What gets me excited and helps me to move forward is being a part of a shared experience where a performance creates an emotional, profound connection with an audience. One in which a feedback loop is generated when a performer clicks and the audience responds, and then the performer gets further energized by that feedback and takes it to another level. And the cycle starts again taking it to higher and higher levels of connection. These are the moment that move me to tears. They are the ultimate experience for both the performer and the audience.
I have had a number of experiences like this as both a performer and as a viewer. One of the first times I can recall this experience was a baseball game at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. I had attended an Orioles game with two friends. While we had purchased relatively inexpensive seats and used them for most of the night, late in the game we moved to some empty seats behind home plate.
Heading into the bottom of the ninth inning the Orioles were trailing by 3 or 4 runs. They led off with a base hit and the crowd came alive. I don’t remember the specifics of the plays that followed, but they closed the deficit to 1 or 2 runs. The energy level was coming to a fever pitch. The players responded to the crowd’s energy and took it and amplified it. They eventually won the game and my face hurt from the smile that emerged from that experience. It was a truly magical moment for me and the few thousand fans there that evening.
Another occasion that in some respect was even more profound was while watching a figure skating competition on television. Paul Wylie performed to Frank Wildhorn’s, “This is the Moment” from the Broadway musical Jekyll and Hyde. It was indeed a special moment for him, and for the audience. You could feel the shared joy in the air, even through the television. When he finished you could see that he was physically and emotionally spent and the audience response was explosive. I personally had tears in my eyes. I felt it all, through the TELEVISION!
So why do I bring any of this up. It’s because these experiences are the heart of what makes live performance so special. As the song I referred to earlier say, “This is the Moment”, one in which a performer reaches deep inside themselves to perform at a level that few could ever imagine before THIS moment. The audience senses this and responds which pushes the performance to another level. This feedback loop creates an experience that neither will forget.
This is what we as producers and performers owe to our audiences and everyone in that space. Dig deep, push hard and excite the crowd. Live in that moment.