To: "VOCALIST" <vocalist>
Subject: Re: Fear of Singing! (longish)
Date sent: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 13:33:40 -0500
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Hi Stephanie:

You'll receive many thoughtful suggestions, I'm certain, from the list.
There are also great ideas to be found in the archives within the last few
months.

Here's what helped me overcome paralyzing stage fright.

Even though I had sung confidently in church choirs as a soloist from a ve=
ry
early age, when I got to college and everyone else was a more legit and
experienced singer, I could not manage to sing in front of people outside
church. We had weekly voice seminars where a few students from each sudio
sang for all the students. I never made it through without dissolving in
tears. I compared myself to the others constantly and came up feeling I wa=
s
terrible even though I knew what I could do in the practice room - that is=
,
when no one else was there and even with the window to the practice room
covered!! was a pretty pathetic case. I believe, in hindsight, that my
beloved teacher did not realize I was terrified because I have a pretty
confident personality. She just thought I had no top yet and patiently
worked to help me "find it". I practiced less and less, feeling it was no
use.

Somehow I ended up in a Musical Theatre class taught by the wonderful
Maughan McMurdie (of "City of Joseph" fame for any Salt Lake City or Mormo=
n
listers). The first show we did was a loosely-structured revue so he could
showcase the talents we were able to access. I was assigned "Zing went the
Strings of my Heart" and he had me sing it to a store mannequin, played by=
a
male singer who happened to be very physically stiff to begin with. Well, =
it
ended up being so funny, that I forgot to be scared. Instead I was hooked =
on
performing.

Next we did the "Four-Note Opera" an unusual piece written with only vario=
us
inversions of four notes and with a cast of The Soprano, the Tenor, The
Bass, and the Contralto. It was another silly piece that required the
soprano to be a huge diva. He encouraged us to do our imitation of an oper=
a
star, horned helmet, iron bra and the works. We worked only on staging,
acting and learning the music, no technique. When we were through on the
first night, the voice faculty lined up to congratulate me on finding my
voice. I wasn't trying to find my voice! I was being funny! And en route t=
o
being funny...I was finally able to get past the fear.

Sometimes when you're doing everything else right, you just need something
to distract you from the fear. Maybe a fabulous dress, new "do", or, as it
did for me, really getting into a character so it wasn't ridiculous Laura
making a fool of herself again - it was someone in a show.

When I went on to grad. school in Theatre, mask work unleashed the rest of
me. Put on a silly mask so you can't see your face and perform for yoursel=
f
in the mirror. All sorts of marvelous things happen!

Best wishes Stephanie!

Laura

-----Original Message-----
From: Minervino, Stephanie
To: 'VOCALIST' <vocalist>
Date: Tuesday, January 04, 2000 12:40 PM
Subject: Fear of Singing!


I guess it's my turn to write to everyone after joining last week and
reading everyone's input. I am a soon to be 25 year old light lyric
soprano, who loves to sing and is terrified to perform, even just in front
of my fianc=E9!