Singin' In The Rain...

Well, what can I say? Musicals are exhausting!

We've got a four day run, from Tuesday to Friday of this week - not a huge number of shows, but not bad for a student production. I'm in the band, just to clarify - you won't see me getting up in ridiculous costumes!

Ahem.

So, Saturday was an all-day rehearsal. Well, I say all-day, because it was meant to be. I actually left over four hours early, in order to travel down to the coast for a concert on a bandstand by the sea. Which was lovely but windy, and I was very glad I'd brought some pegs to hold the music on the stand. Piccolo solos are stressful enough without losing my music too, thank you very much.

Then it was Sunday, and I was off to Danson Festival to help out on the stall of Jennifer Wilkins School of Dance, where I learn ballet. Unfortunately I ended up with heatstroke, and had to spend the rest of the day doing, well, not much.

Monday was more Singin' In The Rain, with a taster performance to a few eleven-year-olds. But Tuesday was when it got difficult.

Have you ever played violin in a musical? Or any instrument for that matter, but I find violin more tiring than flute. Well, it's exhausting. The music's high, it's fast, the rhythms are mental...

Two and a half shows. In one day. We finished the run in the morning (since our rehearsal from three until half five didn't get us even to the interval the day before), then had a full dress rehearsal in the afternoon for some primary school children, and in the evening we had opening night.

It wasn't bad, it really wasn't. A few little glitches of course, but apparently it's the best opening night we've had in a long time, and Fit As A Fiddle (my ridiculously stressful solo right at the beginning) went amazingly well.

But the next morning? Shattered. And then, in the evening, another show.

Today is Thursday, so we've just two more shows left. If I live through the after party, I've got orchestra rehearsals for our Lake Garda tour at half past nine on Saturday, which is going to be a joy...

Well, better go - it's Camp NaNoWriMo, and I've got writing to do before tonight's performance!