Orange & Blue

Issue date: 9/18/09 Section: Blogs

Jody Barker [Click to enlarge]

It struck me last Sunday. When I started to get sick I knew that it was going to be a long week. I did NOT want to be sick...really I wasn't allowed to get sick, and with Theraflu, orange juice, water, green tea, lots of sleep, and 3 different kinds of cough drops, I've now almost fully recovered. But, it was a very interesting week having to sing, dance, and act while feeling (and looking) like a zombie.

The funniest part of this week was definitely the voice lessons. Despite that my throat wasn't really allowing me to have much of a voice at all, I still had to work on my songs. It was quite entertaining to sing "Wouldn't it be Lovely" in a voice that sounded more like it should be in the musical CATS.

Friday, I and a few members of the cast attended a master class with "Broadway's Golden Couple", Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley. Marin and Jason came to Walter State Community College to provide a kind of group lesson for whoever wanted to attend. Three of our cast members sang for them and then were critiqued on how they could improve their performances. Even though I couldn't sing, it was so helpful to hear the comments Marin and Jason gave everyone. That night, we went back to Walter State to see them in a concert. Their concert was quite inspiring and reminded me of what it is that I'm getting to do in the musical. It reminded me that I shouldn't necessarily be so stressed about how good my voice sounds when I perform, but that I should be more concerned about communicating the story I want to tell. They reminded me that theater is so much about just having fun and being real on stage; it's not so much about how perfectly you sing or dance, but how well you pull the audience in to the life you're living out on stage.

This week, I have to have all my lines memorized and on Friday I'm performing "I could have danced all night" for the music students and faculty at their recital. I'm so honored to get to participate, but I'm so very, very nervous! I hope everyone enjoys the sneak preview of the show.
So, if you see someone on campus that looks like they might be a crazy person talking to themselves in a strange Cockney accent, it's probably one of us trying frantically to memorize our lines by Wednesday! If only time could be slowed down...*sigh*.

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