To Stand in the Spotlight

I've had my children performing on stage at the annual dance concert for a few years now. Each year is a little different, with higher expectations than the last. This year, though, had some unique qualities. Both of them were going to sing as part of their Musical Theatre acts, and one of those songs was going to involve a solo from Maestro.

Let me be quite honest and say that the anxiety levels have been extremely high this year. Maestro had been selected to sing this solo piece by his teacher, her with excellent hopes and him with a whole bag full of reasons why he didn't want to do it. It wasn't a long solo piece, either; only one verse before being joined with the rest of the Musical Theatre troupe as backup. Basically, it came down to nerves. He wasn't being asked to do anything beyond his ability, but he was being presented with a hurdle to jump. The question was about being ready to attempt that hurdle.

On a similar footing, I also had two of my singing students ready to take to the stage in song. Their performances, though, were longer. They were singing a whole song, on their own, in the spotlight.

Thursday night: full rehearsal night. Oh no! Amongst the three of them, stage fright was running riot. All of them had the intention of giving a great performance, but suddenly this challenge looked so big! The frustration led to tears and signs of disappointed anger. They wanted to do it perfectly or not at all.

What was I going to say to them? How do you encourage someone to take that step up to the plate, when you know they've done all the hard preparation work already? This was like the final push, climbing the biggest boulders at the top of the mountain. They were all so close to the final result.

Well, I think I said many words on that rehearsal night. I told them that they can do this, that they can sing. Then I thought of how they're really layering up experiences to better themselves and explained that also. One teacher, with concerned intention, asked me what will I do if they don't do this properly. Have they wasted their half a year in preparation? I know what her argument was, that if they started to learn for this performance, then they're obliged to follow through.  That's fair enough. However, inside I felt that whatever each of them decided, they'd all be learning a lesson of some kind. My job was to find out what they really wanted and encourage them to move ahead. How proud would they feel if they actually did get through this?!

Then a recent example dawned on me.  Ah! That was it! Maybe those words will help?

Maestro knows when he 'acts' that he does a wonderful performance, and had recently done so with his father doing a comedy skit in front of our church friends. He became someone else. So, off I started again with another pep talk, starting with my son and reminding him of this example.

"Imagine yourself in your costume. You are acting out another person. You are now going to share this gift of yours and tell the audience the story in your song."

You know what, I don't know if those words really helped or not, but something inside ALL of those children sparked and they all performed really well.

Maestro sang his verse of "A Little More Homework to Do" from 13. Nervously he sang clearly and in tune, just needing to have some more self-confidence, but I'm so glad that he did it anyway.  There's a strong singer hiding in there and I'd love to hear it come through as he continues to grow up.

Miss L. sang "Wouldn't it be Loverly" from My Fair Lady in her cockney accent and wonderful wardrobe, right there, front and center.

And Miss K. pushed herself to put in some wonderful feeling with "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera. I stood listening backstage and heard the audience, quietly listening, then 'gasp' when she hit that high B in the cadenza, and the rousing applause.

All of them gave to the audience in the spotlight last night. All of them really achieved this themselves, deciding it was time to jump that hurdle and give a little more than they first thought they could. And I learnt what all parents and teachers learn: that there's only so much you can teach, then it's all up to the child as to where they go from there. Only their experiences can teach them further.