Practice In Public

I had the opportunity to see a live performance of the musical Rent the other day. I'm always impressed not only with the talent of the actors and actresses on stage, but also their comfort level. Getting up in front of so many people must be daunting.

They didn't just get up on stage and start performing, obviously. They practiced for months beforehand.

They didn't just practice for months beforehand, obviously. They probably did some fringe shows too.

They probably didn't just do fringe shows, either. Maybe they did an open mic night or two.

Or acting classes.

Or join an improv troop.

Or do a music recital.

Or post something online for the world to see.

The level of vulnerability that everyone on stage demonstrated is incredibly impressive. But they slowly worked up to that. As audience members, we only see the finished product. We never see the literal thousands of hours of deliberate practice that were required to be able to get up on that stage and perform at the required level every night for the duration of the show.