platypus live onstage!
I sat there in French class with tingling nerves. Everybody else was watching a film on Napoleon but I was basically watching the clock. Were we going to be called down? ... 1:15... 1:20... 1:25!!!! Apparently not. My heart was beating quickly and - suddenly Jill appeared at the door gesturing wildly and then we were leaving down the hall and it was all starting.
I wasn't sure how to get onstage. Go in the back door and from backstage? But I couldn't mess up the curtain. Side door? But then I'd go in with the audience?
But I got on the stage anyway. Most people were already there. I found the chair stolen from backstage that I was supposed to sit in, and sat down. Onstage. My chair was right in the front, and I looked out over the audience. The memory is mostly black. The stage was black... and the audience was tinged black... and the lights made everything seem surreal.
You don't know how glad I was for those spotlights. I'd heard that the lights shine so brightly that you can't see the audience. It is true and I was ecstatic about it. If I could just stand on stage and pretend the audience wasn't there it might be okay.
But before the lights dimmed... I could see them all. Classmates in the senior section, all familiar - how could I go up and do a completely non-me-like monologue in front of them? Juniors - yep, friends in there too. Sophomores and freshmen, no big deal... But I kept looking through the senior section. They made me nervous. Until - I saw Kyle... and Kent... and Dave... toward the back. Then I breathed a sigh of relief.
Then the lights faded, the audience was dark and I could only see the front row, whose occupants still made me nervous. Matt was out in the audience and started his monologue. I sat there with my heart pounding fiercely thinking, "What the HELL am I doing up here?!?!?!??!?!" Matt kept going and I thought how bad it was to be number two, to have to follow one of the best actors in the school, and how absolutely terrified I was and wondering why I ever wanted to do this. So what if I wanted to try being on the Prout stage before an audience once before I graduate? I thought, it wasn't worth this TERROR!
And then... DARN IT... Matt walked back on stage. He finished. He sat down. And it was my turn. I waited for Matt to sit down... and got up... and walked to the edge of the stage... And started my monologue with that infamous first line and then -
It was okay. I didn't forget anything. I didn't mess up. I didn't fall off the stage. I didn't get rotten tomatoes thrown at me and no one laughed. ^-^
When I was finished I couldn't believe it. Last sentence... and I sat down... It was over. I had done it. I had just said a long monologue in front of more than six hundred people. WOW. I still cannot believe it. I sat still tense but with a quieter heart and listened to the next ones... during Andrew's I was still in aftershock... by the time it got to Jill's I was realizing it (and cheering inwardly for Jill ^_^)... and then it was over... Micah's happened... Sasha's and we were filing off the stage and out of the auditorium... And we all stood there.
WOW. I was on stage in front of more than six hundred people. HOLY CRAP. I can't quite comprehend it. Me. But I'm glad I did it. I forced myself to do it. I was terrified. But it was okay. And I'm incredibly glad I did it.
I wasn't sure how to get onstage. Go in the back door and from backstage? But I couldn't mess up the curtain. Side door? But then I'd go in with the audience?
But I got on the stage anyway. Most people were already there. I found the chair stolen from backstage that I was supposed to sit in, and sat down. Onstage. My chair was right in the front, and I looked out over the audience. The memory is mostly black. The stage was black... and the audience was tinged black... and the lights made everything seem surreal.
You don't know how glad I was for those spotlights. I'd heard that the lights shine so brightly that you can't see the audience. It is true and I was ecstatic about it. If I could just stand on stage and pretend the audience wasn't there it might be okay.
But before the lights dimmed... I could see them all. Classmates in the senior section, all familiar - how could I go up and do a completely non-me-like monologue in front of them? Juniors - yep, friends in there too. Sophomores and freshmen, no big deal... But I kept looking through the senior section. They made me nervous. Until - I saw Kyle... and Kent... and Dave... toward the back. Then I breathed a sigh of relief.
Then the lights faded, the audience was dark and I could only see the front row, whose occupants still made me nervous. Matt was out in the audience and started his monologue. I sat there with my heart pounding fiercely thinking, "What the HELL am I doing up here?!?!?!??!?!" Matt kept going and I thought how bad it was to be number two, to have to follow one of the best actors in the school, and how absolutely terrified I was and wondering why I ever wanted to do this. So what if I wanted to try being on the Prout stage before an audience once before I graduate? I thought, it wasn't worth this TERROR!
And then... DARN IT... Matt walked back on stage. He finished. He sat down. And it was my turn. I waited for Matt to sit down... and got up... and walked to the edge of the stage... And started my monologue with that infamous first line and then -
It was okay. I didn't forget anything. I didn't mess up. I didn't fall off the stage. I didn't get rotten tomatoes thrown at me and no one laughed. ^-^
When I was finished I couldn't believe it. Last sentence... and I sat down... It was over. I had done it. I had just said a long monologue in front of more than six hundred people. WOW. I still cannot believe it. I sat still tense but with a quieter heart and listened to the next ones... during Andrew's I was still in aftershock... by the time it got to Jill's I was realizing it (and cheering inwardly for Jill ^_^)... and then it was over... Micah's happened... Sasha's and we were filing off the stage and out of the auditorium... And we all stood there.
WOW. I was on stage in front of more than six hundred people. HOLY CRAP. I can't quite comprehend it. Me. But I'm glad I did it. I forced myself to do it. I was terrified. But it was okay. And I'm incredibly glad I did it.
posted by Laura at 4:06 PM
1 Comments:
Congradulations!
^O^!
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