It’s Show Week! We asked our members for their Top Tips for how to survive Show Week.

 

Preparing for Show Week

 

It’s finally here! After all those months of preparation, the week you’ve been waiting for (and simultaneously dreading) has arrived…no doubt along with an Autumn cold! Show week can be full-on and very draining, especially when you have a daytime job and a family too. With our show week for Godspell starting, we asked our cast and crew what their top tips for preparing for and surviving show week are.

 

The Sweet Stuff

 

Having lots of sugar and energy for the shows is definitely a priority for Show Week so make sure you stock up your cupboards, or you may be lucky to share a dressing room with someone who brings sweets for everyone. And try to fit in a piece of fruit or veg now and then!

• “Mint crumbles and buttercup syrup”
• “Eat plenty of fruit and veg the week before show week and drink plenty of water”
• “Tea. Many mugs of tea!”
  
• “Lots and lots of cake”
• “Show week baking” – for Sainsbury Singers shows, we have a rota of home-baked goodies for each night of show week.
• “Chocolate and sweets”
• “A ready supply of builders brews (sans sugar) or even the occasional fresh coffee”
• “A hot meal at least once in the first 72 hours of Get-in or at least something edible at intervals that doesn’t always look like a pizza or donught.”

 

 Show Essentials

 

It’s fairly important that you have the right costumes, underwear and know when you’re supposed to be on stage, so it’s not surprising that show essentials were a big part of the list! 

• “Plenty of make up wipes. You can never have too many”
• “Numerous pairs of tights”
• “Eye masks”
  
• “Hairspray”
• “Lots of hairgrips”
• “Slippers”
• “The running order of the show hanging up in the dressing room”
• “Keep your wardrobe bag and name tag and return everything promptly before going to the bar – you don’t want to mess with the wardrobe team!”
• “Gaffa tape, electricians tape and that spare cable/adapter that you always need”
• “Vocalzones!”
• “Headache pills”

 

 

 

 Temperament 

 

It’s essential for you to enjoy yourself during show week and it’s great to have a fun family backstage with you to enjoy it with. So during show week, don’t get too stressed out and do fun things with the cast and crew like taking selfies and playing games. And of course we couldn’t manage show week without our supportive partners and family, who deal with our stresses, drama and only seeing us occasionaly during the week.

• “Have a sense of humour”
  
• “Throw yourself in wholeheartedly and enjoy every minute”
• “Take lots of selfies backstage”
  
• “An incredibly understanding wife”
• “The Backstage Game” – Our game of choice is a guessing game which involves a show-related clue being put up backstage and us having to guess the answer. The winner is chosen each night from the correct answers and they win an awesome prize!
• “A friendly cast and crew (never an issue with the Sainsbury Singers)”
• “During show week, we run our household on a rota – if it’s not on the rota, it’s not happening!”
• “Do what your wife tells you!”

 

Our Top 3 Tips

 

Our members have got lots of advice for surviving Show Week and it differs for each person – some take the high sugar route, others make sure they’re super organised. Whatever way you get through the week, our top 3 tips will probably apply to everyone, cast and crew. 

SLEEP!

Appreciate every moment – it’s a fantastic hobby and all the fun rehearsals and hard work have finally come to fruition.

A little bit of pixie dust somewhere or other.