Palatsi Course, Day 5

The last day of the musical theatre course was upon us, and I'm pretty sure we all felt like we could've easily spent another week at Palatsi. We definitely were wondering about how much we'd come together as a group in just four days' time, already so comfortable around each other, filling the spaces of free time with bursting into song randomly and generally goofing around.

There wasn't much left to do before the final performance at midday. We squeezed in a quick run-through after we warmed up, and then it was time to double-check all the props, retreat backstage and wait for the audience (not a very large one, consisting almost entirely of our families and friends) to come in. People all around were whispering about which level of stage fright they were experiencing. I was honestly nervous about one bit only – my part in I'm Not That Girl. I kept missing the beat in the second half of my verse though sometimes I'd get it right without any difficulty. Today, however, the verse went perfectly fine so all was well!

We got through the entire thing without any colossal mishaps – or without any small ones either, come to think of it. Those of us who were backstage listened with baited breath as the second Galinda reached her "Why do you always have this funny little bottle under your pillow" line and felt so happy for her when she managed to get the word "bottle" out right, instead of "pigeon!" (I should inform foreign readers that the words for "bottle" and "pigeon" in Finnish are "pullo" and "pulu" so it's entirely possible to mix up those two when you're pumped with adrenaline) Third Galinda also conquered the word "project" in her scene, so things were going marvelously well. My monologue moment went smoothly as well, though it would have been nice if I had gotten at least some tiny laughs out of the audience because I tried very hard to write a funny speech. Well, as I commented on my ABBA show review, Finnish spectators are never the most active ones.

Our course wasn't quite over yet when the performance was finished. We were going to get individual feedback from all of our teachers. So we were called in one by one, while the rest of us waited – that is to say, made the most of our last opportunity to go crazy together. Mostly, that meant blowing soap bubbles (indoors and outdoors to amuse the pedestrians on the main street of Tampere) and singing together so loud that the teachers downstairs had to ask us to keep it down a bit. My feedback included quite a clear message that I have something of a gift in writing drama. Nothing could have made me happier than to hear that – I'll pursue my new-found dream of studying playwriting with even more confidence now.

All in all, this summer course has convinced me that the world of theatre and music is definitely something I want to keep learning about. It was wonderful to see what 17 people, most of whom didn't know each other beforehand, could achieve together in five days, and how much you can squeeze out of yourself when you throw reserve and pointless self-consciousness out of the window. As I revealed in my previous installment of this course diary, I haven't done any theater since graduating from high school, and now I've decided that it can't be like that any more. Mizzie-Me is going to find herself a theater hobby this fall...