Performing
for Neon Stars
 |
| Me, Summer, and Kayla |
A week before this, I passed the
sign-up sheet for my high school’s talent show while walking to chorus class. I
had always wanted to audition, but the courage to do so had never quite built
up enough for me to write my name down. But
it’s senior year, this is your last chance! I found myself participating in
a lot of things I normally wouldn’t have, only because it was senior year. I
had attended a majority of my school’s football games, joined clubs that had
always interested me, and even conquered my fear of donating blood all within
my senior year. So why not add the talent show to that list? Before I had the
chance to talk myself out of it, I quickly signed my name. However, without
hesitation I also added “and Summer Renslow” beside my name before capping my
pen and hurriedly making my way into class. I guiltily took my seat in the alto
section next to my best friend, Summer, who instantly knew something was off.
“What’s up? You look like something
bad just happened to you,” she said being the observant friend that she is.
I decided to get straight to the
point as I answered, “Not exactly. You know how I’ve always wanted to sing in
the talent show? Well, I just signed up for it…in fact, I signed us up
together.”
Not that I was very worried that
Summer would be upset with me, but her reply was a relief, “That’s a great
idea! We should ask Kayla to sing with us!”
Almost before I could comprehend
what had just happened, I found myself and two of my friends auditioning to
sing in our school’s talent show.
Knock-knock.
The sharp sound upon the dressing room door brought me back to reality,
deserting my flashback of how I had gotten in this position.
The door opened and Summer appeared,
“Hey, are you doing okay? The show is about to start. We are the fourth act, so
you can stay in here a little while longer if you want.”
Can
I stay in here forever? Almost against my will, the words “Yeah, I’m fine.
I’ll meet you out there in a minute” escaped my mouth.
She gave me a reassuring nod and a
smile before stepping out of the room. If
only my nerves could have left along with her. Just as I was attempting to
bring myself together, the voice of a woman welcoming everyone to the talent
show quieted the crowd. She welcomed the first performer on stage and
unknowingly started my inner-countdown of performances before my own.
The first performer, Michael, was a
very talented singer. His voice had the opposite effect on me than what I had
expected. The back of my mind was telling me that I should be worried, that his
talent as a singer should make me feel incomparable. But that wasn’t how I was
feeling at all. Where doubt and fear should have been, a feeling of peace
replaced it. Because over the sound of Michael’s singing, I could also hear the
cheers and shouts of support coming from his friends and family. I was
overwhelmed with this feeling of gratitude towards the people that had
previously told me that they would attend the talent show for me. I realized
that it was because of them that I would be able to make it through my
performance.
As I gathered the courage to stand
up, I caught myself in the reflection of the dressing room mirror. You can do this. You’ve rehearsed countless
times. After about a minute of giving myself a pep talk, I smoothed my hair
and smiled at my reflection. Let’s do
this. I opened the door and tried to find my way around the pitch-black
darkness of backstage. My eyes adjusted around the same time that Michael’s
song ended and I joined in on the loud applause that followed him. The big
smile upon his face surged another wave of confidence within me and I smiled
along with him. I found Summer and Kayla waiting behind the navy, felt curtain
just as the next act was being announced. Summer grabbed my hand, gave it a
tight squeeze, and a look on her face that seemed to say “we can do this.” I know
we can.
As the talent show went on, the
three of us went over our performance one last time. “Remember,” Summer made eye-contact with me and
continued, “Ashley, you’re going to be on stage first. Just like how we did in
rehearsal. The spotlight will come on you, you’ll sing for a while and then
Kayla and I will walk down the aisles next to the audience and meet you on
stage later.”
Although the idea of having a single
spotlight on me was a little terrifying, I smiled and nodded my head.
Kayla then said, “I’m really scared
that I’m going to forget the lyrics. I can’t sing that one part by myself.
Ashley, please sing with me on my solo!”
I knew she was really nervous about
her solo, not just because of the troubles it had brought her during our
rehearsals, but also because of the look on her face. In a way, Kayla’s
nervousness comforted me while the strong confidence that always seemed to
emanate from Summer left me feeling a little childish.
I agreed to sing with her and added,
“Also, don’t forget that at the bridge of the song we are going to wave our arms
towards the crowd to get them to do the same.”
After they both gave me their nods
of acknowledgement, it was announced that we were to perform next. We hugged each
other and smiled one last time before Summer and Kayla walked down the stairs
to take their places within the aisles of the crowd, leaving me backstage and
alone. I closed my eyes and thought about my family and friends in the crowd. A
member of the tech crew handed me my microphone, followed by a reassuring “Good
luck!” I smiled at him, turned my mic on, and proceeded to walk onto the stage.
I maneuvered myself through the
darkness to center-stage and took a deep breath. I looked up just as the spotlight
hit me and tried not to look like a deer caught in a headlight.
Just then, the voice of one of my
friends from the audience echoed through the auditorium, “You better sing,
Ashley! You’ve got this girl!”
I couldn’t help the instant smile
that appeared on my face because of that one cheer of support. At that moment,
Taylor Swift’s “Breathe” started playing and I began to sing. The feeling of
nerves and fear of forgetting lyrics immediately left me and I was completely
happy. The words left my mouth effortlessly and I became even happier once
Summer and Kayla joined the stage with me soon after. I was loving every second
of singing with them and I couldn’t imagine it getting any better!
Much to my surprise, during the song’s
bridge where the three of us got the crowd waving, my mom had given my family
and friends glow sticks. The auditorium went from being a vast wall of darkness
to a sea of neon blue, green, and pink. As they started to wave in time to the
music, the glow sticks lost their individual color and soon became a single
mixture of neon. That section of the crowd emanated a beautiful light within an
otherwise pitch-black auditorium. But it was more than the effect of the glow
sticks that brought me so much bliss, it was the support of the people holding
them.
The song came to a close, the stage
lights dimmed, and the curtains began to enclose the three of us back into
darkness. I stood frozen on stage as I looked out on the crowd before the
curtains completely closed. I will always remember the brilliancy of the glow
sticks against the darkness of the auditorium, like stars in the sky of a late
summer night.
Well, I hope you enjoyed reading my narrative and watching our performance! Unfortunately, for a good part of the song the lights crew wasn't paying attention and didn't center the spotlight, thus making me pretty much invisible. But it's all good, I loved singing with my friends and I'd do it all again if I could! :)
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