What happens if you mess up?
This happens to people all the time. It could be a small flub where you mispronounce a word. This happened the other week when a person on stage was delivering a line. For some odd reason, he got stuck on the word Vermont. This was not funny to the audience, but it definitely got a few of us to break (laugh) on stage. Then there are more memorable flubs that could seem like they were done on purpose. A performer was once playing a stressed out stage manager. On one of his entrances, he completely fell. He was supposed to deliver a line at the same time, so the attention was on him already. On top of it, he chose to play the role like a stressed out nut-job - thus making his fall look ten times more frantic. I once was doing a show and had a hard fall off the stage in the middle of a vocal solo. I feel forward and landed hard with my knees in the floor lights. Luckily, no glass broke on my knees, but it freakin hurt.
What happened with all of these mistakes? The show went on. The cast who lost focus quickly fought and gained control to stop laughing. The actor who flubs a line keeps going as though nothing has happened or turns it into a character choice. Or, in my case, if I hurt myself, I do my best to finish what I am doing and get myself off stage as quickly as possible. It all comes down to one thing - THE SHOW MUST GO ON.
