I Miss Pre Show

Out of everything, I miss pre show the most. I love to sit back stage and listen to people shuffling into the show room with anticipation, excitement and skepticism. Wondering if I am any good, what is about to happen, why they haven’t heard of me before, and how soon they can get back to the buffet (that’s just on cruise ships).

As a kid I would go see David Copperfield at the Fox theater in Detroit. We could only afford one big show a year, and I would always choose his. One year, on the same weekend as he was in town, I opted to see The Lion King instead. I was disappointed to learn that all of the music from the CD was exactly the same in the show. But I digress.

My favorite thing was Copperfield’s pre-show music. A dark empty stage, soon to be filled with large magical apparatuses. Fog and lights slowly panning back and fourth to upbeat music. My heart would race with anticipation. 

I had seen David Copperfied so many times live and on TV that I knew most of the routines and jokes. But unlike the Lion King, I didn’t care. That show would take me on a journey. An experience I could never get through any other medium.

Any time I see a performance that doesn’t care, or take the time to establish the tone before the show begins, is always a struggle. The music, the lighting, the choice of props all establish what is to come for the audience. 

Now a days I attempt to do that virtually. With carefully chosen music, videos or spotlighting audience members who are dancing alone in their houses like nobody is watching, even though everyone is watching. It establishes the tone, even if I am in Burbank, and they are on the other side of the country. 

When we can get back to live performances, the first thing I am going to do is sit at the side of the stage and listen to the audience before the show. Because for me in that moment, all of my anxiety fades away and I remember being a kid at the Fox theater, waiting for the show to begin.