Advice Needed Urgently

Melissa Merchant wrote:
>
> I need something, anything, that will prevent me from losing
> my voice before we open Richard III tomorrow night.
>
> I came down with pharangytis this morning and the Doctor
> reckons nothing can be done, but I refuse to believe her.
>
> I don't care how crackpot it is, at this point I'm prepared
> to try anything.
>
> Does anyone out there have a sure fire remedy, something they
> have successfully used in the past?



Hard to know precisely; you know your own voice best, what you're usually capable of (and now incapable of).

I recently had something similar, and I don't want to scare you, but it was pretty bad. It was right at the end of the season, so I only had to survive a few shows...after that I virtually didn't speak for a week, not so much because I couldn't, but because it really hurt. Hope you haven't got the same thing. (Have we been kissing the same person recently?)

Doctor gave antibiotics, throat gargle, ya da ya da,...but in the end I really just had to ride it out.


Plenty of water.
If your throat's sore, it might get dry, and that's not going to help your voice.

Plenty of rest. If you can get by in the rest of everyday life using sign language, do it. Save what you've got.

Whatever else feels soothing and helps your voice relax.... a cup of tea, honey, icecream, whatever....just don't try using your voice straight after you've done this and gunked up your vocal chords. (Although, I had to do a voiceover when my voice was actually on the mend but the pain of swallowing was much worse. Half a teaspoon of olive oil actually made a huge difference in being able to swallow and speak, for a short time.)

Water is best.

When you finally do have to speak, you're still going to need to warm up, although it probably won't be the way you normally do a vocal warm up. Gentle humming and yawning is probably best. You won't want to use up too much of your voice before the show even starts. But you do need to prevent further damage, and get an idea of what your limits are, how much volume you can manage, what hurts, etc.

Hopefully, if you know what your voice is capable of, you can deliver lines in the most effective and least damaging way. I had no mid range and absolutely no falsetto...I found one of my characters could get by with a very open, deep, breathy voice which put minimum strain on my voice; and the other voice used a nasal quality at the back of my throat, that from the sound of it I wouldn't have believed wasn't straining my voice. Without my usual midrange, I discovered somewhere, just above where it broke, that gave the easiest results.

You also need to adjust your performance to maximize your voice. Breath control and reducing strain are extremely important, using as much resonance as you're capable of. Pace yourself...you've not only got to last the entire show, but you've got to last the emotional journey of the character. There are probably some bits you can tone down, perhaps giving a much softer delivery, so that you've got some reserve for the moments you need more strength. And the way you rehearsed it, blocking etc, may need to be adjusted, to give yourself the maximum chance of communicating with the audience. (Sign language, or at least effective gesturing, is not such a silly idea. It can all help). Your other performers may need to be on their toes, but they can probably help you out. Talk to the director as well. There may even be lines that can be farmed out to another character..?

It's not going to be ideal, but you might find if you take extra care you can manage it. Performers are well known for soldiering on bravely when their
limbs are falling off or their their extremities are hemorrhaging, but your voice is something you can't do without and it's easy to take it for granted.


Break a leg
Craig

[%sig%]