will be nervous. Even the people who have been doing it for years. Stage fright is not a thing of the past. If it's not fear, it's high anticipation. A lot of emotions running high. And a lot of sweating like crazy.

Let's hope we don't drown ourselves.

The Thespian's Alphabet-G

G is for giggling.


The thing about our theatre classes is that usually, we have 35 girls.....and 5 boys. Not only does that mean that some girl is going to be walking around in a suit with a hat to hide her long hair, it means the classes are always hyper. Girls are generally more spastic than boys-and a LOT louder.


And then....there comes the giggling.


Sure, we can control ourselves. But, you have to realize that this is not an easy feat. There are a whole slew of weird jokes, facial expressions, or gestures that make a group of girls collapse into giggles. And there are a LOT of girls back there trying not to laugh while the boys wonder what girls are good for. (Ah, my dear boys. Wait a couple years, and you shall find out.)


BUT NOT ONLY THIS! Even being onstage, we can start to giggle. We're nervous up there. It's totally true. I have HORRIBLE stage fright. We're not totally confident up there. One of your fellow actors makes a funny expression, it's amusing. Girl number 2 stumbles over a line, it's downright giggly. A little boy from the audience yells, "MOMMY, I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!"-it's positively hysterical.


Honestly, kid? You can wait.


Another thing is, the more intense the scene, the more you cringe when someone starts laughing. Last year, I was Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, and personally, I consider that the most intensely physical romantic role in that musical.


And it was mine, all mine. And Adam's, considering he was Perchik. And we were the laughing stock of the entire year.


Seriously. The class thought us dancing was too funny. They thought him proposing to me was hilarious. They thought me holding his head in my lap and bursting into tears over his bleeding body was the most hysterical thing ever.


I have never blushed more in my life. IT'S STAGE DIRECTION, PEOPLE. Don't act like you've never seen it before.


Gah. The trick is to tell yourslef, when something funny happens, that it's not funny. I don't know why she's laughing, that's just normal.


Hopefully, you won't laugh during the most devastating part of the musical.