Anything Goes- Including Your Voice (WA-2 Final Draft)

Tuesday morning- I woke up after the first tech rehearsal with no voice. My throat was cloaked with multiple layers of sandpaper. It sounded as if I had been smoking for fifty years. Opening night for Anything Goes was Friday. As Reno, my voice was crucial. As a senior in high school with ambition in musical theatre, this role was crucial to me. I had been working my entire life for this opportunity. My step- dad was in theatre, so he started me in theatre as soon I could dance (which was practically before I could walk). I had performed my fair share of small roles from Baby June in Gypsy to Random White Girl #3 in West Side Story. Now I was Reno in Anything Goes. And I had no voice.
My step- dad, Greg, had no sympathy. He had warned me at Monday’s rehearsal not to push over the pit and the tap dancers. I would have a mic for the performances.
‘Don’t push, don’t push, don’t push,’ Greg said over and over again. I still pushed and now I have no voice.
The news of my voice spread like a tornado whipping through the cast, leaving the remains of a once fantastic musical in its wake. The director kept a calm façade and said that he would figure something out. Greg, who was the vocal coach, began rehearsing the understudy. The director found me in the hall; his dark brown eyes had a sparkle like sparks flying from coal.
‘Allyson,’ he said, ‘we got the mics.’ He simulated the pea sized mic near his ear.
I was confused; I knew that we had been fundraising for these new, wireless mics for the actors. He continued, barely giving me time to respond.
‘Well, we were only going to turn the mics on when you sing, but why don’t we just keep your mic on the entire time? That way you don’t have to strain your voice. Now get to class, I’ll see you at rehearsal!’
I almost hugged him. I was Reno. At lunch, I left school to get tea with honey for my voice. The air seemed crisper than it had when I had left for school. I called my step- dad in the car to give him the news. He was pleased, but still concerned that my voice might not come back. He also reminded me how whispering would only hurt my voice more; I should continue to talk at a normal level but drink lots of tea.
Thursday- My voice came back, but it wasn’t only Greg that was scared that I would lose it again. Now that I had my voice, the nerves kicked in. Opening night loomed closer. I knew I was prepared; we had been in rehearsal for 5 months. I just wanted to not to be Allyson. For 2 days, I just wanted to be Reno Sweeney, the glamorous night club singer.
Friday night- the lights in the audience went down. It was so dark, you couldn’t tell where the auditorium ended. The lights that were aimed at the stage looked like lasers in a rainbow of colors. I was in the lobby of the theatre with my seven ‘angels’ behind me, ready to make my dramatic entrance as Reno. The orchestra played the first chord, before going into the theme of the title song. I was shaking so hard I thought that the bobby pins in my short hair would fall out. I smiled and asked myself how many times in the course of the past five months had I heard that tune? I could have sworn my heart beat that rhythm. I stood by the door to the theatre, anxious for my cue. I finally heard ‘We want a picture of you coming up the gang plank.’ I pushed through the doors and headed towards the rainbow of laser lights, with my angels parading behind me. As I walked towards the stage, I felt the slow decline of the floor under my feet; I had to be careful not to hit the filthy orange chairs filled with audience members. I knew somewhere in the auditorium sat my mom, proud of her little girl. She was probably shaking more than me. My friends from dance school sat in those orange seats, proud of the girl that they had spent years dancing with. The three stairs that led to the stage were the hardest three steps that I ever had to climb. I was wearing character shoes, which unfortunately have an inch and half heel. I knew I could dance in those shoes better than I could climb stairs in them. I was worried my voice would be shaking who I spotted my mom sitting fourth row center. I knew the only thing that would make her breathe for the first time since that same chord in the overture that made me start to shake, would be if I nailed my first song, ‘You’re the Top.’ While Mike, who was playing Billy, sang the beginning, I began to feel less and less nervous. I hadn’t put this much work into this role to end up sounding like a sixty year old chain smoker. I sang, trying to ration my voice so it would last. At the end of the song, I was worried about how the audience perceived it. They loved it, and my mom was finally able to breathe.
Saturday Night- We had finished the final performance. There had been a Friday night, a Saturday matinee and a Saturday night. Each performance, I became more and more confident and morphed more and more into Reno. As the last curtain fell, my adrenaline was still flowing. I turned to the other actors and felt so proud of them. They were my best friends, my family. We didn’t want this to be over. After this, we would all be separated. At the cast party, I knew I wasn’t Reno anymore. I was Allyson again. The space in my stomach where the nerves had lived all weekend now felt empty. This show had been my life for five months. In the blink of an eye, it was all over.