Getting the point-BYU's Vocal Point performance
November 16, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OVOoXZNQ53c
BYU's all male performing group Vocal Point hit top marks with "Every Little Step" on NBC's "The Sing Off" this past Monday (see the above link). I got it, I saw it, I felt it, I was there with them the whole way on this song. So why did they get kicked off? Being a performer myself and receiving my education from BYU-- I love the great value of a BYU education and there is talent galore coming out of that place. However, when I watched Vocal Point's other number below, I totally got that too. I totally got a piece of what has been missing for me in a lot of LDS dominated performances onstage and on film, and have felt this creeping possibility in my own performance potential.
Back somewhere in the early '80's at a BYU acting workshop, I remember auditioning for long time casting director Lyn Stalmaster (with way too many credits to list here, but the 1978 Christopher Reeves "Superman" was one of them). As I recall he really only had one thing to say, and it was really simple, all of us needed to take more risks. I thought about that for years. What does taking a risk look like in acting? I sure wasn't going to take my clothes off. Such an act has been praised as great risk taking. And I believed that if I didn't take risks I wasn't a great actor. I thought -how can someone with certain moral guidelines really become a great artist if they can't take risks? Perhaps the title of this post should be "What is risk taking really?" Clearly I didn't get it.
I love how when I see a performance like the one below, with the following comments--I get it! I see it in others, I see it in the juxtaposition of the two songs, and I know that at times I have gotten it in my own performances. I mean, I have taken risks. I have gone deep inside and unburied the core meaning and brought it up, even if it wasn't pretty. It is about not playing it safe. Playing it safe is boring. I have been pretty boring most of my life. Needing to feel safe has been a big issue for me. It wasn't until I did my own Journey work that I became aware that I was running my life from a place of needing to feel safe! Now that's an ego game... and I'm not getting into that here, but we all play them in one way or another. Your ego game might not be about feeling safe, it might be feeling unloveable, worthless, or vulnerable. These can all be part of your ego game. But back to the point...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=iD3od9uANlQ
Tony Collette
Taking risks. Doing the not so safe thing, being willing to not look pretty, or not sound good or be wrong in order to speak the truth. My voice over coach, Christopher Robin Miller, said to me the other day that part of the reason Meryl Streep and Toni Collette are such great actresses is because they aren't afraid to be ugly. Wow-SMACK! That hit me between the eyes. In a society filled with unrealistic expectations of women's appearances, I have played my own game against myself. I have at times been deeply afraid that I am ugly--I mean deep down inside ugly. And so I have to make sure that I am pretty on the outside. And sometimes that means I sacrifice my truth for what I think will get me approval.
Back to BYU and Vocal Point. Where there are high standards there are high expectations. There are high standards and expectations in the LDS church and at BYU. I believe sometimes those expectations keep us from being authentic. I feel for Ben here, he is very talented and did a great job and yes has a very beautiful voice. As Shawn Stockman said, David Ruffin, who originally sang this number didn't have a great voice, but he was preaching a sermon and he was down on his knees and the audience knew it. DANG people, get down on your knees, sing it like there's no tomorrow, dance like nobodies watching! And please, mirror it back to me.
Posted by Peggy Matheson.
