I’m still working on Heathers: The Musical, and tonight marks my first night playing during a run of the show! I’m subbing in on Keys2, and it’s technically my first paid gig as a musician, so I’m pretty pumped!!!

I’m also… very terrified. I didn’t have a lot of time to look over the score over the past few weeks, as I’ve been RF’ing the show, so I don’t feel totally confident counting through some of the vamps and making some of the harder transitions. I actually secretly played for dress, and got totally ripped apart by the music director–I was completely lost for the bulk of act one.

I’m confident, though, because I spent some time this week thoroughly listening to the score and memorizing the tricky transitions. The idea is to have a firm understanding of all the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the songs, and be able to go through the important parts without looking at either the keyboard or the score. That way, the maximum amount of information can be communicated from conductor to musician.

I’m very tired, though, as I went out for drinks with the cast and crew of VCDS’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream last night. The thrill and excitement of playing the show will probably keep me awake, but I’m worried that I’ll be a bit dull and less responsive than required of me.

I’m headed up to the pit now–first downbeat is in 10 minutes!