1, 2, and 3 will be fine...

This is what I often find myself repeating, mantra-like, after our rehearsal runs. So much so that it has invited the scorn of Delyth, our director: "Isn't it good to have a director who doesn't mince her words?" asks James...

I always intend to say more when I begin this mantra. However, I am mocked. So I don't.

I have no huge worries about things. There are some passages which are more tricky than others to get just right, as there are in any show. This isn't cause for downheartedness - it's where we test ourselves as performers. "It's a challenge, and you wouldn't want it any other way", said James whilst we were on the tube today. I'm agreeing more and more with the sentiment the more I think about it.
Of course, in an ideal world, we wouldn't be facing these tests one day before the previews start, but that is the very nature of theatre. The value of the performance is different from the worth of the performers. The value of the performance depends as much upon the audience as it does upon the cast. The worth of the performers will be seen in their response to the tests and adversities that face them as actors and musicians.

Now, after that bit of philosophy, taken from Oscar Wilde via the stage show of Mary Poppins, I am going to read this back again and again before I go to rehearsal tomorrow, in order to regain some perspective (and not in a Mrs. Dalloway sense) and in order to psyche myself up for what could be the most important musical rehearsal of the entire show.