Stage time, stage time

March 2013.  In the past month I've performed eight times:

• 3 times for "Cabaret Review" - in the Out of the Square program, which tours suburban and regional theatres in South Australia.  I've been to Port Noarlunga, Murray Bridge and Gawler.
• 4 times for "Cabaret Live" - an "open mic" night which is part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
• Once at the Treasury Bar courtyard in King William Adelaide.  This was an entirely impromptu offering; I was at a cocktail party for the French-Australian Chamber of Commerce, and the entertainment was provided by a guitarist friend of mine, Fred.  After Fred had sung his entire repertoire of French songs he called me over and we sang four Brazilian ones.  

This is exactly what I need, and it's so much better than in the early years, when I had 3 or 4 opportunities each year to perform, and more recently, when it's been once a month.

Singers need stage time to gain confidence, develop their vocal skills and learn to connect with an audience.  No matter how well you sing in the lounge room, when you get up on stage it feels completely different.

I've found the same thing with public speaking.  Joining a Toastmasters club has led to rapid improvement.  At every meeting (held twice each month) I am on my feet, whether giving a prepared speech, taking part in an impromptu speaking exercise or facilitating the meeting proceedings as the Toastmaster for the night.

In this way, speaking in front of a group has come to feel normal and natural, instead of an occasional thing that provokes anxiety.  It's like anything - the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

As a singer I have found it a challenge to accumulate stage time.  I don't play guitar or piano, so I can't go to a regular open-mic event or go busking (which I think I would find very confronting, anyway).  Musical theatre productions require many hours of attendance at rehearsal, and I can't fit that into my schedule.  I know it sounds like I'm making excuses.  The truth is, I have an aversion to acting, having had a bad experience with it when I was 14.  Now this is really sounding like a bad excuse!  Suffice it to say, it doesn't appeal and I'm not willing to do it.

But now I have found these other avenues to perform, and the extra stage time is paying dividends.  My voice feels more dependable.  I'm being more courageous with my singing rather than "playing it safe".  I feel more at ease in front of the audience.

In fact, I'm about to enter my own cabaret show into the Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival in June of this year.

It's "Adventures with a Brazilian".