Student Blogger: George Concannon

The sky is blue, the sun is out, and theater classrooms around the country are empty, which can only mean one thing: it’s summertime! Now that you’ve finally survived finals, written your last essay, and handed in your last test, you might be wondering — what the heck am I supposed to do now?

As any performer knows, warm-ups are an essential part of pre-performance preparation. Singing through scales, going over your text, and stretching are all warm-ups we’re familiar with. But what if your warm-ups leave you still feeling cold?

I was stunningly aware of how each muscle in my finger moved, how precisely my elbow moved to allow for this motion. When I turned around and stared off into the space, it was strangely like playing a first-person point of view VR game; the mask was my headset and my hand in front of me was poised to press X to interact with the world around me.

Without that little poem of mine, I would not be waking up extra early on Tuesdays to stretch before putting on a neutral mask... I wouldn’t be about to stage manage a show! I would be okay, but not happy, not satisfied with what I did in college. None of what I’m doing feels like a chore to me, and I couldn’t be happier now.