The Rehearsal I Feared Most
Today we had our fourth rehearsed for X (TEN) a play written by Cindy Marie Jenkins. The audition was already nerve wrecking for me (more about that later) but todays rehearsal I really dreaded. Oh, how I dreaded it. Today was the day that I was going to sing solo in front of the whole cast…
Singing is for me a phobia that I want to face this year and being cast in a play where I have to sing is the best thing that ever happened to me in my theater life! But this date just came too fast for me and I didn’t even get to rehearse with Tom and Brian, who help me to overcome this fear.
So for a week now I have been listening to the songs on my computer and on my iPod. Stephen GC composed the music to the songs and wrote CDs for each cast member to rehearse.
I have been singing for two days straight, while I rode my bike, while I walked to the grocery store, at home, and everywhere else where no human ear that could hear my voice. I was so scared about this rehearsal, I even started to get a headache and a stomach ache.
But I wasn’t going to chicken out! I wasn’t going to let Cindy and the cast down but most of all I wasn’t going to let myself down. This was my chance to overcome my fear.
So I arrived at rehearsal, we received our revised scripts and we started reading. I had no idea when my singing was going to come up because the script was new. I was sweating and my heart was beating like crazy. I could feel it in my throat. I was getting more and more nervous as we flipped the pages.
And then there was the page. Stephen was going to start the first chorus and then I had to jump in. Just as I opened my mouth to sing, one of the actresses next to me started to sing my song as if there was no tomorrow. She sang loud and confident and I sang under her cover, not knowing if I should be thankful or angry. And then the song was over.
I looked around, and nobody stared at me as I expected. They were all looking at their script, reading. The sky didn’t fall, nobody laughed. Maybe because they didn’t really hear me? Maybe they will stare at me on Mondays rehearsal?
Now, hours later sitting here at home, I’m relieved that I didn’t sing alone and that the actress next to me was “covering” me. But I know that on Monday I will have to deliver. And even though I’m already scared at the thought of it, I’m actually looking forward to facing this monster. Wish me luck!