I truly love this article on stage fright, by the wonderful Miranda Wilson.
Anxiety and Exhilaration
Whether we feel anxious or exhilarated, it’s the same arousal mechanism but with different thoughts. You can’t have one without the other, this is why most great artists will tell you that they do experience some degree of performance anxiety, but they put up with it. They tolerate it because even though they may experience their own personal form of anticipatory anxiety hell prior to the performance; after this comes a feeling of complete exhilaration and reward.
This is Miranda’s wonderful article:-