What am I doing in all these crazy outfits and why is there someething glued to my face? For the past few months I was in rehearsal to be in a musical that was performed at the end of December at Sun Yet-sen Memorial Hall. The name of the play was Song of Love and it was the story of Madame Chang-Kei Shek set to music. http://meiling.allmusic-mag.net/
What an adventure! At first I was very insecure for several reasons. Firstly I've never been in a musical before. Secondly, the play was mostly in Chinese, hence I was afraid I would not be able to do my part effectively. Thirdly, I was in the chorus and was afraid I would not be able to overcome my ego to enjoy being part of the group.
I am so glad that I persevered and learned through the process. I took a workshop on broadway performance in the summer which was my introduction into the world of musicals. I had no idea there was such a cult following of musicals and I met a lot of interesting friends there. It was very hard work to be in the musical. We had almost nightly practices for 2 months and I had a lot to work on in terms of vocals and pronounciation. At first being one of the chorus made me feel very insecure because I'm using to standing in the spotlight. But after wrestling with my ego, I started to enjoy the process of being in the group. In fact I was grateful because I didn't have the pressure of learning too many songs and I didn't have all the attention on me.
It was very humbling because I saw that I have a long way to go in terms of area for improvement. I'm used to singing my own songs, but not songs written by others. It takes even more skill because it's not written for your range necessarily. The singers in the play, both chorus and lead actors were all super talented. Their vocal range and stability in how they sang was inspiring and again very humbling. I am excited that I found an excellent vocal coach whom I have begun studying with and I have confidence that I will grow a lot under her. As the saying goes, when the student is ready the teacher appears, and I am ecstatic to have such an excellent teacher willing to train me from scratch.
This reminds me of the stories of Tiger Wood relearning his stroke to make a breakthrough in his golfing. He had to forget everything he learned and went into hiding to work on everything piece by piece. That is what I'm doing (though I wasn't as good as him to begin with). My lessons comprise of singing single notes and three notes in a row over and over again and my coach works with me to refine every tiny breath and placement. It is exhausting and so fulfulling! I am excited to resume lessons when I return to Taiwan (as I am currently visiting my family in Canada right now).
I was also happy that I got a chance to contribute lyrics to the opening song of the play. The quality of music in the play was surprising to me. I think the music was touching and professionally produced. It truly was an privilege to witness such dedication and talent to the craft.
Being in the chorus was so much fun. I got to play an American school girl, a geisha girl, part of the Red Guard in China, a woman attending a formal party, as well as a Chinese peasant. The costume changes were rapid and challenging. Sometimes we had to run and undress backstage to get to our scene change on time. Luckily all the people backstage were super helpful. I was touched by my fellow castmates who were all so willing to help me with my pronounciation and singing. They gave me a lot of encouragement and grace.
I hope I can do another play this year...but for now I'm going to continue working on my singing!
Life is such an adventure. I never dreamed I'd be in a musical, never mind performing at Sun Yet-Sen Memorial Hall. I did vocal exercises at the centre of stage when nobody was around one morning and it was thrilling. I hope one day I can have the ability to stand in the center and sing my heart out to a full audience!
For more pictures: http://www.wretch.cc/album/lilycblog
