There are a lot of things needed to make any show successful. You need the right people and the right tools. A great cast to put on the show and a great production team to make it all happen. However, above all, there needs to be communication. Good communication is a solid foundation for not only theatre but contributing success to a lot of things in life. Here are some tips to make sure communication is happening within your production.
Read MoreAs performers, we find ourselves in the dreaded “off-season” far more than we probably want to. Either work is hard to find, or we move cities, or life throws us curve balls that force us to take breaks. This time of year, college students are returning home for two weeks or more, which I recall seemed like an eternity after a semester of nonstop work.
Read MoreThis summer, The New York Times published Alexis Soloski’s article “Actors With Disabilities Are Ready, Willing and Able to Take More Roles[NG1] ,” which is about another facet of the diversity in theater issue. The surge in colorblind casting is perhaps the most important theater trend of the year but Soloski points out that true diversity on stage means more than skin color. Increasingly, disabled actors are being showcased, whether portraying a character written with a similar condition in mind (like having Gregg Mozgala, an actor who has cerebral palsy, play a CP patient in the Williamstown Theater Festival’s production of “Cost of Living”) or casting a disabled actor in a role that wasn’t written specifically for one (like casting paraplegic Ali Stroker as Anna in “Spring Awakening,” making her the first wheelchair-user to perform on Broadway and at the Tonys). We’re seeing this on a smaller scale outside the theater too. Deaf model Nyle DiMarco recently won “Dancing With The Stars” and Hollywood is starting to wise up the issue, albeit slower. [NG2] Much, much slower. [NG3]
Read MoreIt’s no secret in the theatre world that stage managing is difficult. Between creating schedules, tracking each and every change and development in rehearsal, making sure the show runs smoothly each night, and of course, managing actors and tech staff, it gets hectic. You are ultimately charged with creating order out of varying amounts of chaos. And one thing that must be kept in order is your own attitude.
Read MoreIt’s audition season. Over the coming days and weeks I know I’m going to see plenty of requests for men. Extending auditions or callbacks looking for more male participants. Male actors receiving phone calls asking, begging, pleading with them to not merely come audition but come be in the show. Because for seemingly every 10 females to audition, maybe 1 or 2 males come out. And yet theaters continue to produce works that require more men than women in roles. Why? I think it’s more than time the ladies took center stage. And there’s more than enough works for us to do just that.
Read MoreNow 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.
Read MoreMy biggest theatre pet peeve is when people don't know their lines, plain and simple. From the performance side, there is nothing that can hold up the rehearsal period than someone failing to memorize their dialog.
Read MoreThere was so much that I had to get used to as a first-time actor in a main stage community theatre production. It was pretty nerve-wracking because I was not in on things right from the start and realized that I could be seen on the stage when the lights come up. I was getting measured for costumes instead of being the one doing the measuring. I had to figure out and actually learn the music and the choreography.
Read MoreImagine if you will, you're in a show and it's about two weeks from opening night. You and your castmates are off-book, the set is almost finished and you're ready for tech week, then disaster strikes, one of your castmates drops out of the show.
Not because of an injury or serious illness. Not because of a death in the family or emergency forcing them to leave the state. No, your fellow cast member dropped out because their fragile ego was hurt and rather than stick it out, they quit. Quit the production and more importantly, quit on you.
Read MoreWe all have moments of self-doubt: when we think about the choices we have made in life or of our ability to believe that we can achieve something and that we are good enough for whatever dream it is that we are chasing. Those moments occur when things just don't seem to be going as planned. Your mind starts to wander to that state where you question everything you have ever done. I am once again in that spot.
Read More
