Anyone here into theatre? (I have a bit of a problem...)

[MeganS]

Hey all! (first I want to wish you a Merry Christmas eve eve )

and I have a question for anyone here who might be into theatre.

Some might remember that a few months ago I had auditions for Fiddler on the Roof and I got in and I'm Yente the Matchmaker. So opening night is in....technically a week and a half (because this next whole week is break...no practice time). I really don't think we're ready.

We've hardly blocked any of the show past intermission (which is quite useless as the show is about an hour long). and for most of the whole cast scenes, we're standing in a half circle (can you say second grade play on vegetables?) There's NO dancing except in the wedding scene.

Mr. T, the new teacher, is focusing way too much on the details and all the little things than the show as a whole. He wants to put a little dome in front of the stage so he can conduct us. (only 5 of us can understand someone whose conduting. and the dome will block the audiance's view). and a million other little things. we also don't have props yet because he felt the need to order them from some professional theatre company in Cali, instead of just having us build them like we do every year.

I'm really getting nervous about this. This is my 5th show with this school, and for every single one of them I've always felt like it wouldn't work, and it ALWAYS somehow, someway, comes together. But this time I really really really think its going to blow.

Has anyone ever been in a situation like this?

[sylvan]

Merry Christmas eve to you Meggie.

Here's my theory on this.....You have no control over what someone else does (so worrying about it is useless) and if he screws up royally and the sets don't come and you are standing on stage in vegetable mode and trying to analyze his gesturing from under the dome and it ALL could have been put together WAAAAY better than it was.....it really, truly just won't matter. Here's why. You and your talented cohorts are going to be up there doing your very best and singing your hearts out and there is always that lovely bit of theatre magic that somehow makes it alright. Your family and friends in the audience will enjoy every ounce of the performance...even if the foul ups abound...just because it's YOU....and as an added bonus, this will have been a tremendous learning experience for all of you involved. Whatever doesn't work well will be a "what NOT to do" lesson and you may be pleasantly surprised to find some of the things you thought would be a disaster, turn out just fine. At the very least, it will be a memorable moment. Imagine perfection as you perform and knock 'em dead kid.

Break a leg!

[FlDebra]

We see the same thing in sports with our boys. I have one left at home and he plays everything. Without fail, all the preseason practice sessions make us worry -- no organization, no working together as a team, we'll never win a game! Uniforms are always late. We get them minutes to hours before the first game and hope they are all there. Sometimes numbers have to change at the last minute or someone is holding their pants on with duct tape. But despite all the chaos, the boys themselves come through. They rise to the occasion, work together and wow all us parents! Because when it comes right down to it -- all the talks, all the drills, all the trappings do not make it happen -- it is up to the players to come together and BE A TEAM. I am betting the theater world is much the same. Part of the thrill is the bedlam that leads up to the amazing performance! Yes, break a leg!

[LuvMySissy]

Originally Posted by sylvan

Merry Christmas eve to you Meggie.

Here's my theory on this.....You have no control over what someone else does (so worrying about it is useless) and if he screws up royally and the sets don't come and you are standing on stage in vegetable mode and trying to analyze his gesturing from under the dome and it ALL could have been put together WAAAAY better than it was.....it really, truly just won't matter. Here's why. You and your talented cohorts are going to be up there doing your very best and singing your hearts out and there is always that lovely bit of theatre magic that somehow makes it alright. Your family and friends in the audience will enjoy every ounce of the performance...even if the foul ups abound...just because it's YOU....and as an added bonus, this will have been a tremendous learning experience for all of you involved. Whatever doesn't work well will be a "what NOT to do" lesson and you may be pleasantly surprised to find some of the things you thought would be a disaster, turn out just fine. At the very least, it will be a memorable moment. Imagine perfection as you perform and knock 'em dead kid.

Break a leg!

I totally agree with this post - except that I think the conducting thing is a really dumb idea. The only thing he should even think of conducting would be the musical numbers and that would be for the orchestra and you could follow that.

You're going to be great no matter what Megan - so just get out there are perform your heart out!!!

[JiggityJig]

Hi Megan!

I'm a big theatre fan, teach children's theatre, and am very involved in community theatre.

It does sound like you have a bit of a dud for a director! And that in itself is a good lesson....it's just a reality of theatre...there are good directors...bad directors...and you won't always agree with the way they all handle things. This sounds elementary, but, I hear ya girl....when you're working on something so important to you, and you want it to be the best possible, it's fruuuuustrating when the person in charge doesn't seem to have much of a "vision" for it.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, AND a control-freak , so it's hard for me when I know things could/should be better. But, that's certainly another lesson of the theatre...the director drives the bus, even when you don't like it. Try not to stress about it, because it's not YOUR responsibility, or fault, it's HIS. When I'm disappointed in a production experience, I just tend to keep my head down, my mouth shut, do my best at whatever I DO have control over, and just ride it out and approach it philosophically:

as an added bonus.... Whatever doesn't work well will be a "what NOT to do" lesson

Exactly!

I'm sympathizing with you, because I think anyone's who ever been involved much in any kind of program or performance has certainly "been there". I think EVERYTHING I've ever done has been at that "there's no way we'll ever get this together" stage, and then, as you know, it miraculously happens.

And sometimes, I almost think it makes a performance better if the actors DO feel that pressure on THEMSELVES to get it together and pull it off.

And think of it this way...if other aspects of the show are lacking (choreography, etc).....that just gives YOU the opportunity to steal the show.

[JeanieK]

I am sure it will be fine. Nervous is good it keeps you on your toes. It will all come together on opening night,.

Good luck

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by sylvan

Break a leg!

Isn't that some sort of personal attack? LOL.

I agree with everything Sylvan says. In the meantime, have fun. I know when I've sat through school plays and watched things go wrong, I have more respect for the actors who get the joke. Don't get upset and let them see it.

In addition to the video I want of your performance, I now what a video of that yahoo hiding in the dome and yelling at everybody! LOL.

Break the other leg.

[sylvan]

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie

Isn't that some sort of personal attack? LOL.

I agree with everything Sylvan says. In the meantime, have fun. I know when I've sat through school plays and watched things go wrong, I have more respect for the actors who get the joke. Don't get upset and let them see it.

In addition to the video I want of your performance, I now what a video of that yahoo hiding in the dome and yelling at everybody! LOL.

Break the other leg.

EVERYTHING???
Well that's a first..must be my xmas gift, huh Mike?

.....going off to search for the crutches...

[MeganS]

Thanks for the advice/support/well wishes, everyone.

I'm just....grr. I feel like he's lying to us. and I'm not the only one. He said that Bob (the janitor) said that this show is better than last years. which is a load of monkey poop because Bob hasn't seen any of the rehearsals, he didn't see last years show, and we moved and danced and the people who were cast were actually GOOD! (two of my best friends are the same part (one is cast one and one is cast 2) and they're both awesome. But's its the other people. Like on thursday one of the Goldes said that she can't sing in front of people. not the best time to decide that.)

and he's also talking about crappy 20 second commercials he wants us to film at Bella Villa to play during intermission? NO intermission is so the audiance can go to the bathroom, get something to eat, and put ear plugs in so they don't have to watch/listen to this crappy show.

Sorry I'm ranting again. I'm just annoyed. and the pressure is still on. Because I've been emailing our OLD director about it (who actually knew what she was doing) and she's coming to watch the dress rehearsal. She gets to see the worst of the worst.

and if he sings along with the show I'll kill him. I went to the chorus concer the other day, and he was "conducting" *ahem*, them and he was singing along. and I couldn't hear them because he was too loud. ugh.

I'm just praying that it all works. The play is my favorite activity of the entire year. and this is my last year at the school.

When he first decided to do double casting my friend and I told him he wouldn't have enough time to rehearse both casts. we were right.

Sorry again for the rant....

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by sylvan

EVERYTHING???
Well that's a first..must be my xmas gift, huh Mike?

.....going off to search for the crutches...

Yes, everything. I learned a long time ago that you can agree with 99 percent of what a woman says, but it's the 1 percent of disagreement that gets you in trouble!

And, Megan, I'd love to see the program endorsements:

"It's BETTER than last year!" -- Avid theatergoer Bob the Janitor

[sylvan]

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie

Yes, everything. I learned a long time ago that you can agree with 99 percent of what a woman says, but it's the 1 percent of disagreement that gets you in trouble!

And, Megan, I'd love to see the program endorsements:

"It's BETTER than last year!" -- Avid theatergoer Bob the Janitor

you are a wise and wonderful man. merry christmas

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by sylvan

you are a wise and wonderful man. merry christmas

I agree 100 percent. Merry XMas to you!

[JiggityJig]

"It's BETTER than last year!" -- Avid theatergoer Bob the Janitor

Okay, I just choked on my chocolate covered pretzels!

Megan, it does sound like the guy is a bit of a putz. But here's another positive spin to put on it:

Sometimes I think that a show that is TOO SIMPLE is at least better than one that is TOO HARD. I think it's worse when choreography etc is so ambitious that you can see a cast struggling with it...having to concentrate on it TOO much. Acting is supposed to look EASY....that's part of the illusion! So....better than the audience walking out saying, "Those poor kids really tried, it was just a hard play!" is the audience walking out saying, "WOW, those kids were great....they are capable of so much more!"

(am I trying too hard to spin this for ya?! )

Well, at this point all you can do is try to figure out how to make lemonade out of the lemons you've been handed. I was in a production of "Oklahoma" where, at the big theme song finale, instead of some great choreography or at least interesting movements, the director had us....you guessed it....standing in the ole second grade "half-circle" for the whole thing! And THEN kept telling us how boring we looked! ??? Well, DUH, it WAS boring! The person next to me, and I, mostly out of boredom and aggravation, really started hamming it up with the gestures and arm movements, and gazing into one another's eyes. Instead of getting corrected, we got commended , and the whole cast eventually started playing around with the song and having fun with it too, instead of just standing there feeling frustrated and dumb. It was still a stupidly static way to sing an incredibly dynamic song, but at least we tried to bring as much energy and interest to it as we could!

[Tytainea]

Hi Megan. Nice to meet you. It is so nice to see someone into theatre. I went to a performing arts school and did tons of shows. The ones that i was the most nervous about always seemed to turn out the best. So just relax, have fun and break a leg. You will do fine.

[MeganS]

Originally Posted by JiggityJig

Okay, I just choked on my chocolate covered pretzels!

Megan, it does sound like the guy is a bit of a putz. But here's another positive spin to put on it:

Sometimes I think that a show that is TOO SIMPLE is at least better than one that is TOO HARD. I think it's worse when choreography etc is so ambitious that you can see a cast struggling with it...having to concentrate on it TOO much. Acting is supposed to look EASY....that's part of the illusion! So....better than the audience walking out saying, "Those poor kids really tried, it was just a hard play!" is the audience walking out saying, "WOW, those kids were great....they are capable of so much more!"

(am I trying too hard to spin this for ya?! )

Well, at this point all you can do is try to figure out how to make lemonade out of the lemons you've been handed. I was in a production of "Oklahoma" where, at the big theme song finale, instead of some great choreography or at least interesting movements, the director had us....you guessed it....standing in the ole second grade "half-circle" for the whole thing! And THEN kept telling us how boring we looked! ??? Well, DUH, it WAS boring! The person next to me, and I, mostly out of boredom and aggravation, really started hamming it up with the gestures and arm movements, and gazing into one another's eyes. Instead of getting corrected, we got commended , and the whole cast eventually started playing around with the song and having fun with it too, instead of just standing there feeling frustrated and dumb. It was still a stupidly static way to sing an incredibly dynamic song, but at least we tried to bring as much energy and interest to it as we could!

I get what you mean. and that's cool that you all fixed it up.

We have what he calls HellWeek next monday-opening night. we have practice EVERY day until 6. surely he can add SOMETHING in that time, can't he?

and I'd so do what you all did. But my cast is made of 5th-8th graders. Only a few of us (me, Jessica, and Emily and some others) have been in every show since we started going here. So I think they're kind of afraid to play around with it.

and Mr. T..is seriously insane. He's going on and on and on about how wonderful it is. A lot of people need to be told their lines about 6 times before they get it. and we haven't gotten straight through it once. I don't know what he's watching...but it sure as heck isn't what we're doing up on stage!