Blue Family Cast Day 5: Stay focused and listen to guidance.

Today was the day for our Blue Cast dress rehearsal. Beginning at 9am we ran through various scenes, particularly those with dancing in (thankfully my calf muscles are feeling much better than they were!) I managed to get the ending right on a dance that had been giving me some trouble, and was so pleased that I’d managed it that I fist pumped...not very Victorian of me, oops! Thankfully I managed to avoid doing that again (probably because I didn’t do the ending quite so well after that!)

We spent the morning and a portion of the afternoon going through scenes, and ‘cleaning’ them up. As Alex (our artistic director) reminded us, when Nephi (in the Book of Mormon) was commanded by the Lord to build a ship, the ship wasn’t the important thing – the important thing was that they got to the Promised Land. Still, the ship needed to be watertight. So it is with this Pageant – the performance is not the important thing; the important thing is that people come and feel the Spirit, that they feel uplifted by what they see and hear, and that their hearts are touched by it. But in order for that to happen, we need to give it our all, to do our very best to share our story – our heritage – with them.

Later in the afternoon we did a full run through. It made me realise just how quickly an hour and a half can go – when you are running it continuously there is very little time to do anything but check when and where you next come on and get into position! Fortunately it went pretty well.

I was fed again at dinner today – by the same friend who fed me yesterday J She has two girls who are in the family cast with us (as well as a son in the core cast) and they are fantastic, full of energy and so enthusiastic about being here. I loved sitting in the dining room/lounge as families and friends crowded in to eat, sharing the food they’d made with others and talking and laughing together. It’s a wonderful atmosphere.

After that it was time to get ready for our dress rehearsal this evening. A friend of mine arrived yesterday to join the choir for the week – I haven’t seen her for around 7 years so it’s great to see her again! I attempted to help her with putting her hair in a Victorian style and discovered my talents lie elsewhere (and I apologise to her for that!). Still, I managed a passable attempt and hopefully someone more skilled will be around to help for opening night tomorrow! If not I’m sure I’ll improve with practise…right?!

Then came the dress rehearsal...it wasn’t perfect, and we made mistakes, but we learn from those mistakes and tomorrow will be better than ever! I realised again how tough it is being in the family cast – in the choir you are onstage the whole time and just have to listen for the music cues (which takes concentration enough!). In the family cast you have to be aware of music and dialogue cues, to know where to enter and where to exit at each point, and stay very focused! When we aren’t onstage we wait in the ‘Green room’ (a large tent behind the theatre) and Martha (the assistant stage manager) lets us know via the speakers which districts/groups are needed for each scene. She’s great at doing that, repeating it several times so that it’s clear for anyone who may have missed the first time, but we need to be so focused and listen carefully or it’s easy to miss it, since we need to keep the volume on the speakers turned down as the sound carries through to the stage area if we don’t.

I loved being part of the family cast today; the way we all worked together and helped each other to remember to stay quiet when waiting to go on, watching the children interact as quietly as they could with each other (often turning it into a game), and being part of my district ‘family’. I’m hoping that as I get used to where I need to enter and exit the stage each time I’ll be able to enjoy the moments more. Ben (our Assistant Music Director) summed up what I learned tonight when he said it showed how much we need to focus and listen to the instructions we are given despite the noise or distractions that may be going on around us, otherwise it can be easy to miss our cues. And isn’t that just like life? We have to listen carefully to the promptings of the Spirit (some might call it instinct or intuition) to know what we should do at certain times; like how best to reach out and help another person. But what is so wonderful and merciful about it is that our Heavenly Father is patient with us; if we miss our cue He will find a way to gently nudge us in the right direction. Having said that, we have to remember that it is our choice each time, He will never force us. If we respond to His cues, we will have success and be in the right place at the right time, ready for whatever He has planned. But if we choose to ignore it, we will miss out on what could be a great moment in our lives.