Sometimes, the audience actually helps performers bear the load. It gets easier with an audience in the house.
Les Misérables is where I’ve been spending my evenings, helping get a massive and massively emotional show off the ground. In dress rehearsals, I’ve observed performers overcome at the end of the show by the emotional weight. Final dress featured extremely heightened emotions.
The emotions were still high on opening night tonight, but they were manageable. And I think the secret was the audience’s presence. Without an audience, the performers had no place to send the emotions, so they held on to them. With a receptive audience, they were able to let them go, at least a little bit.
Sharing art in front of an audience – musical, theatrical, or any other – elevates the art, elevates the performer, and elevates the human connection in the room. We are all better for it.