![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gilanaWell, it's over.
The last shows of the run went really well; the Friday nights performance was excellent, Saturday afternoon was, while still a little odd starting in daylight, much stronger than the week before, and the final show kicked theater butt. And it was by far my strongest personal performance. I got all my lines, I creeped the hell out of people crawling up and down the aisles, I was able to focus and react to what was happening on stage while I was not speaking... and I had a really intense experience I've never had before.
During the murder, the chorus is hidden away in a large room behind the facade of the pipe organ, screaming our lungs out. I usually try to work myself into a dark and despairing place for that piece, and it usually comes out with some genuine emotion. But last night... last night I actually scared myself. I don't know what dark place I went to, but this raw pain and horror was coming out of me. Tears were rolling down my face, words were coming out as half sobs, and the last phrase, which I usually end on a controlled yell, crescendoed of its own volition into an unearthly screech. I was left shaking and trying to get myself together enough to go back downstairs to get into a place of peaceful joy for the final piece. And I did; by the time we were on stage again I was filled with a quiet serenity, and it felt so good to look over at my fellow women of Canterbury with joy and love and feel all that we had accomplished together.
Strike went amazingly quickly and easily due to Elizabeth's meticulous organization and allocation of her forces, and I was at the cast party (hosted by the lovely and gracious![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pheromone) by about 11:30. I had four whole drinks (which is more than I usually have by three), so I was having a great time dancing and cuddling and chatting with people, and was one of the last to leave at 5:30am -- something else that never ever happens.
I've made some new friendships that I know will continue, enriched some old ones, learned so much about what I'm capable of both onstage and off, and had a hell of a good time. Thanks to everyone in the cast and crew, to everyone who came to see the show, and most of all tolillibet for once again having a vision and making it a thing of joy for those around her. E, any show you ever want me in, I'm there in a heartbeat. I'll trust you that it won't suck next time. :)
Moments of Peace - Gregorian
The last shows of the run went really well; the Friday nights performance was excellent, Saturday afternoon was, while still a little odd starting in daylight, much stronger than the week before, and the final show kicked theater butt. And it was by far my strongest personal performance. I got all my lines, I creeped the hell out of people crawling up and down the aisles, I was able to focus and react to what was happening on stage while I was not speaking... and I had a really intense experience I've never had before.
During the murder, the chorus is hidden away in a large room behind the facade of the pipe organ, screaming our lungs out. I usually try to work myself into a dark and despairing place for that piece, and it usually comes out with some genuine emotion. But last night... last night I actually scared myself. I don't know what dark place I went to, but this raw pain and horror was coming out of me. Tears were rolling down my face, words were coming out as half sobs, and the last phrase, which I usually end on a controlled yell, crescendoed of its own volition into an unearthly screech. I was left shaking and trying to get myself together enough to go back downstairs to get into a place of peaceful joy for the final piece. And I did; by the time we were on stage again I was filled with a quiet serenity, and it felt so good to look over at my fellow women of Canterbury with joy and love and feel all that we had accomplished together.
Strike went amazingly quickly and easily due to Elizabeth's meticulous organization and allocation of her forces, and I was at the cast party (hosted by the lovely and gracious
pheromone) by about 11:30. I had four whole drinks (which is more than I usually have by three), so I was having a great time dancing and cuddling and chatting with people, and was one of the last to leave at 5:30am -- something else that never ever happens.I've made some new friendships that I know will continue, enriched some old ones, learned so much about what I'm capable of both onstage and off, and had a hell of a good time. Thanks to everyone in the cast and crew, to everyone who came to see the show, and most of all to
lillibet for once again having a vision and making it a thing of joy for those around her. E, any show you ever want me in, I'm there in a heartbeat. I'll trust you that it won't suck next time. :)Moments of Peace - Gregorian
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 05:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 05:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 06:41 pm (UTC)I'm going to miss that piece a lot. Always at the end, when our final shout went up and there were those few seconds when we'd hear the power of our voices echo through the church in silence, I was awestruck by what the human voice is capable of.
yaaaa, typo
Date: 2004-11-15 03:59 am (UTC)Re: yaaaa, typo
Date: 2004-11-15 12:41 pm (UTC)That piece really was amazing. In a way I'm glad we weren't on stage for it, so we had no one looking at us and had the extra safety on anonymity. And that moment of silence afterwards was so incredibly powerful; I wish I could have seen the audience reaction, but I've always been pretty sure that they were stunned, not bored. :)
I'm going to miss using our voices that way. It was so amazing to be able to be loud and powerful and emotional with such a group of women. The words, the space, the acoustics, the people: all helped me to find a voice I never knew I had. Remember when I told you before the audions that I didn't know how to project? :) We definitely need some chorus-girl pot lucks or something.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 07:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 10:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-15 12:16 am (UTC)Brav-O!
no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 09:48 pm (UTC)At the first rehearsal I attended, that week before the tech run, I was so shocked by the murder sequence, I gasped out loud. When the lights, the strobe, and the low drone I came up with were added in, I found myself shaking when the scene was over. But when you combined an audience with the intensity of actors and the Chorus in a true performance, I was holding my breath every night until the lights came up for the Knights' speeches.
I can tell you that the last time I was this moved by show I was in was 20 years ago, when I did Godspell and lost it every night during the wailing wall sequence. Believe me, it's tough to play the organ part of "Finale" when you can't see the keys clearly. :)
Thanks for putting that extra energy into your performance last night. It made the last show all the more incredible.
-/\/
no subject
Date: 2004-11-14 10:27 pm (UTC)I'd love to do Godspell some day, it seems like the kind of show that lends itself to great experiences. I'm so glad to have been a part of this show, and humbled that it was such an experience for you. It was so amazing to be in a group that felt safe enough to risk letting go like that; thank you for being a part of that.
We Will Always Have Wham!
Date: 2004-11-15 03:17 am (UTC)~Diana~
Re: We Will Always Have Wham!
Date: 2004-11-15 12:42 pm (UTC)Re: We Will Always Have Wham!
Date: 2004-11-15 10:55 pm (UTC)