One of the best ways of doing research for an upcoming performance of ANYTHING is to get into the mood.
If you are headed to see Shakespeare, try to watch a video at home, or maybe even (heaven forbid!) READ the play. ("Twelfth Night")
If it's opera, listen to it ahead of time, I guarantee the live version will be different and there is little to no way you will"ruin" it for yourself. ("La Boheme")
The first time an audience member sees a show, it's about watching for plot. The second time, you begin to notice character details, the third, you start catches jokes you missed the first couple times. Only when you have seen something a million times (or 10, at least) can you really begin to dig into something. ("Monkees in a Ghost Town")
Same with performing. You can rehearse a scene 10 times before you get it technically right. And THEN you begin to ACT and actually feel it. When it comes to performing songs, you sing them until you forget them, and then you sing them to bring them back to yourself as discoveries. ("I'm a Believer")
As an audience member, the best thing you can do it to keep your mind and ears clean of old favorites for a long time (a year? 6 months?) Maybe not all of them, but as much as you can. And then SIT and listen to them all again, to remind yourself of how great they can be. ("St. Matthew", "Me and Magdelena"
The great songs will be worth it. Aren't we lucky that the entire discography/oeuvre is so rich?
If you are headed to see Shakespeare, try to watch a video at home, or maybe even (heaven forbid!) READ the play. ("Twelfth Night")
If it's opera, listen to it ahead of time, I guarantee the live version will be different and there is little to no way you will"ruin" it for yourself. ("La Boheme")
The first time an audience member sees a show, it's about watching for plot. The second time, you begin to notice character details, the third, you start catches jokes you missed the first couple times. Only when you have seen something a million times (or 10, at least) can you really begin to dig into something. ("Monkees in a Ghost Town")
Same with performing. You can rehearse a scene 10 times before you get it technically right. And THEN you begin to ACT and actually feel it. When it comes to performing songs, you sing them until you forget them, and then you sing them to bring them back to yourself as discoveries. ("I'm a Believer")
As an audience member, the best thing you can do it to keep your mind and ears clean of old favorites for a long time (a year? 6 months?) Maybe not all of them, but as much as you can. And then SIT and listen to them all again, to remind yourself of how great they can be. ("St. Matthew", "Me and Magdelena"
The great songs will be worth it. Aren't we lucky that the entire discography/oeuvre is so rich?
