“Are you nervous?”
For those of you following my tweets on twitter you know that I was in Mexico earlier this week seeing the 100th performance of the Mexican production of My First Time (BTW, seeing a show that was first read aloud in your living room now performed in another language in another country is a one helluva trip, literally and figuratively).
I got a lot of questions below the border, most of which I embarrassingly couldn’t understand (I’ve got a couple of months before My First Time debuts in Spain, so Mom, if you’re reading, this is what I want for my belated b-day).
The most common question that I understood was about what I was doing next. And the follow up after I told them that I had a couple of shows opening up on Bway this fall was always the same:
¿Está usted nervioso?
The answer? Sure, I’m nervous.
There is always a bit of the willies whenever you put something out in the world. If I wasn’t nervous, I’d really be nervous.
So don’t beat yourself up if your stomach ties itself up as you get closer to a start date on your project.
My advice? Think about opening a new show like a first date.
Be nervous, fine, but be excited. Because just imagine what can happen after that first date.
And no, all you dirty-birdies, I’m not talking about some one-night stand where you get lucky, and someone is screaming your name (like in a review).
While that kind of reaction is fun to brag about to your friends, it’s only temporary.
What you want is a first date that leads to something that lasts.
You want your audience to commit for the long term.
