|
Liz Roberts stood on the stage and waited for her dance instructor to show up. She was one of the
dance choreographer’s for the Backstreet Boys, and she was witnessing a rare moment while on tour. There was no
noise. Most of the time either the crew was setting up, practice was going on, or the concert was about to start. It
was 4 ½ hours before the concert was going to start, and she was nervous. This was her first time to perform
onstage. She had been practicing with them for a year, and wasn’t going to start performing until she knew all the
dances.
“Hey Liz!” Someone said behind her. Startled she turned around and saw Brian.
Liz smiled and said, “Hey, how are things going backstage?”
Brian shrugged, “Wild! Are you nervous?”
Liz tried to laugh and said, “Me nervous? No!” There was a short pause and then she said, “Okay,
I am. I’m afraid I’ll mess up or something.”
Brian smiled, “You won’t mess up. You’ve been practicing for a year! Don’t worry about it, cause
you’ll do great! See ya when practice starts.” Then he walked backstage to get ready for practice.
Thirty minutes later Nick, Brian, Kevin, Howie, A.J, and all of the choreographer’s came onstage to
start practice. Their dance instructor Mark was talking to everyone and giving them some tips when she came back
onstage. The very first thing that happened was sound check. None of the choreographer’s were needed for this so
Liz and her two best friends Heather and Gina decided to get something to drink. “Well, are you nervous?”
Gina asked Liz. Gina had been with the group for 3 years but she knew how scary it was at the first concert.
Liz shrugged, “Yea, I can’t believe how fast a year has gone by. I’ve been waiting for this day to come
and now it’s here. The first concert for this season.”
Heather smiled and gave Liz a hug. “You’ll do great! I remember when I was new to the group. I
thought I would forget one of the dances or something, but when I got onstage and saw everyone cheering I loved
it. Even though they weren’t really cheering for me, it felt great! I can’t believe that I’ve been with the group for
almost 3 years too!”
They started talking about one of the dances when Nick came over, looked at Liz and said. “Hey,
someone over here is turning 19 tomorrow aren’t they?”
Liz stared at Nick for a moment, speechless. “Um, well yea it is, but how did you find out. Only
Heather and Gina knew…” Hey voice trailed off and she turned to look at her friends.
Gina looked around nervously and said. “I think I’m needed onstage, gotta run!” Heather didn’t say
anything but sat there grinning.
Nick smiled and said, “Well, we’re going to have a party for you after the concert so don’t plan
anything. We were going to have a party for you anyway since this is your first time to perform with us, but then
Gina told us it was your birthday too. So it’s kind of a mix between the two.” On of the crew called Nick’s name
and he flashed Liz a quick smile and then hurried onstage.
“I can’t believe she told him it was my birthday!” Heather laughed and said, “What did you think we
were going to do? Let you sit around all day and not let anyone know about it? We had to plan something!” Liz
shook her head, and they both went onstage to start practice.
Liz paced back and forth in the dressing room as she waited for Gina and Heather to finish getting
ready. It was about 1 hour before the concert started. Practice had gone great and she didn’t mess up anything, but
she wasn’t sure how the concert would go. She felt like her stomach was doing flip-flops. “Hey Gina, were
you very nervous when you first performed in the concert?” Gina came out and started laughing.
“I was extremely nervous, more than you are now. I kept dropping things and did horrible at the
practice, but I made like I said before. Once I saw the crowds it was like. I was supposed to be there doing that. I
still get nervous sometimes, especially when it’s the first concert of the tour. That’s when you find out how well
you practiced.” Gina sat down to put on her shoes and Heather came in.
“Don’t worry Liz! You’ll do great! If you mess up though don’t worry, just keep on going like nothing
ever happened. Don’t forget about the party tonight though!” Liz rolled her eyes, she still couldn’t believe that they
had planned a party for her.
Another one of their dance instructor’s, Jill peeked her head in. “Come on girls we need to finish
getting ready!” Quickly they finished getting ready and hurried backstage for some last minute stuff.
Twenty minutes before the concert started Liz stood off in a corner working on a dance move that she
was afraid she would mess up. She went over the same thing 3 more times before she noticed that Nick was
watching her.
When Nick saw that she had seen him he said, “You know, someone told me that if you practice a
move too much before the concert, you might mess it up. So I wouldn’t do that too much more!”
Liz smiled. “I just don’t want to mess this up. Gina told me to look at the crowds but I haven’t had
time to do that yet.” Nick motioned for her to follow him, and he led her up a small staircase and onto a platform.
“Look over there to your right and tell me what you see.” Puzzled Liz looked to where Nick had told
her and caught a glimpse of the crowd waiting to see the Backstreet Boys perform.
“Wow, this is incredible! How do you stay so calm though? I mean this is making me feel a lot better
but I’m still a little nervous.”
Nick smiled and replied, “Everyone gets nervous! Kevin, A.J, Brian, Howie, me, we just have
different ways of dealing with it. I like to come and watch the crowd until right before the concert when I get
nervous.” He looked at a clock that was near the stage. “Well, it’s about time to start so we’d better get back before
it starts.”
Liz laughed, “They wouldn’t start without you, you’re one of the Backstreet Boys!” Nick turned and
looked at her with a grin on his face. “When it gets this close to starting, everything gets crazy and so no one can
tell who’s here and who’s not.” Liz laughed and realized she felt much more at ease now. Once they got back
everyone was running around like Nick had said. A.J. saw them and said,
“Well, Liz I want to personally welcome you to the backstage madhouse. It’s like this every single
time. You’d think after a while someone would figure out a way to make things a little less confusing but… “He
stopped and shrugged. “I guess they figure it makes the concert a little more exciting.”
Heather pulled Liz off to the side. “Hey, I’ve been looking for you, where’d you run off to?” Liz told
her where she had been and Heather raised her eyebrows. “Oh. You told me you didn’t like anyone! Why didn’t
you tell me sooner?”
Liz blushed and quickly said. “I don’t like anyone. I mean…oh I don’t know.” Heather smiled and
they both walked back over to where everyone else was. Once everyone was in their place she saw the lights dim
and knew the concert was about to start. The crowds were yelling, and suddenly the music started. Even though the
concert was just starting she knew this was going to be great.