i’m on sound for my school's upcoming musical. our final rehearsal is tomorrow.
this is my first time doing backstage. I signed up because my friends are great actors/dancers and i wanted to support them.
everyone wants me on sound because i’m the ‘tech guy’. i don't know how any of the A/V tech at my school works beyond setting the volume and working the computer. i haven't had time to rehearse half the songs (there's lots of cues, vamps, and other timing things i need to ace) and i feel like the whole world is resting on my shoulders.
if the person on lights messes up, no big deal, the show goes on. if someone moving props messed up, the show goes on. if someone on the ensemble messes up, the show goes on. hell, if the lead messes up, they improv and the show goes on.
but if i mess up, then everything falls apart, nothing works. the music and backing tracks lead the whole thing. i literally have the highest stakes role in the ENTIRE production, and i’m fairly confident that's not hyperbole.
the cast has been practicing for MONTHS for this moment. i’ve been assigned sound for like 2 weeks, tops and i feel like i'm not up for the responsibility.
everyone's depending on me. the amount of pressure on me is insane. yesterday i was getting yelled at from 3 directions for many hours and i honestly just can't with this level of stress. i’ve tried expressing this to others but everyone just says “you'll do great”.
everyone i know is coming to watch one of the 3 performances. i’m scared.
comments
From my experience as being a musician in productions - yes, the sound is super important but it can still go wrong and not matter too much. Last year in one of the performances for our school production the sound guy fell asleep - yet everything still managed to turn out ok. Missed cues happen, and they can often be worked around by the actors or musicians. Late cues can provide a nice source of humour. It certainly does depend on exactly what the sound is, but often it's very unlikely that the audience will notice if e.g. a sound effect is missing - they don't know it's meant to be there! And with any luck if you do miss a cue then somebody else will remind you and the show will go on.
Being launched into intensive rehearsals last minute is stressful. Working with tech you don’t understand is stressful. But it's an amateur production, and the aim is to have fun - and I can guarantee that no matter how well or poorly you or anyone else executes their role, the audience will have a great time, and the cast & backstage team will have a fantastic time. Just enjoy it.
Good luck :)
thanks :)