The trouble with yesterday

The trouble with yesterday

Fact: performances are not rehearsals (or practice sessions). Now, I know this is stating the obvious, but have you ever gone on stage with a plan than goes something like this? “I really nailed that note/passage yesterday, and it’s been bugging me for ages. So glad I...
Is Roger Federer really “Relaxed”?

Is Roger Federer really “Relaxed”?

Is Federer relaxed, as Jim Courier says, and what can we, as performers, learn from watching him? One of my singing teachers used to tell me to RELAX as I was rushing off from my lesson back to the conservatorium for a class. It always had the opposite effect from...
Feeling “Sorry” for Performers on Opening Night?

Feeling “Sorry” for Performers on Opening Night?

I recently watched a documentary about Tim Minchin’s rise to fame and his crowning glory, turning Roald Dahl’s Matilda into a musical. I cried out in frustration when his friend, the playwright, Kate Mulvany, expressed her pity for performers on the opening night at...