Every actor deals with the fear that something will go horribly wrong when they step out onto the stage. Forgetting a line. Tripping over your own feet. A wardrobe malfunction. Fortunately, actors are taught to think on their feet and improvise if something were to go wrong in a scene.

Actress Jennifer Laura Thompson recalls how her cast mates in a stage play of “The Wizard of Oz” tried to improvise when the set machinery didn’t work. Thompson was playing the role of Glinda, the Good Witch, who is supposed to descend to the stage in a large bubble. As Thompson began her descent, the bubble stopped working. She was stuck 40 feet in the air as her cast mates down below ad-libbed, “She’s coming . . . it’s Glinda . . . she’s coming . . . Glinda’s coming . .  .” (1)

Can you imagine being in t…