Q&A for How to Prepare For a Stage Performance

It happens to me too and I often notice that my legs are stiff and tense. It's best to try to get in a relaxed position, whether it's sitting or even letting your body hang loose. Next, remember to breathe from your diaphragm and in through your nose, out through your mouth. Finally, know where your notes are being held in your body, such as your head voice, chest voice, and the overall body voice. Try not to focus on the audience when you're performing, just pick a spot at the back of the room and stare at it.

Get everything ready and prepare yourself for an amazing night. Go to bed early and sleep well if possible and just try to stay calm.

If you know roughly what the line is, find a way to weave in the basic idea. Otherwise, if you know that one of your fellow cast members has a line to say soon after the one you forgot, find a way to prompt them to say that to get past it. Standing there silent for any longer than a few seconds will tip the audience off that something was missed, so you want to resurrect the situation one way or another quickly so the audience does not realize anything was off. Learn your cues - it's all well and good knowing your lines, but if you don't know where to say them, there's no point.

When you say your own lines, say them slowly, so that they get the hint to slow down too. Make the most of dramatic pauses too, to slow things down. You could also give your fellow actos a pep-talk right before you go on stage.

You could think about something to look forward to, such as Christmas, your birthday, or even what you're doing after the performance. Maybe you have a crush to think about?

Try realizing you have the awesome privilege to actually be onstage and others aren't even close to doing that. If you mess up, oh, well, you just created a funny memory to keep for when you are older.

Gargling mouthwash might help, and it may help to take cough medicine too. Lozenges made for sore throats can be used but some can only be taken at two to four hourly intervals; read the instructions first.

Ignore them and avoid eye contact. Stay focused on your performance.

Make sure you have your lines memorized, practice a couple times backstage or bring a script to read.

It often helps professional actors to have a page of only their lines and queue lines, to help them get it right before or during the show.

Don't think of him as your ex boyfriend. Think of him as just another boy. If he tries to strike up a conversation, make small talk. Whatever happened in the past is over, just put it out of your mind.

Don't panic and try to find a remedy backstage, like a safety pin. Most malfunctions will not be visible to the audience.

It is often a good thing to rehearse before a performance so that you are accustomed to saying the lines. They will sound more natural if you are well-practiced. If you tend to forget lines, you, of course, wouldn't want to ad-lib, so you'd need to know them by heart since you won't have a script to read from in a performance. It can also make you feel more confident in your performance if you're having problems with motivation. I hope this helped answer your question.

Go backstage (in a place you can sing with the audience not hearing) and do singing warm-ups. Go up and down the scale a few times.

Just go with the flow. The audience won't notice if you play it off casually.

Visit your local theatre's website and apply to host a performance, or rent a park for a more casual feel.

Some of these things may include: 1. Anxiety and fear of performing. 2. Fear of forgetting the dance. 3. Wonder of whether you look okay or not. 4. Fear of not being as good as the other dancers. 5. (If a solo dance) Fear of being on stage alone. 6. (If group dance) Fear of letting the group down.

That shouldn't be on the list of things you're worried about. Just pay attention to what you are supposed to be doing and don't even think about the audience being there. If you focus on your performance, you will succeed, and everyone will be proud.

Just continue to practice, practice and practice. But if you're already going to play a different role, then you'll have to stick with that.

YouTube guides can be extremely helpful for these kinds of specific acting needs, so I would check there for recommendations/tips on becoming a grandma.

Figure out possible motives behind the character's words and actions in a scene - focus on what your character wants and how that clashes with the motives of others in the scene. Make acting choices that show what's going on under the surface with your character.

Just focus on your lines and pretend the audience doesn't exist. Just focus on the person you're delivering your lines to.

Just continue on as though nothing had happened.

If you are feeling at all uncertain about your dance, ask the other people in the dance and see if they can help you out.

The director will help everyone choose costumes.