All theatre kids know that there is so much more to a performance than what the auidence gets to see. Months of rehearsal and the hours leading up to opening night is in its own, a story. Here are ten pre-show rituals that all theatre kids will be able to relate to.
1. Costume before the costume
If you ever catch an actor or actress before he or she heads to the theatre, it's quite an alarming sight. Most of the time they will be wearing so many layers (ex. booty shorts over tights with a nude leotard all under sweatpants and sweatshirts) and over-done makeup/hair. To an outsider, theatre kids look rather scary.
2. Survival bags
3. Medicine
Theatre kids are known to go great lengths to preserve their vocal chords before shows. Some would bring cough drops, others would bring tea and honey, and the real theatre kids would bring their own personal humidifiers.
4. Pre-show party
The dressing room is the place to be before shows. Usually, someone would bring a speaker and their phone, and the whole cast would rock out to other theatre music than the one they were performing while they got dressed.
5. Bobby pins
It's hard to mention theatre without bobby pins. How else would actors' hair stay in place, anyway? Theatre kids only trust bobby pins and generous layers of hairspray to ensure their hair will not move during intense musical numbers.
6. Cast warmup
Before the doors would be open to the public, the cast and crew would take advantage of the the empty auditorium and partake in the cast warmup. This includes a variety of strange alien-like sounding exercises meant to help open the jaw and warm up their vocal chords.
7. Scaring people with your lines
As the show time approaches, many actors and actresses would start preparing themselves for their character. This would often include actors spontaneously saying their lines in regular conversation or walking up to people and sing a lyric to someone and then walking away.
8. Frantic pacing
As the stage manager would yell "10 minutes to places", actors would start to remove themselves from the real world and frantically begin pacing saying their lines under their breath to get themselves ready for the show and calm their nerves.
9. Cast hug
As actors and actress would set for the top of the show, the whole cast will come together and give each other a big hug for support or do a silent cheer to pump everyones spirits.
10. Mannequin challenge
Most of the public has been captivated with the new mannequin challenge trend; however, what many don't know is that actors and actresses have been doing it for years! Before the curtain would rise, actors would freeze in their first position waiting for the spotlight to hit to release them from their "mannequin" like pose.
