I was talking to my friend Medina on the weekend. She is a lawyer in Calgary. And I likened my experience (oh... debuting on Broadway tonight, la, la, la) to her arguing in front of the justices of the Supreme Court. How would she feel? I know her family and friends would be pumping with excitement and encouragement, and she would feel the love and all the delicious congratulatory remarks coming from the great white north... but ultimately... she would be focussed on the job at hand. She wrote me in an email this morning (I hope you don’t mind that I post this, Med!):

if I am to liken it to arguing in the supreme court of canada - I would be feeling very nervous (but use the nerves to be thorough) and i would have to remind myself to breathe! I would be relying on my colleagues to guide me particularly through the protocols - where to go, where to change etc. i would be rolling my arguments in my head over and over.
so... here is my advice to you: use your nerves for good and not evil; keep breathing; ask for help and use it; put whatever is useful in your head and ignore the rest.

And that from my lawyer! Sage advice.

Yesterday, I had an interview with Kimberley Kaye at Broadway.com. She asked me if teaching has influenced my work as a performer. What teaching allows me (particularly teaching the elite students at the National Theatre School of Canada) is to witness the art of the beginner: that essence, passion, and clarity which pushes a young actor forward into the unknown, where their fear is dominated by their courage.

And so today, as I head to the shoe-makers, and then to rehearsal, and then to my first performance of Billy Elliot in front of the paying public (which I will take one scene at a time), I think of my family, my friends, and my students: of their support, their excitement, and their en -"courage"-ment. And I carry those wishes with me, as both a shield and an offering of peace, into the unknown.