Almost all of the hard work happens before opening night. I’m so interested in what comes after.
Watching high school students’ performances grow from night to night, as they come to understand and inhabit their characters better, is miraculous. It’s an unfolding I never get tired of. Having watched a couple of dozen musicals from opening to closing, I’ve gotten to see up close the way having an audience shows them where a joke is, where a beat is needed, what is special about their character. Then you see them put all that newfound insight into the next performance.
This is why I love performing pieces again and again; the understanding deepens with each performance, and the musicality is enriched with each performance insight.
All the work happens before opening night, but so much growth happens after.