konekonekoneko

It’s a lot of work. Like, a lot. I’m not exaggerating. LOTS. Don’t expect to be doing much else during rehearsals, especially close to when the show opens.

But there’s such a great cameraderie that forms in theatre—sometimes even if you don’t think you’ll see each other again, you become close. You learn to trust the other actors. You have to. You have to and you will, automatically. You know that if you screw up, you’ve got each other’s backs—that’s just how it is.

Musicals are more fun than plays without song. There’s so much more energy and life in them. You’ll be really sick of all the songs, but afterwards, every time you hear those songs you will get so excited, and feel all warm and fuzzy over again.

I’m good at acting because I’m good at pretending very hard, and trying to imagine that it’s true, and convince myself that it’s true. It’s not like I’m going to forget that it’s just a play, or anything—duh—so I have no fear. I just convince myself as hard as I can.

Singing… well… practice. Record yourself so you can hear how you sound, because you don’t sound the way you think you do. Moreover, practice without someone else singing in the background, so you can definitely hear even while you’re singing if you get something wrong, and don’t get so lost in the other singer’s voice that you forget to listen to how you sound.

Dancing—well, just follow the steps you’re taught at rehearsal. Do the first bit until you have it down, then do the second bit. It matters more whether you move gracefully than whether you get all the steps right at the audition; the worst thing you can do is fumble or stop. So if you make a misstep, just do the closest thing you can to what you’re supposed to be doing, and don’t break stride.

Let any nervousness you feel fuel your energy. Take a deep breath and know that this nervousness is not a sign that something will go wrong. It is a sign that what you are about to do matters because you are important and wonderful and you shine and everyone is admiring you.

Just make it look like you know what you’re doing, no matter what. (But don’t sound like you know it all from what you say when people talk to you, especially the casting directors… show them you know what you’re doing by doing it.)

I hated feeling like everything I did was subject to the scrutiny of my parents. I’m solitary, so I don’t want to always have to be socialising with a roommate, either. It was scary, but it was soooooo worth it. Not only do I have the living conditions I want, but I can make all my own decisions about the place, too, and when to move, and about pets, and wall art, and everything.

Really, the trick is paying attention and remembering that you want to do this while you’re out doing other things. That way you can try to catch yourself and ask: is this consistent with the person I want to be? Should I say/do it, then?

It’s really hard to pay attention to it unless you’re very committed to doing so. But if you want to badly enough, if you want to enough so that it’s on your mind all the time, then you’ll start to remember. And it’s a habit, so if you start, it’ll stick.