From Obscurity To the Gaiety
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MANY THANKS TO MAURICE YVONNE (ARMAND) WHO GAVE ME SOME GREAT TIPS TO OVERCOME STAGE FRIGHT .... THEY WORKED!!!
All preparation had been completed
The big night was finally here
At three in the afternoon I went to dress rehearsal
Stood on the Gaiety stage for the first time - I didn’t have any fear!
Three lovely ladies
We were standing behind our microphones
Reciting our poems .. to an audience of ONE
Rows and rows of empty seats – tonight they would soon fill
Would nerves finally hit me, would I start to feel ill …
We had a few hours to kill before the show would start
Hubby and I went for a meal before I played my part
I dressed in my lovely frock – our act would all wear black and white
The theatre was a sell out, much to our delight
The performance kicked off at eight o’clock
Our slot was in the second half so we sat and watched the show
Joined in with the audience from spare seats on the back row
Time passed by so quickly once the show had begun
We rolled about with laughter the acts were such great fun
The interval came and we had to go
Soon the time would come for us to perform
It was freezing cold backstage I wore my cardigan to keep warm!
Our names were announced and we walked onto the stage
Lights shone down on the three of us
But the audience was a sea of faces in the dark
I was first to recite my poem
‘Seven men you definitely wouldn’t want to date’
Not a sign of stage fright at all
Di recited ‘The Fine’ and Irene ‘1958’
Then it was back to me with ‘Just Desserts’
It was the very first funny poem I’d written
Di’s ‘Night Nuisance’ and Irene’s ‘A Transcript’ poems followed
With poetry we are all smitten
With massive smiles on our faces we walked off the stage
Came back later to take a bow
The audience applause was rapturous – I can still hear it in my head now!
Last night I performed on stage at a charity event in front of 600 people … it was my first time on a ‘proper’ stage at the Victorian Gaiety Theatre and was the most incredible night of my life! The night raised awareness of Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's and raised over £6000 ($7410) from ticket sale alone - there were bucket collections too.
11~19~16
Copyright © Jan Allison | Year Posted 2016
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