Theater is Competition
In response to Brad Pontius’ piece, I do agree that it’s okay for theater to be competitive, but he fails to mention one major part of theater. It was born of competition. In Ancient Greece plays were performed and playwrights were able to showcase their skills for the chance to win money and fame. The City Dionysius Festival was the Super Bowl of Ancient Greece. The reason that we have some of these plays extant is because they beat the competition, or they were able to stay intact, either way they won the historical lottery. Sophocles, Aristophanes, and Aeschylus all won that competition and that’s why their work is still performed today. Don’t belittle theater to keep an aspiring actor from realizing what it is; pure competition.
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"Give Yourself a Break"
When I first got “into” theatre, one the best pieces of advice I was given on how to cope with rejection was along the lines of: “go home and cry, then move on and try again”. I think we all try to skip straight to the “move on and try again” part, but it's not that easy. Give yourself a break.
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Bringing 'Dim Sum Diaries' to Vancouver
It is a radio play that is over 25 years old, yet the artistic producers at Fabulist Theatre in Vancouver, BC believes the themes in Dim Sum Diaries are just as relevant today. Onstage Blog sits down with director Mary Littlejohn to chat about the show.
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Weird and Wonderful Conspiracy Theories: 'Les Misérables'
Set in France, in the 1820s / 1830s (i.e. in the same universe as Star Trek), Les Misérables is a much-loved musical, based on a book which nobody has ever read. It's the story of Jean Valjean, a man who stole a loaf of bread (or maybe murdered somebody), and found a … secret admirer … in Javert. And the whole time, it was just a comparison of Old and New Testament morality.
Alright, here are all of those very weird but kind of wonderful conspiracy theories, explained.
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How to Deal When You Don't Get the Role
Everyone has been there.
The show was announced, maybe it was a play you didn’t know or one you loved and dreamed of doing for years, either way, there is THAT role. That role you are perfect for. You are in love with that role. You must play that role.
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Theatre People, It's Okay to be Competitive
I have recently been watching Smash by Theresa Rebeck with my girlfriend and it struck me in two ways. Firstly, Theresa Rebeck is a genius and one of my favorite writers out there. Second… Derek Wills is one of the most charming jerks I’ve ever loved on screen. Three. Three things, then – third being that Smash is one of the most brutally honest dramatizations of…drama. The sometimes cutthroat nature of auditions, the sore feelings afterward, and just how dumb everyone can be during the process because we’re a bunch of weirdos stuck in a single room together for hours.
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Nudity in Theatre: Why Is It So Taboo?
The naked body.
It is one of the last taboos in American theatre, or in any other form of American art, for that matter. Audience members will gladly accept all of the vulgar language and explicit in the world, but if an actor dares to appear without clothes on for even one short scene, all hell will break loose.
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Were You Actually Screwed Over or Just Didn't Get the Role?
Seldom does the casting of a local production occur and I don't hear about some sort of casting controversy. Every time I'm told of these "atrocities", I tend to ask myself, as well as the person telling me, were you actually screwed over or just didn't get the role?
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Don't Be A Jerk, Help Out With Strike
It happens on almost every production. The final curtain closes, the audience leaves, the tech crew begins to strike the set and most, if not the entire, cast vanishes into thin air. Which, mostly in local or college theatre, leaves behind a small crew responsible for undoing weeks of building, hanging, sewing, etc. If you ever want to find a prime example of animosity between actor and crew, here it is.
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Yes, I Did Back-to-Back Techs Weeks and Survived
Now none of these tech weeks were easy, that I will admit. But are tech weeks ever meant to be easy? Most of the time not. You can only do so much in advance and there are things that you just can’t figure out until you get into the performance space, which was one of the few similarities between the two shows. Neither show could load into the performance space until the week prior to opening.
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