> Clarissa wrote:
>
> I desperately want to do Opera. . .along with ACUTE stage fright makes it
> SOOOOOOOO hard!!!!
Stage Fright!
It is part of being on stage.
It is always there.
Everyone, without exception, who performs, has it before, during or after a
performance.
It's what makes us shine.
It's what makes applause we hear so effervescent.
It's what makes us giddy after the show is over.
Anyone who says he or she doesn't have stage fright at some point is a liar.
Stage fright enters at puberty and finally leaves us alone when we die.
The most famous singers of all time all share this malady. It's why they're
famous.
Stage fright cannot be cured although it can be eased.
How? How can stage fright be eased? By accepting it for what it is. Just
plain fear.
Fear of failure
Fear of singing the wrong words.
Fear of singing the wrong tune with the right words.
Fear of the audience not liking you.
Fear of something falling and bonking you on the head.
Fear of your gown ripping or your pants falling down.
Fear of burping during a long note.
Fear of having your false teeth fly out of your mouth during your solo.
Fear of slipping or tripping on a set and falling.
Fear of not being given flowers after a recital.
Fear of the audience not applauding.
Fear of losing your contact lens.
Fear of your accompanist blowing it.
Fear of your accompanist having a heart attack and dying before the song is
ended.
Fear of the curtain opening and there is no audience.
Fear of a blackout from the power going off.
Fear of having someone in the audience booing.
Fear of having someone in the wings booing.
Fear of having someone in the backup chorus booing.
Fear of singing off key.
Fear of hitting blue notes.
Fear of singing too loudly or too softly.
Fear of a bad review.
Fear of a good review.
Fear of the orchestra playing the first bars of your song and you haven't a
clue what it is.
Fear of going blank in the middle of a song.
Fear of singing the wrong ending.
Have I covered them all? I doubt it. I have just covered my fears over the 55
years of singing on stages in concerts, theatre musicals, recitals, on live TV,
and (God forbid another burp) Christmas At The White House, etc. And, yes,
some of those fears have come to pass and yet I still fear the same fears. I
can laugh at them now but when they were happening it wasn't funny. Not funny
at all!
No one can conquer stage fright, but we can live with it, embrace it, set a
cut-off point for it. A long time ago I set a cut-off point for my fright. I
decided that after I sang the first note of the first song in a performance I
would no longer allow stage fright to bother me. It took a year, but I made
it. Today I still get worked up before a show but then I sing that first note
and look out world. I'm comin' through!
Dean FH Macy, Lit.D./Mus.D.
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"If you must be wrong,
then be wrong at the top of your voice!" (Lucy Van Pelt)
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