If I Pass… (Johanna)

Most of my ideas about what is going to happen next year are prefixed by this – “If I pass..”. It’s worrying. In high school people would go out of their way to make me pass.. there was a particularly nasty time I remember when I was coughing up half a lung from a horrible chest infection whilst in the midst of absolute despair, a teacher locking me in a room and saying I couldn’t come out until i finished the SAC. She also gave me an hour and a half longer than she was meant to. That was in Year 11, and she was determined to stop me from just throwing in the towel, as I do so often. Matthew described my approach as this – running forward enthusiastically, falling over, and being so distraught by the fact that I could have a setback that I end up ruining any progress I made.

Mmm. I’m currently writing an essay that is due tomorrow. Still writing due to an overwhelming feeling of word traffic jams in my head, and an irrational (maybe rational) fear of just not being able to write anything worth handing in, like most of my other essays. They are so tricky. I recently wrote an essay for my French Revolution subject on Marie Antoinette and the defamation campaigns against her in the lead up to her execution. It was a hell of an essay – it took several days of work and nothing else past the due date to get it all done, sleepless nights, scouring it for grammatical mistakes and ambiguities. When it was finally done, I was proud. Even though it was late, I figured it might just get a nice mark (I have been too scared to go and collect it, so I don’t know what it got). But I read over it last night and found heaps of mistakes. There was even a bit where I left in a fragment of my plan… after a quote I had (cite) written, as a note for myself that I never picked up on. I couldn’t believe it.

So it’s making me feel so nice about the essay that has to magically materialise tonight.

Anything Goes is over. It’s a nice feeling to have that off my shoulders… during production week there was a lot of ill-feeling in the cast… but it was soon forgotten on opening night. The show meandered along until the last number before interval, which was Anything Goes, the title number. The whole ensemble were on stage singing and looking excitedly at the tappers who came on in droves.. they danced, we sang and danced a little too, and suddenly the whole theatre was on their feet! Probably 800 people standing up clapping, cheering, screaming for more – this didn’t feel like we were performing a 1930’s musical, it felt like a rock concert. The sound of applause and knowing that it’s for you is incredible. The curtain went down after that number and my friend Michael had to help me off the upper deck of the stage where I was standing.. my legs were shaking so much from adrenaline, too much sugar and pure joy at the fact that we had pulled it off.

Here are some photos, luckily I’m not really visible in any!:

Three of the leads (Hope, Evelyn and Mrs. Harcourt) – I was understudy for Hope

The ‘Bon Voyage’ Number – complete with orchestra on the upper deck

Billy and Reno singing “You’re the Top”

Moonface Martin, Erma and the Captain – her legs are ‘hairy’ for a reason, she’s actually hiding someone under her

The Anything Goes number – ok, I’m in this one.. if you look on the upper deck, I’m standing directly behind the round thing on the left. The lights hadn’t come up on us at this stage

Reno showing off her tonsils in “Blow, Gabriel, Blow”

Erma at the end of “Buddie, Beware”

Evelyn singing “The Gypsy in Me”

Some of the awesome choreography in “Blow, Gabriel, Blow”

So many links.. but here is one more – a review of the show (click “Anything Goes”).

So there. That’s as close as many of you will have gotten to seeing the show. It was good in the end. So come and see Beauty and the Beast next year.. hopefully I’ll be in it. Auditions are in about 16 days, wish me luck!