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Paris Gillinger
Period:2
Mr.White
October 5th,2016

Introduction
For my senior project I co-directed the first choir show of the year which was called
Showtember. This show was a fun and cheesy way to get people excited for the year and about
the choir department. My mentor for this show was Mrs. Abbe and she showed me how to create
the programs, how to order the show numbers, and how to make everything get done with time
to spare. I was very excited to produce this show for a number of reasons, mainly because I love
Mrs. Abbe and love being in choir. Over the years she has taught me so much outside of just
learning how to sing. I believe that this experience was beneficial to me because I gained
leadership skills along with how to direct a show. All five choirs participated in this show along
with a little promo piece from musical theater. This show ended up to be an hour to an hour and
fifteen minutes long. Unlike other shows, Showtember took place just on one day which was
September 23rd at 6:00 and 8:30 pm. This show was performed in the Performing Arts Center at
Santa Susana High School. The overall view on what was sung is musical theater pieces. Each
choir sang one or two songs from different time eras. For example, Womens Choir sang forget
about the boy from Thoroughly Modern Millie and Singin in the Rain from Singin in the Rain.
Both of these songs are from the 20-30s era and go along perfectly together. Getting prepared
for this show has been a challenge so far and wass very stressful since its so early in the school
year. While co-directing a show like this was very time consuming, it also gave me a lot of joy.

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Research
When dealing with performers of any kind it is important to know why do they get stage
fright. You also have to know if a singer might get stage fright because of what they look like or
their gender.Knowing how a singer will react to something can become very important when you
try to help them cope with their performance anxiety in a certain moment. A director should be
concerned when a signer shows any amount of stage fright because it could lead to a more
stressful problem while on stage. To this day scientist are still unsure what causes performance
anxiety to take place entirely and dont know how we can prevent it.
Most people think that performers just overreact when it comes to stage fright, but the
truth be told its more serious than it sounds. Stage fright aka performance anxiety is when a
persons body gets worked up over performing in front of a crowd and therefore reacts strangely.
A person can get stage fright because they dont feel confident in their performing abilities or are
embarrassed. Another way stage fright can occur is by fearing what people think of you as a
person in general
(https://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/social-anxiety-disorder/treatment/).There are many
situations that can cause a person to form performance anxiety and the most common is feeling
that you arent perpared enough for your song( Mauk, Steven page 1).
Surprisingly enough there is more stage fright being reported as a women than there is in
men. One reason is that women just have natural pressure always on them and is no different
when it comes to singing. In a study done by Kate MacKenzie women feel more vulnerable than

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men while performing. Her study also shows that the level of stress put on while performing
negatively affects the outcome. This is not to say that men dont have pressure on stage because
they certainly have their fare share. While women are fine when it comes to the mental aspect of
performing men have stated that they become alert at all times and are anxious at the same time.
To say the least both men and women have many reasons for having performance anxiety, and
neither are immuned from what this type of anxiety can give them.
(https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/140897/content/MacKenzie_asu_0010E_14457)
Many people say that overreacting to someone who has performance anxiety is one of the
worst things you can do for them. Having you react in a hasty manner can make that person even
more stressed out and cause the situation to worsen. Instead of doing this try calmly talking to
the person reassuring them that their performance was great and they did an amazing job. A
singer with stage fright aka performance anxiety will have tension, shortness of breath, sweaty
palms, and possibly be trembling
(http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/200158/DiehlJ_2016-2_BODY.pdf?
sequence=1).These are all side effects of stage fright which many people describe as self
poisoning by adrenaline(Acocella, Joan page 1). If you can find a quiet place away from the
stage to take and wait with them until they start to calm back down that would be the best option.
Something that is really important to remember is that stage fright can be a very difficult thing to
manage, and if possible, shouldnt be done alone. No matter if you are new to the performing life

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or have been apart of it for years stage fright can always be there and that is something most
people consider very stressful. As according to Joan Acocella stage fright is our bodies way to

fight or flight which means that if we see ourselves in an unsafe place or situation we will tend
to react in the way we want to protect ourselves. Joan compares fight or flight to stage fright
because when a performer has stage fright they just want to get off the stage and become unseen.
To have this problem is very common as you can imagine, and is not seen as the stressful
situation that is really is. Many performers would agree that they have/had some case of stage
fright and would like to understand why so they can manage it better.
Over several years doctors havent been able to pinpoint an accurate way to keep
someone from having stage fright again, but they have found ways to manage some of the
symptoms that come with it. When singers ask for a treatment doctors usually prescribe Valium,
Xanax, Ativan, and other forms of drugs. However, many performers state that these drugs gave
them other side affects,but was worth it because it did for the time they needed helped reduce
their performance anxiety
(http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/200158/DiehlJ_2016-2_BODY.pdf?
sequence=1). As you can see many performers will try any method to not have serious stage
fright which makes logical sense.
In conclusion stage fright is a very unseen, but real condition of all performers and should
become studied more. When a singer,actor,musician,etc feels uncomfortable such as they do
when performance anxiety hits them it makes them feel vulnerable and in result hurts their
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performance.All performers should trying controlling their anxiety, but it would be helpful to
them if there was a medical solution to this problem. It doesnt matter what type of performer

you are because stage fright can hit anyone, anywhere and be the undoing of their act. All in all
performance anxiety studies should be continued and further so we can get a clear understanding
of how to treat ourselves.

Application
When I researched stage fright and performance anxiety there was a number of resources that helped me
determine what a good source looked like. Stage fright has such a wide category of reasons why it
happens to a person and I actually found most of them really interesting. The fear of performing or
putting yourself out there is the number one fear among adults. When looking at these sites mostly I
wanted to find scientific studies that showed how and why performers are so afraid. It really gave me
clear insight when researching my sources because they all had different viewpoints on the how and
whys of performing anxiety. Another reason why I found my sources so helpful is because they all gave
me different examples of how stage fright can affect your performance. For example if you feel selfconscious about your ability youll tend to make yourself more nervous and ruining your performance as
a result. There are many versions of stage fright that one person can experience, but you just have to
remember to try and stay calm as much as possible. Included in my findings on performance anxiety there
is currently no real cure, but there are many remedies to help manage a persons fear. I believe that stage
fright can be both a good and bad thing for a performer because in one sense it can make your
performance better, but it also can make you so nervous you freeze up. From my certain point of view
stage fright shouldnt necessarily be cured, just known how to manage better. For my research paper I
looked at many many sites and Im glad I did because in the end the ones I stuck
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with turned out to give me really informative information. Before I started this whole process I know little
to none about stage fright and what it can actually do to a performer. In conclusion, I thought this

whole process was beneficial for not only myself, but any performer who has/is suffering from
performance anxiety.

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Works Cited

1. Stein, M.B.Walker, J.R., & Forde, D.R. "Conquering Stage Fright." Home. Anxiety and
Depression Association of America, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.

2. Bourgeois, James A. "Jefferson Digital Commons." "The Management of Performance Anxiety with
Beta-Adrenergic Blocking Ag" by James A. Bourgeois, M.D. Jefferson College, n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.

3. MacKenzie, Kate. "Performance Anxiety in Students." Performance Anxiety in Students (2014): n. pag.
Web.

4. Diehl, Joseph A., Steib, Murray D.R., Pohly, Linda D.R. "STAGE FRIGHT: A TOPICAL GUIDE FOR
SINGERS CONCERNING MUSIC PERFORMANCE ANXIETY
LITERATURE ."Http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/200158/DiehlJ_20162_BODY.pdf?sequence=1. Ball State University, May-June 2016. Web. 2016.

5. Acocella, Joan. "I Can't Go On!" (n.d.): n. pag. 3 Aug. 2015. Web. 7 Oct. 2016.

6. Mauk, Steven. "Performance Anxiety:resolving the Conflicts." (n.d.): 1-4. Web. 7 Oct. 2016.