FOUR: OVER-ACHIEVERS ANONYMOUS
February 18, 2007
"Hello, my name is Kristin and I am an over-achiever." That was our joke today in our musical rehearsal. Everyone in this cast is a member of "over-achievers anonymous". You may think it sounds funny, but to be a part of our little group you must not only play instruments, sing and act but you must also be extremely hard on yourself. 
To my left is Heather, playing the French horn, trumpet and flute. She plays extremely well but cusses under her breath at some tiny mistake she made five measures earlier while sight reading a song. In front of me sits Angel, alternating between violin and piano. Again, she plays very well, and yet you can almost hear her exaggerated eye rolling whenever she doesn't get it right the first time. Fred, expert on cello, alto and tenor sax mutters furiously at something in his own world while figuring out some new fingerings for his sax. Our ace-in-the-hole pianist, Matt, who actually plays for auditions in New York and is a musical director himself can be so self- deprecating that you wonder if he knows how outstanding he is on both piano and upright bass. Like my experience on the sax, Matt wants to dismember that instrument on a daily basis. (Side note: the doctor who removed the packed earwax from my ear today said sometimes playing an instrument like the sax, which vibrates so much, can shuffle the stuff in your head around. Like earwax! Damn sax.)
It is strange to be around such talented and intelligent people and yet to see them rip themselves apart at the slightest misstep. Mary-Mitchell joked that this show was cast with the best over-achievers they could find in New York and quite frankly, I am not sure you could do this type of show if you weren't a member of Overchievers Anonymous. We don't wait for anyone to say "Go!" Instead we charge forward every day with something new and challenging. While we berate ourselves constantly over small missteps we are forgiving and supportive of each other. Because over-achievers tend to be competitive we also push each other. I know that I have never worked with a cast that amazes me and yet pushes me to do more things better and faster than I ever have before. 
I think this is because many of us are teachers as well. Most of us are married or have long term partners. Some own property or children. All have a pet or two. A few are in their second careers iI.e. Bruce, who used to work on Wall Street and who is now playing "Larry"-- and clarinet superbly.) A couple of the actors have some great Broadway credits and have been nominated for Tonys, but most of us work steadily in regional theaters. Everyone has a solid sense of humor.
Being an over-achiever has its drawbacks, like irritating those around you who are not. If you are on high speed all the time with obsessive compulsive tendencies it can tend to be irritating to "normal" folks. Looking like a 'know it all', spiraling downward into a dark hole one day and soaring on the next day.
Unfortunately, when you eat, drink, act, play and sing around these people eight hours a day for six weeks you begin to think that this is normal behavior. That is when it becomes addictive. There is not really a 12 step program for us yet and I fear for those around us when we are loosed on the world en masse. I will tell you, for example, that check-out clerks and waitresses do not really like to play our games. In fact everyone else seems to be on slow speed when in reality they are just enjoying their lives and forgiving their own mistakes. 
