The two morning shows had been field trip performances for children, so most of the cast had thought of it as a dress rehearsal. But this one would be the public performance, the one performance that friends and family come to. Agents and managers seeking talent also come to this performance. All of the important people to please in the audience usually made everyone put a little extra energy into their performance, and I hoped the same would go for tonight. .
After working for another ten minutes on my hair, I finally got that one stubborn piece to go to sleep. This accomplishment boosted my mood greatly, and I started to think that things might go better tonight. So I told myself, "This is the last time you"ll have a chance for a while to perform "Grease". So no matter what happens out there, just have fun." I let out a sigh of relief, picked up my microphone, attached it to my ear, and proceeded to the stage for sound check.
The sound check went great. The pianist remembered to play "Those Magic Changes" in a lower key, which helped me relax. The house opened at 8:00pm. Backstage we could hear mothers and fathers bragging to strangers about whom their son or daughter played in the show. We could also hear the theatre enthusiasts discussing other versions of "Grease" that they had seen. "Five minutes to curtain! Places!" yelled the backstage hands. Moving to my place behind the curtain on stage right, a small nervousness lurked in the back of my head. I became worried asking myself questions. Will my voice crack? Will the fire alarms go off? Will my hair stay put? I looked around making sure all of my props were set in the right place, and then the house lights went off, and the prologue music began playing. The moment of truth was soon to arrive.
The first five minutes of the show brought some rest to my worry. So far no one in the cast had made any mistakes, the pianist had played on key, and my hair was still straight.
