21 January 2013
(Like I always do, I'm putting in a well thought out intro. So, this little idea comes from my speech competition from this Saturday. This was my first, and I became inspired by all the performances I have been in over the past few years. Speech is different though. You perform in a classroom in front of a judge and the audience is only a few feet away. It was new, and it was very exciting for me. My teammates and I spent countless hours working so hard to perfect this piece, and it felt so amazing getting to share it at this competition.) Oh, and if you want to know what happens in the end, just skip ahead- but only if you don't want my overly dramatic recollection of the performance. I actually kind of advise this idea >>
I walked in slowly. Like I was told to do, I smiled. The judge seemed unamused at the kind gesture. I could feel little jumps in my stomach. Those very familiar jumps... I quickly set up all the chairs and the table, and then I took my place in a chair. All those hours we had spent rehearsing- I couldn't let them be in vain. We had worked so hard to be the actors we were. Molly was on my right, sitting in a chair across from me. Ryan and Alexis were "off stage" with their heads down. Good Lord, the jumping wouldn't stop. Then, it began. I was the one with the opening line. I felt like my breath was leaving me, but the words popped out like I had practiced so many times. "See?! They're walking away as if they're leaving a CEMETERY." But I quickly realized that put all the eyes on me... All those eyes that were so close. Those eyes- the judge's eyes... They were fixed on me! "John is the minister, y'see? He's dressed in all white!" The audience gave a puzzled look.... "Ringo is the undertaker!" A few lips cracked a smile. "George was the grave digger." Mild laughter could be heard. They were catching on... Line after line, they laughed. Those eyes- all those eyes! They were lit up and gave an amused stare at me. I could feel the room's energy growing, and I fed off of it. The feeling of being an actress is unlike any other, and those eyes... They made it so worthwhile, but my job wasn't done. "Will you be quiet?! I am the medium here!" The judge laughed. He laughed? He laughed! I must be doing something right. Then the mood of the script changed... Ryan started yelling... "VIETNAM! HE LEFT FOR VIETNAM! You know what that means!" I felt like crying. I was so in character that it seemed real. I had a depressed step-brother yelling at me. Shouting at the top of his lungs. "I have this pain inside that never goes away!" He screams at my face. I felt my eyes beginning to tear up. "Hal, I know..." And he embraced me in his arms. He sobbed. My step-brother was sobbing. I could see the judge out of the corner of my eye. He seemed impressed. I hugged Ryan tight for a count of three. That's what we had spent so many weeks practicing. Then, head down. Applause filled the room. Shouts from my excited schoolmates came from the audience. A few of the grandparents and parents in the crowd seemed to be having nostalgia about the Vietnam war. We had done it. We really did it. We had have the performance of our lives. The judge then spoke. "Come to the front." He announced. He gave us our critique. Something strange happened though... My character had no critique... My teammates got plenty, but I got nothing. Nothing... I didn't know if this was good or bad. Either way, I felt a smile- a genuine smile from everyone in the room, including the judge. As soon as I left the room, I jumped into Ryan's arms and gave him a real hug. Molly and Alexis gave friendly high-fives. Those dreadful days we spent practicing had not gone to waste. We pulled everything together, and gave a performance to remember. This day was a point in my acting career that I realized how wonderful audiences are. It's so different with a real audience- an audience so close. Their eyes and expressions kept me in character. How I loved seeing them so entertained. Being an actress is a lot of who I am, and pulling off that performance was definitely a huge part of my acting life. I don't know what else to say here... I could say more, but you know... If you want to hear from me more, you will have to see me perform.
(If you want to know what happened in the end, my team is headed to state. Really, I'm on two teams. I'm in musical theatre and ensemble. The thing I posted about was my ensemble group, and we performed a piece called "Paul's Ghost." It was about a conspiracy in the early 1970s that Paul McCartney had died. We didn't do very well at rehearsals and I always forgot lines. Plus, we always ran out of time. We thought we were going to get called for time, but in the end, our time was 13:49. Nowhere near 15 minutes! We were all pretty excited. The thoughts we had going into the competition were ones of doubt. But what always makes me overcome fears is the audience. I love being an entertainer. Like I said above, it's my life and it's something I always plan on doing. At the end of the day, we found out that for the first time in my schools history, all of the speech teams were getting to go to state. That made the win even better. So, wish us luck at state! And I hope I didn't bore you with this story!)
All The Eyes • Opuss № I