loverly

It's not often in life, that a person gets a re-do.  Tonight I did.

For some of you who know me, this story might come as a complete surprise.  In highschool, I took an acting class as one of my art requirements.  One of our assignments was to prepare a lip synch routine and present it to the class.  I had recently watched My Fair Lady for the first time, and fallen in love with Eliza Doolittle and her Cockney accent.  So, I prepared my lip synch routine to her opening song, Wouldn't It Be Loverly.  I practiced in my bedroom in front of the mirror perfecting my moves, pulled together a great costume complete with a crushed hat and a basket of flowers.  I felt ready for the assignment.

The day of my performance arrived, and I froze.  I remember that I couldn't put on the costume and pretend to be Eliza Dolittle.  I just couldn't.  I didn't know why, but I was terrified to put myself out there like that.  I couldn't bring myself to do it.  I still had to do the assignment, so I found a less threatening way to complete it.  I borrowed a recording of Debbie Gibson's song Lost in Your Eyes, which was at the top of the charts that year, and I did my lip synch assignment to that song.  I stood there doing the 80s's sway and mouthed the words.  I didn't put myself out there, I just did the assignment. 

I remember looking at my grade, it was a C-, and thinking that it was exactly what I deserved.  I also knew that if I had done the routine I practiced, I would have aced the assignment.  I've been kicking myself ever since.  I think this also the point where I decided I had nothing to lose by putting myself out there as a performer.  I didn't want to have any more regrets.

Tonight, I got a re-do.  My church hosted a night of the arts with a broadway theme.  I was asked to come up with a number of some sort.  I was originally hoping to pull together a duet or a group number, but I wasn't able to due to my schedule.  So, last week I started thinking of ideas that I could do on my own.  One evening I was talking with my sister and asked her what she thought I should sing.  She told me to sing the Loverly song from My Fair Lady.

This evening, I bought some flowers and put them in a basket, got dressed up and actually sang Wouldn't It Be Loverly in front of a live audience.  No lip synching this time around.  All week long I had been telling myself that this was my chance to make up for my failure in highschool, that this was my chance to put myself out there as Eliza Dolittle, and that's exactly what I did.

I forgot myself for the most part.  I remembered all the words, improvised some dance moves and just had fun.  I did forget to acknowledge the applause from the audience at the end, but I felt like I had done okay.  I had a successful re-do.

Like I said in the beginning, it's not often that anyone gets a second chance, but when it happens you have to grab it, hold on to it and put yourself out there.  I am so thankful I did.

Me in my costume, singing away as Eliza.  Not a very Edwardian London costume, but the apron was just so darn cute, I couldn't not wear it.

Enjoy the video.