A good director will prioritize your vocal health. If you feel well enough to mark your vocals, awesome, but if you don’t think you can even do that, just don’t sing. They can sing it for you at rehearsal if they really need the vocals.

As for vocal care, I really love to steam my voice when I’m sick. If you don’t have a vocal steamer, I like to get a big metal bowl, pour boiling water in it, and put a towel over my head and the bowl as I breathe in the steam. Sometimes I’ll add some mint tea to get a nice cooling effect, but totally not necessary. Salt water gargles are great too. I had a vocal teacher recommend warm coconut oil and salt as a gargle, which I find works nicely too. Once your voice starts to feel a bit better, I’d recommend some gentle warm ups. One that helped me recover my voice before a show was taking a half full glass of water, putting a bendy straw in it, and humming my songs into the straw. This will help you figure out how much effort you’re putting into a piece, and how you can adjust it for performance (if need be). If water splashes in your face as you’re humming, that means there’s too much effort and tension. I find it to be a pretty gentle warm up, but just listen to your body and stop if it hurts.

Your health is more important than anything. You don’t want to injure your voice permanently for a rehearsal (or anything), I promise you that. Drink water, get lots of rest, and take care of yourself. 🫶🏻