Michelle Martin

Living on stage

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Caroline was involved in five performances of two different plays over four days this month — four performances of “Seussical Jr.,” her school drama club’s musical, and one performance of “Unhappily Ever After,” a play with a theater group she belongs to.

That doesn’t count the final dress rehearsal of the school musical, performed in front of the entire student body.

So for a period of 96 hours, she was singing and dancing and acting her heart out. And she loved it.

Sometimes it hurt, she said, to have to smile so long and so wide. But one of her acting teachers told her that sometimes it does hurt to smile so much. That means you’re doing it right.

And heading into each performance, she was nervous. She said she wasn’t, but as one of the people in charge of getting her there, I’ll go out on a limb and say she was. But if you’re not at least a little nervous, maybe you don’t really care. She cared.

All of us in the family — including Teresa, who was pretty cooperative — saw at least three of the performances. We were impressed at how much work all of the kids put into the shows, how much effort they put into their performances. I can only imagine how much work their teachers put into it.

The young actors and singers and dancers and stage crew members were justifiably proud of their productions, as were all of their families. I was especially proud of Caroline, who used to be too shy to enjoy the spotlight when she was younger. That seems to have changed.

Then, we used to tell her that if she did her best, she didn’t have to worry about what people thought. I still think that’s a good rule of thumb, and not just for the performing arts. If you’re worried about people knowing what you did, you probably shouldn’t have done it. If you’re not sure whether you should do something, think about how you feel if everyone knew about it. Embarrassed if you fail? It still might be worth the risk. Embarrassed even if you succeed? Probably best not to. Ashamed of your behavior? Definitely not.

Approaching a performance, Caroline still worries a little, I think, but she uses that to motivate herself to give her best effort, practicing her dance steps through the dining room and singing her songs in her room at night when she’s supposed to be going to sleep.

As she grows up, I hope she keeps giving her best efforts. She, like all of us, will live much of her life on stage. I, for one, want a front row seat.

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