That was the reaction of some people during my performance last Sunday. Right before the show's overture, I was quietly whispering the lyrics of my song to myself and then I got stuck. I was having a major brain fart. For the life of me, I could not remember one line. I panicked but could not do anything as I heard the opening notes. I thought that, surely, memory would kick in at the precise moment and take over. I had two numbers to go through before it got to my song and I couldn't stress about it, lest I ruin my other lines in the first two numbers. So I went through the first two numbers with as much chutzpah as the role called for, without a hitch. My song came next. It started out fine but in the middle of it, my mind went blank. In my panic, my mouth just threw out a line that matched with the melody. That's good, right? Well, not really. Because it wasn't my line but someone else's, and it totally threw off the next three lines I was singing. I did not let my expression waver one bit. I calmly switched to the right lyrics the first moment I could. The funny thing is, I had mistakenly sung two verses that were supposed to be sung later, so I had to sing it again at the right time. As I sang (and prayed), my mind tried to frantically paraphrase so the audience wouldn't go, "Hmmm, she said that already!". Boy, can our brains multi-task or what?! Anyway, let's just say I am not as good as Audie Gemora at making up lyrics on the spot. I tried but failed miserably. I just tried to dazzle the audience with my belting ability (naks naman!) so they would not notice. I think the hardest thing after that was keeping a straight face. I was furious at myself for having a gaffe like that. At the same time, I wanted to burst out laughing at the stupidity of what I had just uttered.
Oh, did I mention that there was a critic in the audience? Wunnerful. Just wunnerful.
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3 comments:
Don't worry.
Your "About Me" does say,"Retired."
You're still my favorite actress!
And I'm your number one fan!
Darling I'm sure nobody noticed! I always remember how my mind used to wander off to what I would have for lunch while I was doing "the game"..and then I would just lose track of what I was saying. It could have sounded like games what a wonderful gift to the Lasagne...xoxo Marina
Ha! Making mistakes but not letting it show or affect the rest of your performance--the sign of a true professional. ;-)
I remember a ballet dress rehearsal where two dancers who were supposed to be doing a duet (in sync) both forgot their steps. They ended up totally improvising completely different dances but looking for all the world like it was the right dance. Backstage afterwards, it was kind of hilarious. Buti na lang dress rehearsal pa lang.
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