Re: Will you get into trouble if you Video record a musical in a theatre for yourself?
Sarah Thiboutot
"John (Zi Rong) Low" <enti...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Question. This might be a stupid question, but I remember my Dad did
> something similar when I was little in America, he video recorded
> "Muppets in 3D" at Universal Studios. So I could see it over and over
> again once I'm back in Australia.
The short answer? YES.
--
sarahat at gmail dot com
Stephen Farrow
> Question. This might be a stupid question, but I remember my Dad did
> something similar when I was little in America, he video recorded
> "Muppets in 3D" at Universal Studios. So I could see it over and over
> again once I'm back in Australia.
Yes, if caught, you would get into trouble.
--
Stephen
It’s amazing what you can find in a waterproof packet tied to a lavatory
ballcock if you look hard enough.
Sarah Thiboutot
Sarah Thiboutot <sar...@mindspring.complaints> wrote:
While we're on the topic, you seem to be overly excited about taping
theatre. Have you never studied theatre or film? Theatre, by
definition, is a LIVE art. There is quite a lot of input and
interaction with/from the audience, and that is an essential component
of LIVE theater. Video is just not the same thing.
Film has many of the same elements as theatre, but everything is put
through the additional filter of the camera lens. The camera decides
where to focus your attention, rather than the viewer. What if you did
want to watch the third chorus member from the left, rather than the
second from the right?
A piece that is designed for theatre is designed to be viewed as a whole
stage picture. It is up to the viewer to decide where to focus their
attention. A piece that is designed for film or video is designed to
be composed of shots. The camera focusses for you on whatever the
director has determined to be important.
Filming a theatrical show leaves the camera operator with 2 options: a)
film the whole thing in a single wide shot, losing many of the details
(since the average TV screen is smaller than the average proscenium) or
b) filming a series of closer shots, capturing the details but losing
the big stage picture. Either way, it is not a true representation of
either the production or the director's vision, not even taking into
account the technical problems (white balance, contrast). And plenty
of people will be pissed about it.
Sarah Thiboutot
"John (Zi Rong) Low" <enti...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I see, doh. Someone needs to invent video cameras as small as
> sunglasses, so you record whatever you see...
You just don't get it, do you?
Newport
BUTTON SHOES which came in handy for the unsatisfying JEROME ROBBINS'
BROADWAY.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
David Lawrence Levy
> watching it live in person, and that recordings are overall worse. But
> it is better than nothing.
Do you understand that it's not fair to do it without paying all the
actors, designers, technicians, writers, etc, involved in putting on the
show when do you this?
David
Theatre Hound
> <actors, designers, technicians, writers, etc, involved in putting on
> the
> <show when do you this?
>
> with recordings due to the fact that I am overseas (not in the USA),
> someone should invent a "pay view" technology, so people not in the
> theatre can pay to control a special camera that is in there, and then
> be able to pan and zoom in on whatever they want to see.
>
> Maybe this technology sounds too advanced, expensive or troublesome.
What I am about to say will no doubt get some people's knickers in a
twist. But hear me out. There is no doubt, theatre is best viewed live.
It is a living art form. Many of us do not live anywhere near a great
theatre town and must travel long distances either to NY/London/ etc.
which I do at least once a year. But in place of never seeing a
particular cast/show again, a recording to "relive it" would be
wonderful. For a long time producers have thought that recordings of
shows killed their live productions. So they are not made for a mass
market until the interest in the show wanes or the show closes. Hence
the hideous movie of Phantom. (Which spurred interest in the stage
production and last year gave both London and NY one of their best
years in recent history.) Proving this theory completely wrong is, love
him or hate him, Michael Flatley. His "Lord of The Dance Video" sold
the show and made those who bought it hungry to see it live, repeatedly
I might add. Incidentlty that video was made opening night and the
following night at the Pointe Theatre, Dublin. Not as the show was
ready to retire. He has now done the same thing with his new show
"Celtic Tiger" which is selling out wherever it plays. So, I propose a
compromise. Why doesn't the theatre offer the "producer's copy" which
many shows make anyway, for sale as you leave the theatre? I would pay
$100 on my way out of the theatre, to have a good copy of a show I
really loved and still go back to see it live whenever possible. Write
it into the contracts' of the workers, writers and players etc. and pay
them residuals as it sells once it covers it's own production costs.
This also guarantees a smidge of a steady income for after a show
closes or they move on to other things. The theatre audience can have a
copy of a show that maybe closes they feel prematurely (like I feel
"Martin Guerre", London with the original cast) but you get the idea.
How much does it cost to make a copy of a video or DVD ? Nearly
nothing. The expense would be in editing it from the available video
into the the producer's copy. An expense yes, but a recoupable one.
How many of you would like to see what all the fuss was about of a show
critics flayed before you could see it? Or of an original cast you
never got to see? I see a few heads nodding. It would also kill the
lucrative bootleg market that we all know exists but try to ignore
and/or silently and hypocritically support. Incidently, back to
Michael Flatley's "Lord of the Dance," he had hardly broken even (and
he used all his own money to make that show) when he released the
video. Look where it took him. So a high production cost to make the
video is not a viable excuse. It is a win win situation for the show
and everybody involved, but especially theatre lovers.
PTravel
"John (Zi Rong) Low" <enti...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1137806400.5...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> >You just don't get it, do you?
>
> theatre in person, you choose what part of the stage you want to see at
> any time, and where to focus your vision. But assuming I did manage to
> visit a theatre, and I would like to PARTIALLY relive the musical again
> with no more live audience interaction, then I could wear cameras
> attached to my sunglasses (if possible). So if I wanted to watch what I
> watched before, I'll just replay it on video/computer.
Okay, I'll explain it to you:
1. Theater is a two-way communication. What the audience does in response
to what they see changes what the actors do -- it's a dialogue in which
audience is included. You won't capture that on your video.
2. Videotaping is annoying to those seated around you.
3. It's copyright infringement. Period.
>
> Yes, I know that recording a musical/theatre is very different from
> watching it live in person, and that recordings are overall worse. But
> it is better than nothing.
>
> It'll be years before I manage to visit New York City again, let alone
> America...
Then buy the OCR CD and a souvenir program with pictures in it. Listen to
the music and relive, in your head, the performance. Keep your eye out for
an authorized video -- occassionally they are done.
>
Noel...@aol.com
> > <Do you understand that it's not fair to do it without paying all the
> > <actors, designers, technicians, writers, etc, involved in putting on
> > the
> > <show when do you this?
> >
> > Oops, my bad. I have been bad thinking of this. As obsessed as I am
> > with recordings due to the fact that I am overseas (not in the USA),
> > someone should invent a "pay view" technology, so people not in the
> > theatre can pay to control a special camera that is in there, and then
> > be able to pan and zoom in on whatever they want to see.
> >
> > Maybe this technology sounds too advanced, expensive or troublesome.
Think of it this way:
A large group of brilliant artists get together to put on a musical.
Designers, directors, writers, musicians, performers. All of them have
their eyes on one prize: to create the most entertaining experience
possible for the audience, live in the theatre. All sorts of artistic
judgments are made in pursuit of that goal. Broadway theatre-goers,
more often than not, feel like they've been well-rewarded for the
large amount of money they've paid to see it.
If a set of artists got together with the intention of making a video
that can be enjoyed by viewers in their own homes, looking at a TV
screen, they would make DIFFERENT artistic decisions. As mentioned,
the camera directs your eye towards a particular place, while,
sometimes, stage shows make good use of the audience's ability to
look anywhere in the lit stage space. Performing for a live audience
is very different from performing for a camera, since the energy feeds
back and forth. Seeing the reactions of audiences get actors to
radiate differently. The sound of live music, bouncing off the walls
of a theatre, can't be replicated by any home stereo system. The
Beauty of the musical theatre's art has a great deal to do with its
essential nature: being live on stage.
Why would any artists who are so experienced and focused on creating a
live presentation want their work replicated on a different medium?
They're not making television, they're making theatre. Now, an
answer has been suggested: They might do it for money.
There's a constant tension between what's done for money and
what's done for art. In the case of musicals that already exist,
money (from video sales) would interfere with that Beauty. I'd say
that, nine times out of ten, putting a stage show on video destroys so
much of what is good about a show, the video viewer doesn't get an
accurate picture of what all the fuss is about.
But, in the future, I can imagine something along these lines. A
collection of artists (probably with experience in both live theatre
and video production) could create a musical that's intended to be
enjoyable on stage AND enjoyable at home, on TV sets. They'd make
artistic decisions accordingly; they'd be paid accordingly. And it
might even be good.
But, in the present, as far as I know, nobody's creating musicals for
simultaneous live and video consumption, so we don't have a bunch of
artists experienced in serving that complex goal, at least not yet.
Melanie Lynch
>
>
> theatre in person, you choose what part of the stage you want to see at
> any time, and where to focus your vision. But assuming I did manage to
> visit a theatre, and I would like to PARTIALLY relive the musical again
> with no more live audience interaction, then I could wear cameras
> attached to my sunglasses (if possible). So if I wanted to watch what I
> watched before, I'll just replay it on video/computer.
>
> watching it live in person, and that recordings are overall worse. But
> it is better than nothing.
>
> It'll be years before I manage to visit New York City again, let alone
> America...
>
The bottom line is when you purchase admission to a live performance,
that legally entitles you to view that performance only as it is being
played out. It does not extend to you any rights to tape it for further
viewing, regardless of your intention for it to be only for your private
viewing. Copyright laws are such that you are not legally entitled to
do that.
I would imagine that taping something in an amusement park (which is
basically what Universal, Disney etc... are) is not something they can
easily monitor and/or enforce. You may get away with it; bootleg videos
do get made. But you run the risk of having the tape removed from the
video camera, being escorted from the theatre and most likely you will
not be refunded your ticket. I would also imagine that you may also
open yourself up to legal action for copyright infringement.
You want to relive the moment? Buy another ticket.
Now, what don't you get?
Melanie
PTravel
> >Then buy the OCR CD and a souvenir program with pictures in it. Listen
to
> >the music and relive, in your head, the performance. Keep your eye out
for
> >an authorized video -- occassionally they are done.
>
> soundtrack for "Avenue Q" off Amazon, but I never got to view the
> musical in person...and unfortunately, the staff said they're not going
> to do a DVD recording.
I'm in the same boat -- I haven't yet gotten to see Avenue Q, and I'm not
sure if or when I'll have the opportunity. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoy
the OCR, and I suspect my staging of the show in my head would be as
satisfying (to me) as what was done in New York.
>
PTravel
<Noel...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1137873703....@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
<snip>
> But, in the future, I can imagine something along these lines. A
> collection of artists (probably with experience in both live theatre
> and video production) could create a musical that's intended to be
> enjoyable on stage AND enjoyable at home, on TV sets. They'd make
> artistic decisions accordingly; they'd be paid accordingly. And it
> might even be good.
A long time ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I used to act in LA. I
did a number of 3-camera ISO sitcoms, i.e. so-called "live audience"
sitcoms. One of them was a short-lived series called "Mr. Sunshine" which
starred Jeffrey Tambour (of "Arrested Development" fame). Tambour played a
blind college professor and one episode involved his appearance in a college
stage production. A significant portion of that show included the actual
"performance" of the play, which turned into a "Noises Off" style farce.
Because of the internal "play," I think we all slipped into "theater mode"
when we did it. At both the dress rehearsal (which was taped and had a live
audience), and the actual taping, which was also done in front of a live
audience, we killed 'em -- the audience roared with laughter throughout and
we got huge ovation at the end of each segment. No laugh track sweetening
was necessary. I watched the show when it aired, however, and it just
wasn't funny -- it felt flat and uninvolving. I'm convinced that the reason
for this dichotomy is the fundamental difference between film and stage. As
I mentioned in an earlier post, live performance involves two-way
communication between actor and audience. Obviously, film lacks this
dialogue and requires a different approach.
For this reason, I don't think there can ever be a completely successful
(meaning equally satisfying) film or video record of a stage production.
Matt
a somewhat live experience.
>>You want to relive the moment? Buy another ticket.
>
>
> I don't live anywhere near NYC, I am in Australia, damn it! Someone
> should try to make higher quality movies of musicals, and try to retain
> the plot and songs. And I am totally in favour of an official DVD
> recording of any Broadway musical.
>
> YES, I know that in a DVD recording, you lose the audience interaction,
> "liveness" of the musical, sound reflection, and being unable to pan
> and zoom on what you want to see, but a DVD recording is better than
> nothing. At least you still get to see the actors perform, although you
> won't be able to appreciate it as much.
>
Sarah Thiboutot
"John (Zi Rong) Low" <enti...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >You want to relive the moment? Buy another ticket.
>
> I don't live anywhere near NYC, I am in Australia, damn it! Someone
> should try to make higher quality movies of musicals, and try to retain
> the plot and songs. And I am totally in favour of an official DVD
> recording of any Broadway musical.
I find it extremely hard to believe that there is no live theatre in
Australia.
By releasing a video of a live show, not only does it not do justice to
the show, not only does it have to potential to reduce ticket sales of
the Bway performance, not only does it cheat all the artists involved,
but it ALSO reduces local ticket sales.
If you love musicals so much, why aren't you supporting local theatre?
No, the most recent Broadway musicals are not available for other
performances, but that still leaves an awful lot of choices.
> YES, I know that in a DVD recording, you lose the audience interaction,
> "liveness" of the musical, sound reflection, and being unable to pan
> and zoom on what you want to see, but a DVD recording is better than
> nothing. At least you still get to see the actors perform, although you
> won't be able to appreciate it as much.
A DVD recording may be better than nothing, but it is almost certainly
worse than any live production--Broadway or not.
You have a double standard. You are posting as if Broadway is the only
theatre in the world worth seeing. And yet you are advocating
"cheapening" the Broadway experience.
You are also showing a deep lack of respect for all the individuals who
work their butts off to produce a live theatre event.
PTravel
"John (Zi Rong) Low" <enti...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1137881211....@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> I only like some musicals, particularly "Avenue Q" which is only in the
> US, and I would like to see "Rent" and "Wicked" as well.
> Here in Australia, they have "Mamma Mia", "The Lion King" and "Dusty"
> for a while, but not the ones I mentioned before.
>
> I think I have the short "Hots" for Broadway, really wanting something
> which I can't reach or visit in a long time. I guess I will calm down
> and explore some local Australian productions then, see if any catches
> my attention.
>
> Btw, I only started becoming quite interested in musicals in the past 2
> months (new interest?)...so I'm sorry if I annoyed you with my
> (ignorance?) on this topic.
On the contrary, I think most of us who love musicals are thrilled when
someone else catches the bug. If you do a google search, you'll find that
the subject of videotaping shows is a rather sensitive and contentious one.
You stepped into a bit of firestorm without realizing it.
>
Christopher Jahn
news:sarah_t-2210C2...@news.east.earthlink.net:
>> >You want to relive the moment? Buy another ticket.
>>
>> I don't live anywhere near NYC, I am in Australia, damn it!
>> Someone should try to make higher quality movies of musicals,
>> and try to retain the plot and songs. And I am totally in
>> favour of an official DVD recording of any Broadway musical.
>
> I find it extremely hard to believe that there is no live
> theatre in Australia.
IN fact, there is quite excellent theatre in Australia.
THis is a case of "the grass is always greener..."
--
}:-) Christopher Jahn
{:-( http://home.comcast.net/~xjahn/Main.html
"Buchanan/Farakhan in 2000. Let's scare the hell out of
everybody."
Bill
thrilled when someone else catches the bug. >>
Ditto!
And since no one else has, please allow me to be the first to offer a
gentle correction, John: a "soundtrack" (ST) is the recording of a film
or television program; the recording of a stage musical is generally
referred to as an "original cast recording" (OCR). Variations include
OBC (original Broadway cast), OLC (original London cast), OOBC (original
Off-Broadway cast), etc.
And, if you really want to enjoy musicals to their fullest, don't limit
yourself to only the most recent or popular works. There's a gold mine
of recorded masterpieces just waiting to be discovered by you. (And you
don't have to buy them to check them out: check your local library.)
If all our regulars took the time to suggest one musical recording from
our rich history, you'd be well on your way to becoming not only a fan,
but a LOVER of musical theatre.
I'll start with one of the all-time best, and a favorite of many here:
THE MUSIC MAN, by Meredith Willson. Fun, funny, romantic, and the OBC
boasts two of the best performances ever in Robert Preston and Barbara
Cook. (And after that, check out the movie; it replaces Cook with
Shirley Jones, and a few minor changes but also features several members
of the original cast, the original director and choreographer and adds
the incomparable Paul Ford and Hermione Gingold. BUT --- listen to the
OBC first!)
Cheers,
Bill
Mark Cipra
> and visiting/moving to the US when I am older...
>
> Btw, my 4 favourite songs in the "Avenue Q" OBC soundtrack are "It
> Sucks to be Me", "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist", "Fantasies Come
> True", and "There's a Fine Fine Line". John T. does a very good
> impression of Rod, I resemble him (Rod) the most, if you know what I
> mean...
You're in good company.
(Not to be confused, of course, with The Urine Good Company.)
--
Mark Cipra
"Arguments about the dating of [Shakespeare's Sonnets] are almost as
numerous and contradictory as those about who is dating whom *in* the
poems ..." - Russ McDonald
Play Indiana Jones! Hide the "ark" in my address to reply by email.
Theatre Hound
live presentation want their work replicated on a different medium?
what's done for art. In the case of musicals that already exist,
money (from video sales) would interfere with that Beauty.
I beg to differ. "Barnum" was restaged specifically so a video could
be made and recapture the magic. There was so much work involved in
getting the actors fit (it was a circus troupe made up of very fit
actors). It actually ended up running in Manchester where they were
prepping it and Sold-out every performance. It was then invited to move
to the West End, they thought for a short run and then the video would
at last be made. It took in one million pound advance and ended up
running a further 18 months. I do not see that either actors or the
audience were detrimentally effected by the taping of a live
performance. Second case in point- back to "Lord of the Dance." Same
thing. That show still sells out despite the video.
Absolutely YES, I would pay to see either of those shows live. I'd love
to run out and buy another ticket to "experience the thrill again."
The video is not really a fair comparison as has been justly noted.
But, what many of you "don't get" is that most of us live too far away
to see theatre except as an expensive trip maybe once a year if we are
lucky. You who live near it, by all means attend as much as you can. I
would be right there with you if I could. And if I lived close, I would
see no need for any video to ever be made. But, I don't. For some of us
the video is the best we can get. A proffessional DVD is made anyway-
so they can see how the show looks. Edit it together, you have another
sellable product that is also great advertising and it thrills those of
us who can't run down to NYC or London to see it. I just don't see how
this hurts anyone, the benefits outweigh the bad.
Ven Hawkins
or taped. This happens all the time in opera and occasionally in
musical theatre. Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods & Sunday in the Park
with George come to mind. How do stand on these?
I love these videos! I wish more shows would be taped, if only to
preserve their historical significance. Once a show closes it's gone
forever. I'd love to see Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady or Celeste Holm
in Oklahoma, but I can't and neither can anyone else. It's possible
that every person who performed in, worked on or saw the original
production of Showboat is dead and gone and all I can look at are old
photographs.
So I wish they'd film or tape everything just so future generations
could enjoy them, even if they can't get the full experience...
Ven Hawkins
Mark Cipra
> ptravel: << On the contrary, I think most of us who love musicals are
> thrilled when someone else catches the bug. >>
> ...............
> Ditto!
and again.
If it's the smart lyrics and sassy attitude you like in Ave Q and Rent, you
should be sampling some of Sondheim's middle period. Pacific Overtures
might be of particular interest to an Ozzie who wants to visit the US.
--
Stephen Farrow
> You seem to be of the opinion that live theatre should never be filmed
> or taped. This happens all the time in opera and occasionally in
> musical theatre. Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods & Sunday in the Park
> with George come to mind. How do stand on these?
>
> I love these videos!
I love them too (well, not so much "Into the Woods", in which Lapine does a
bad job of directing his own material - the first London production was far,
*far* superior), but watching those videos is a very different experience to
seeing a production live.
--
Stephen
And we’ll have more needlework hints next week, when Philippa will
be showing us how to stitch up the mouth of a talkative friend or
relative.
Stephen Farrow
Or look at the telecast of "The Women" a couple of years ago. Now, true, the
production, according to many, was far from ideal anyway, but it was *hideous*
on television - largely because the cast were playing to the back of a
1000-seat theatre, not to a camera six feet away, and so their performances
almost uniformly registered as shrill on television.
--
Stephen
ANYA: We should drop a piano on her. Well, it always works for that
creepy cartoon rabbit when he's running from that nice man with the
speech impediment.
GILES: Yes, or perhaps we could paint a convincing tunnel on the side
of a mountain.
Stephen Farrow
> The DVD of the OKLAHOMA! revival is excellent, with Hugh Jackman. It is
> a somewhat live experience.
No it isn't. It was filmed on a sound stage at Shepperton, after the run at
the Olivier had ended but before the show moved into the West End, with a few
shots of the audience at a performance at the Olivier included. I agree that
it's excellent, but it's not a recording of a single live performance; it's
not even cut together from tapings of several theatrical performances. It's a
TV production based on a stage production (which, actually, is partly why it
is so good - taping in a studio rather than in the Olivier allowed them to
reconceive the production somewhat for the different medium).
--
Stephen
The Secret of Management number 436: I'm with stupid.
Stephen Farrow
> US, and I would like to see "Rent" and "Wicked" as well.
"Rent", of course, has already played in Australia.
--
Stephen
That wasn't Madam Butterfly, was it? Because I have a whole problem with opera.
Stephen Farrow
I'll go second - since you seem to be interested in "Avenue Q", you might like
some younger, less mainstream stuff. Look at Jason Robert Brown's "Songs for a
New World" - sixteen seriously impressive songs performed by four of the New
York theatre scene's best singers. Jessica Molaskey, in particular, is
*stunning* (and I've yet to hear a "Stars and the Moon" that touches hers).
--
Stephen
I think she periodically makes a whirring noise and then just shuts down.
Stephen Farrow
> in China (pre 1999?).
> I think the main reason I'm starting to like musicals is because of
> "Avenue Q" (I only knew about it 2 months ago, extremelly late). It is
> funny, rude, educational in a sense, the tunes are also quite catchy,
> and the plot is interesting. And I can relate to a few of the themes,
> e.g. Racism, Love and being closeted. And the actors, particularly John
> Tartaglia and Stephanie D'abruzzo (OBC), have very nice voices which I
> enjoy hearing again and again.
>
> I just checked the "Preview" magazine in the Age here in Australia. The
> musicals they have in Melbourne right now are:
> Lion King
> Dusty
> 25th Putnam Spelling Bee
> The Boy from Oz
>
> The rest are all regular plays and theatre stuff with no singing...so
> there's definitely less musical variety compared with NYC, which is why
> I am dying to visit there in the future.
>
> Is "Songs for a New World" a musical, or concert?
Sort of both. It's a song cycle; it doesn't have a plot, but each of the four
singers has material which presents some kind of arc or journey. It's an
interesting show, and the music's terrific; Jason Robert Brown's two recorded
narrative shows are "Parade" and "The Last Five Years", and both recordings
are well worth a hearing (he has actually, I believe, performed "The Last Five
Years" in Australia, I think at the Adelaide Festival).
--
Stephen
Okay, no foreign legion. I get that. I mean, all the changing
your name, and being indentured for all those years, and
occupying Algeria...
Christopher Jahn
>
> Is "Songs for a New World" a musical, or concert?
>
>
Neither and both. Jason Robert Brown created the songs for a
number of shows, but for whatever reason they either never made
it into a show or were cut early on. He calls it a review, and
it could be staged as a simple concert. We used a revolving
stage with different levels that allowed us to bring a lot of
dynamics to the staging.
Interesting side note: Brown once applied to our theatre to be a
musical director, and was turned down!
Interesting web site about the show:
http://members.tripod.com/OldRedHills/songs2.html
Another intersesting side note: I work at Actors' Playhouse in
Coral Gables, but I went to Wootton High School in Rockville,
mentioned right between links about the Playhouse production!
The world is too small, sometimes...
--
}:-) Christopher Jahn
{:-( http://home.comcast.net/~xjahn/Main.html
"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of
quotations."
--Winston Churchill
Christopher Jahn
> I see, thank you. The website doesn't allow me to hear the
> music, some glitch. I'll search for the lyrics, and I'll see
> if I can purchase the CD for it off Amazon.
>
> I read somewhere that Broadway is the highest professional
> form of musical theatre in America and maybe around the world,
> so yeah, I am really looking forward to the future.
>
I don't know about the world: a lot of Broadway hits were created
in London, UK. And I know three different people in theatre from
Melbourne, so it's apparent to me that Oz has something going for
it!
--
}:-) Christopher Jahn
{:-( http://home.comcast.net/~xjahn/Main.html
It's not for you or I, Carruthers; nor for the regiment: it's
for the Empire.
Victor S. Miller
think that it didn't compare with the live performance -- which just
blew me away. That is the magic of live theater, which,
unfortunately, cannot be captured on film (video, whatever).
Victor
Noel...@aol.com
> so meaningful and catchy like "Avenue Q"! Except the lyrics are harder
> to memorize. Which songs in "Songs for a New World" is better in your
> opinion?
>
> And do you know of any more musicals/concerts which contain
> life-related songs like these?
Try not to do anything illegal. The author of Songs for a New World
posted here recently. I think that Mother Mary Christmas song is kind
of pretty.
The last question made me think of Elegies, by William Finn, a musical
qua concert that's death-related (and therefore life-related). Don't
confuse it with the similarly titled Bill Russell show, Elegies for
Punks, Raging Queens and something like that.
My favorite "life-related" revue would have to be A...My Name Is Alice.
Its final song, Friends, is, hands down, the most moving duet I've
ever heard.
There's also Personals. And Tuscaloosa's Calling Me (But I'm Not
Going). My off-Broadway show, On the Brink, falls into this category
as well.
Mark Cipra
> They only like movies and normal music concerts, seeming to believe
> that people who like musicals are "weird".
You're gonna get a lot of this. It won't end with high school, but it will
get better.
> But I think it's just a
> different taste.
Suggestion: get in with the theater gang; they tend to be very tolerant
folks - contributors to this newsgroup notwithstanding :) Try out for
productions or work backstage. If you don't have one at your school, find a
sympathetic teacher and get something started. Are you in Melbourne? It's
a huge city with dozens of theaters, I see. That means there are probably
lots of opportunities to be involved, at least at the community theater
level.
jernels
name?
Jerry
Melanie Lynch
> I'll search for the lyrics instead, and just surf for more info on the
> musicals that you mentioned.
>
> I agree about the high school thing, I'll just try to keep my interest
> in musicals closeted from them. I might meet nicer people at university
> next year.
>
> And lol, I can't sing (damn, got bad pitch), so if I do work in theatre
> for experience, I'll probably be at backstage. Nevertheless, (musical)
> theatre is sounding more interesting and fun, although harder to find
> than regular plays and dramas in Melbourne. And I would like to get
> involved or investigate the process somehow, so I'll go searching when
> I finish high school.
>
iTunes (if you can use it in Australia) has a fair Theatre selection
that has been getting better - and it's legal AND pretty inexpensive
considering. Generally an album goes for $10 as opposed to the $15-$18
in a store (those are US dollars, obviously). Unfortunatley sometimes
searching for a particular show can be chaotic at best. For example, a
search for Wicked does not not come up with the Cast Recording. However,
it came up on a search for Idina Menzel. However, when you browse
through the Soundtrack genre, select all and scroll down to Idina
Menzel, all that shows up is Rent. You get the picture. VERY frustrating.
Songs for a New World is available there, along with two others of his;
Parade and Someone Else's Clothes. The Sondheim selections are not as
good as they could be, but hopefully that will improve.
Don't sweat the "wierd" tag - unltimately you've got to pursue what you
enjoy - not what someone else does not. Chances are better than not
that those people will not necessarily be around you for the rest of
your life, so why miss out on something good because of them?
PTravel
"John (Zi Rong) Low" <enti...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1137959637.2...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> And lol, I can't sing (damn, got bad pitch), so if I do work in theatre
> for experience, I'll probably be at backstage.
Hey, don't rule out singing just yet. Though it's true that some people
have a "tin ear," matching pitch is an acquired skill that most people can
learn. Unlike talking, singing (particularly for the musical stage)
requires specific technique. Some people are lucky and pick up the
rudiments themselves, but singing can be taught.
I used to think that I couldn't sing, and confined myself to singing along
with the radio when I used to drive between my parents' house and
university. As a theater major (focusing on tech and design), I was
required to audition for all shows, whether plays or musicals. I walked in
to my first musical audition expecting an unpleasant and uncomfortable time
for everyone involved. When I finished my song, the director (who happened
to be chairman of the theater department) stared at me and said, "Why didn't
you tell us you could sing?" I was cast in a lead, and that began my
involvement in musical theater performance which lasted throughout my
(long-since abandoned) acting career. Of course, after that first audition,
I worked with vocal coaches and learned, as a technique, those skills that I
had stumbled upon by accident.
Moral of the story: If you enjoy it, pursue it. You may surprise yourself.
fmomoon
>I think I can purchase the "Wicked" album and all other Broadway
> musical soundtracks off Amazon. Except, there is an international
> shipping charge for each item, but I'll cope with that.
>
> I currently feel embarrassed singing because I'm often out of tune. And
> when I try to sing Karaoke or just random songs on TV, my parents and
> older brother just tell me to shut up, lol. I'll probably learn to sing
> by myself in private when nobody's around. I seriously doubt that I
> will pursue a career in the arts, because I'm normally a
> closeted/uptight kind of person and lacking confidence, but I am
> definitely further my interest in musicals in the future.
As I'm sure someone has said in here before, singing isn't the only way to
get involved with musicals. Learn the tech aspect of theatre and get
involved backstage or in the design aspect. You'll meet people who are
interested in your interests and will learn more than you could possibly
conceive. There is a rich history of musicals from which to learn.
--
Moni
>
Stephen Farrow
> John (Zi Rong) Low wrote: it's
>
>>so meaningful and catchy like "Avenue Q"! Except the lyrics are harder
>>to memorize. Which songs in "Songs for a New World" is better in your
>>opinion?
>>
>>And do you know of any more musicals/concerts which contain
>>life-related songs like these?
>
>
> Try not to do anything illegal. The author of Songs for a New World
> posted here recently. I think that Mother Mary Christmas song is kind
> of pretty.
>
> The last question made me think of Elegies, by William Finn, a musical
> qua concert that's death-related (and therefore life-related). Don't
> confuse it with the similarly titled Bill Russell show, Elegies for
> Punks, Raging Queens and something like that.
I second the recommendation of Finn's "Elegies". While it's a collection of
songs about people who died, it's not at all maudlin - it's funny,
idiosyncratic and in places *extremely* moving. "Anytime" and "When the Earth
Stopped Turning" can both reduce me to rubble.
--
Stephen
Who died and made you Elvis?
Stephen Farrow
> I'll search for the lyrics instead, and just surf for more info on the
> musicals that you mentioned.
>
> I agree about the high school thing, I'll just try to keep my interest
> in musicals closeted from them. I might meet nicer people at university
> next year.
>
> theatre is sounding more interesting and fun, although harder to find
> than regular plays and dramas in Melbourne. And I would like to get
> involved or investigate the process somehow, so I'll go searching when
> I finish high school.
You can have a lot of fun working backstage, and local amateur theatre
companies *always* need help. Go for it - if you enjoy it, the experience of
having volunteered your time would come in useful if you decided you wanted to
work in the theatre after you leave high school.
--
Stephen
The Incredible Journey. Before a paper-clip reaches your stationery tray it
will have undergone over 800 separate manufacturing processes,
none of them interesting.
Stephen Farrow
"Someone Else's Clothes" is a terrific album, though they aren't theatre songs
- and it's refreshing to hear a composer who sings his own work, and does it
*really* well.
--
Stephen
I left reasonable about three exits back.
Stephen Farrow
And, as PTravel pointed out, don't write yourself off as a singer just yet -
singing in pitch is a skill that most people can learn. It just takes a little
work. Though Monica is also right that you'll learn a lot - and have a good
time - working backstage. Theatre people are generally very friendly; it's a
very good way to learn and expand your social life at the same time.
--
Stephen
Only 130 years ago, Charles Dickens was a prolific novelist, a devoted
father and an energetic long-distance walker. Now he's dead. Angela Barlow
pops on an anorak and finds out What Went Wrong.
Ven Hawkins
John (Zi Rong) Low wrote:
> visiting/moving to the US when I am older...
>
> Btw, my 4 favourite songs in the "Avenue Q" OBC soundtrack are "It
> Sucks to be Me", "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist", "Fantasies Come
> True", and "There's a Fine Fine Line". John T. does a very good
> impression of Rod, I resemble him (Rod) the most, if you know what I
> mean...
Hey, it just struck me, with all this discussion about how theatre is
meant to be seen live and therefore should not be videotaped or filmed,
should it not follow that songs from the show should not be recorded
and listened to out of context?
How many people out there abstain from listening to the cast album
until after they've seen the show? I prefer to hear the music for the
first time at a live performance. I go in with no expectations and
occasionally am blown away. The first time I saw Les Miserables comes
to mind. Of course there are drawbacks. I was more than a tad
confused when I saw Into The Woods. My biggest disappointment? Rent.
( I know, them's fightin' words! )
Ven Hawkins
Darrell Jefress
"jernels" <jer...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1137948641.8...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> By the way, Universal Studios' lawyer just called. . . . . . .
Probably trying to patent the camera the guy used to record a Disney
attraction all the way from Universal.
Can't imagine why anyone would *want* a recording of the Muppets 3D
attraction, since the 3D makes it unwatchable anywhere but in the theater
with the special glasses on.
DJJ
Stephen Farrow
> musicals? Out of curiousity, what are some examples of backstage work,
> and is this usually voluntary or paid work, and how much time on
> average would you occupy each week?
>
Amateur = not paid. Can be either straight plays or musicals (or opera; there
are a number of amateur operatic societies around here - north-west England -
and their productions range from Golden Age musicals through Gilbert and
Sullivan to Mozart and Verdi). Backstage work could be anything from painting
sets and hanging lights to finding and managing props and costumes. It's good
experience and it's fun; how much time per week it might take depends on what
you volunteer to do, and could range from just a few hours to an almost
full-time commitment. Find an amateur company near you and then find out what
help they need. There are *always* jobs for willing volunteers.
--
Stephen
Big overture. Little show.
fmomoon
"Ven Hawkins" <actorg...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1137976101.6...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
live show. Remember, not everyone lives on the east coast. Sometimes, such
as LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, I hear the music long before I see the show.
--
Moni
fmomoon
> When you say amateur theatre companies, do you mean normal plays or
> musicals? Out of curiousity, what are some examples of backstage work,
> and is this usually voluntary or paid work, and how much time on
> average would you occupy each week?
If you are new, amateur theatre companies (sometimes referred to as
community theatre) is the place to start. No, you don't get paid yet, so
you are volunteering. If you are working backstage, you generally aren't
called on until tech week, unless it is a huge, set heavy show. "Normal"
plays or musicals are run pretty much the same way. Backstage could mean
moving set pieces on or off stage, prop handling, learning how to run a
spotlight, pretty much working in the dark :) because crew isn't supposed to
be seen. You might sign on to be a dresser because some shows require very
fast changes. Never say no to an assignment and, I assure you, you'll be
kept busy. You can also learn about making sets with carpentry and painting
skills.
--
Moni
>
Noel...@aol.com
> How many people out there abstain from listening to the cast album
> until after they've seen the show? I prefer to hear the music for the
> first time at a live performance.
Me too. I believe songwriters prefer us to hear things that are
written to be heard in the theatre in the theatre first as well.
I go in with no expectations and
> occasionally am blown away. The first time I saw Les Miserables comes
> to mind. Of course there are drawbacks. I was more than a tad
> confused when I saw Into The Woods. My biggest disappointment? Rent.
You might have been even more disappointed if you'd heard the album,
which seemed to promise an intense and exciting experience in the
theatre. That ugly set, the static staging, the face mics... all
reasons I had a better time at the movie.
> Hey, it just struck me, with all this discussion about how theatre is
> meant to be seen live and therefore should not be videotaped or filmed,
> should it not follow that songs from the show should not be recorded
> and listened to out of context?
Seemingly, this is a contradiction, but many a musical is written in
such a way that the songs are intended to have a life outside the show.
A cast album is often akin to a radio drama: We hear and use our
imaginations to fill in the blanks of what might be going on on stage.
And we can be very wrong, and that's O.K. For example, "With Every
Breath I Take" seems like an extremely emotional torch song on the City
of Angels album, and it's one of Cy Coleman's most gorgeous tunes; in
the show, of course, it's just a throw-away.
Melanie Lynch
> Melanie Lynch wrote:
>> iTunes (if you can use it in Australia) has a fair Theatre selection
>> that has been getting better - and it's legal AND pretty inexpensive
>> considering. Generally an album goes for $10 as opposed to the
>> $15-$18 in a store (those are US dollars, obviously). Unfortunatley
>> sometimes searching for a particular show can be chaotic at best. For
>> example, a search for Wicked does not not come up with the Cast
>> Recording. However, it came up on a search for Idina Menzel. However,
>> when you browse through the Soundtrack genre, select all and scroll
>> down to Idina Menzel, all that shows up is Rent. You get the picture.
>> VERY frustrating.
>>
>> Songs for a New World is available there, along with two others of
>> his; Parade and Someone Else's Clothes. The Sondheim selections are
>> not as good as they could be, but hopefully that will improve.
>
>
> "Someone Else's Clothes" is a terrific album, though they aren't theatre
> songs - and it's refreshing to hear a composer who sings his own work,
> and does it *really* well.
>
I like JRB's music and this one I will be getting come the first of the
month. I really liked what I heard.
Melanie Lynch
> musicals? Out of curiousity, what are some examples of backstage work,
> and is this usually voluntary or paid work, and how much time on
> average would you occupy each week?
>
work and is a great way to find out just how much you will really like
theatre. Some people take to it like a drug; some people find it isn't
quite what they thought it would be but hang around the fringes anyway.
There is always a need for people to help build sets, paint sets,
stage managers, props, spot lights, sound, publicity, box office,
costuming, ushering - there's always some way to get involved. Some
companies do both book plays and musicals; some do mainly plays because
as on Broadway, they are generally cheaper to produce. It all depends on
the endowments of the theatre.
As to how much time, it depends on the production and I can only speak
from experience. Casting is generally done oh, maybe two months prior to
opening and since most people generally have regular day jobs while they
do amateur theatre, most of the work is done on weekends and evenings.
But the closer you get to "hell week" (the week right before opening
night), the more chaotic the schedule and you will often find yourself
working into the wee hours of the morning. If all is going well, the
comraderie will keep everyone going. Opening weekend is generally a blur
since everyone is totally exhausted. The second weekend is when you can
start to relax and really enjoy the production.
If you know someone who is already involved in theatre, let them know
you want to get involved. If you don't, find a theatre that is
convenient to you and call them up to volunteer.
Melanie
Mark Cipra
> When you say amateur theatre companies, do you mean normal plays or
> musicals? Out of curiousity, what are some examples of backstage work,
> and is this usually voluntary or paid work, and how much time on
> average would you occupy each week?
1) Don't count out regular plays. It's a big wonderful world, and there
are a lot of "straight" plays which explore your "area of special interest";
even better, they explore just about everything else as well. And, for what
it's worth, my singing voice is not bad, but it's taking a lot of work to
get it up to par for use in musicals (I'm the prototypical guy who used to
be told to mouth the words). It's good enough, though, that people tend to
give me singing to do in non-musicals, and I'm starting to get roles in
musicals as well.
2) I'm going to take a leap here, and guess that your parents already
suspect or are at least worried about your "secret", especially if you're 17
or 18 and not showing any interest in girls. (It *is* a leap, though -
their Chinese cultural background may make their blinders more complete
...). If you want to remain closeted until college, which doesn't seem like
a bad idea, some of the backstage disciplines *look* less gay than others.
(Okay, RATMers, which backstage disciplines look most and least gay? I'd
put carpenters and lighting techs on the straight-seeming end of the
spectrum, and dressers and scene painters on the other.)
(Which reminds me of a time I was trying to decide which of two recordings
to buy - I don't remember what, but let's say between an old Cole Porter
revue and "Wicked". My friend joked with the clerk, "He's worried about
looking gay; which one's worse?" The clerk replied, "Interest in *all*
musical theater looks gay, except for Kurt Weill".)
3) I've heard that when young people said to Richard Rodgers, "I'm thinking
of going into the theater ... What's your advice?", he used to say "Don't"
(end of conversation). Your inclination *not* to go into the arts as a
career is a good one. It's something you should do only if you feel you
have no alternative. Meanwhile, amateur theater can be very rewarding.
Barbara Bailey
<cipr...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>John (Zi Rong) Low wrote:
>> When you say amateur theatre companies, do you mean normal plays or
>> musicals? Out of curiousity, what are some examples of backstage work,
>> and is this usually voluntary or paid work, and how much time on
>> average would you occupy each week?
Examples?
Well, there's the designing aspect: lights, sound, set, costumes all
ideally have someone who's job is to develop the director's idea into
a workable plan. My experience is that these positions were usually
faculty (or closely overseen and checked by faculty) in college, and
semi-professional positions in community theatre. By "semi-pro" here,
I mean that they had wads of experience and got some sort of fee. It
was extremely unusual for a student or newcomer to land one of these
postions without putting in what amounted to an apprenticeship.
They might or might not have been around for the full run of the play;
with one community theatre group I worked with for just under a year,
(four shows) I never laid eyes on the lighting/sound designer except
once-- when I was working very late alone in the costume shop. (He
habitually came in to the theatre in the wee hours of the morning when
no one else was around. We only met because I was heading up front to
check out whether I had actually heard the front door open, and he was
heading back to the shop to see why the lights were on. We met in the
hallway, introduced ourselves, and I went back to the sewing machine
and he went back to his desk.)
They may work for a few hours for a simple design, or weeks on a
complex one.
Then there's the folks who make the designs happen. That would be the
set builders and scene painters (often the same people;) the
costumers; the techs of various flavors (the riggers; the lighting and
sound techs (that's the guys who run the boards.)
How long they work depends on both the rehearsal schedule (for the
techs) and the complexity of the design (for the construction-type
folks.) I usually did costumes, and I'd be there pretty much from the
first rehearsal: getting measurements; pulling from stock and making
alterations; making new; tagging and organizing; as well as
occasionally checking the look of a particular piece on stage. So that
was three to four hours, several nights a week, and most of the day on
Saturdays. For a show that required lots of new costumes, it could
easily be six or seven hours a night and all day Saturday and some of
Sunday.
And then there's the folks who make the mechanics happen -- the stage
crew (the guys on the fly ropes, the guys who move the sets, the
dressers, the props crew.)
And the chief whip-cracker and bullshit-stopper - the person who makes
sure that --all-- of these other folks get it right: the stage
manager (and any assistant stage managers.)
But one thing that you need to keep in mind is that, especially in
amateur theatre, a lot of these jobs overlap. The costumer may be a
dresser as well; the folks who built and painted the set are some of
the same folks who serve as stage crew; the same person runs lights
and sound; one of the guys who hung and focussed the lights runs the
flies. There were shows where I built most of the costumes and then
during the run, was on the light board. (no costume changes, pretty
simple light plot, dead simple board.)
>1) Don't count out regular plays. It's a big wonderful world, and there
>are a lot of "straight" plays which explore your "area of special interest";
>even better, they explore just about everything else as well. And, for what
>it's worth, my singing voice is not bad, but it's taking a lot of work to
>get it up to par for use in musicals (I'm the prototypical guy who used to
>be told to mouth the words). It's good enough, though, that people tend to
>give me singing to do in non-musicals, and I'm starting to get roles in
>musicals as well.
>
>2) I'm going to take a leap here, and guess that your parents already
>suspect or are at least worried about your "secret", especially if you're 17
>or 18 and not showing any interest in girls. (It *is* a leap, though -
>their Chinese cultural background may make their blinders more complete
>...). If you want to remain closeted until college, which doesn't seem like
>a bad idea, some of the backstage disciplines *look* less gay than others.
>
>(Okay, RATMers, which backstage disciplines look most and least gay? I'd
>put carpenters and lighting techs on the straight-seeming end of the
>spectrum, and dressers and scene painters on the other.)
Props isn't stereotypically gay; neither is rigging, or sound tech.
Guys deeply into the costuming aspect (either design or construction)
were virtually *always* presumed to be gay when I was in high school
and college, and even when I was involved in community theatre
afterwards.
Set design and lighting design (most of the "design" areas, in fact)
was a gray area- maybe so, maybe not. So was directing.
Stage managing was straight for guys, gay for women. (I'm assuming it
was the whole "Women who want to be in charge must be lesbians" thing
that was starting to slowly die out at the time (mid- 70's))
>
>(Which reminds me of a time I was trying to decide which of two recordings
>to buy - I don't remember what, but let's say between an old Cole Porter
>revue and "Wicked". My friend joked with the clerk, "He's worried about
>looking gay; which one's worse?" The clerk replied, "Interest in *all*
>musical theater looks gay, except for Kurt Weill".)
>
>3) I've heard that when young people said to Richard Rodgers, "I'm thinking
>of going into the theater ... What's your advice?", he used to say "Don't"
>(end of conversation). Your inclination *not* to go into the arts as a
>career is a good one. It's something you should do only if you feel you
>have no alternative. Meanwhile, amateur theater can be very rewarding.
And I'l second that whole last paragraph.
Barb
Mark Cipra
should post more often.
--
Barbara Bailey
<cipr...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>I know you are probably saving up your best stuff between postings, but you
>should post more often.
Thanks.
Mostly, what I would post has often been said first by others. Partly,
my theatre experience is quite limited, especially compared to that of
a lot of the regulars here and in RATS, so I tend to let the folks
what really know what they're talking about in terms of Real World
experience explain. High school, college, then a very brief, aborted
attempt at a pro theatre career (loved working theatre, couldn't stand
the job insecurity...) and community theatre off and on (as schedule
and location allows) for twenty years since then.
Barb
Newport
Noel...@aol.com
RENT: That ugly set, the static staging, the face mics...
--------------------------------
The lousy material.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
Newport
From: cipr...@sbcglobal.net (Mark Cipra) It's a big wonderful world,
and there are a lot of "straight" plays. If you want to remain closeted
until college, which doesn't seem like a bad idea <<SNIP>> I was trying
to decide which of two recordings to buy - I don't remember what, but
let's say between an old Cole Porter revue and "Wicked". My friend joked
with the clerk, "He's worried about looking gay; which one's worse?" The
clerk replied, "Interest in *all* musical theater looks gay, except for
Kurt Weill".)
Oh, please. The Weill-philes are the worst.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
Newport
From: cipr...@sbcglobal.net (Mark Cipra) get in with the theater
gang;
-----------------------------------------
A really militant one. And beware your educational-years "peers"-- they
*are* your enemy.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
Matthew Winn
wrote:
> There is always a need for people to help build sets, paint sets,
> stage managers, props, spot lights, sound, publicity, box office,
> costuming, ushering - there's always some way to get involved.
This is especially true with amateur companies an most amateurs in the
theatre want to be seen, so people who don't mind working anonymously
tend to be in demand.
I love backstage work during a run. In a theatre with only limited
facilities it can be a wonderful challenge working on a show where the
writers have carefully allowed time for the cast's costume changes but
have assumed the scenery can fly in and out in a few seconds, meaning
that in a theatre with no fly tower and no wing space the crew are
left frantically running round with mouths full of hinge pins as they
try to stack flats in any available space they can find that's out of
sight of the audience, all the while trying to follow what's going on
out front.
And, of course, you soon get to realise that there's nothing in the
world that can't be fixed with gaffer tape and WD40.
--
Matthew
[If replying by mail remove the "r" from "urk"]
Mark Cipra
> On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 17:47:58 GMT, "Mark Cipra"
> <cipr...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>> I know you are probably saving up your best stuff between postings,
>> but you should post more often.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Mostly, what I would post has often been said first by others. Partly,
I find your contributions to be insightful and illuminating.
--
Stephen Farrow
And glow tape. Never forget the glow tape. Glow tape - as suggested by Karen
Horn - is how I once managed to play piano in a show in a total blackout
between scenes (I was onstage, not in any kind of pit; there was *no* light).
--
Stephen
You sit in your seat, you eat your peanuts, you watch the movie...
Well, unless it's about a dog or Chevy Chase.
fmomoon
"Mark Cipra" <cipr...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:qp6Bf.13815$H71....@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
fmomoon
"Mark Cipra" <cipr...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:qp6Bf.13815$H71....@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> put carpenters and lighting techs on the straight-seeming end of the
> spectrum, and dressers and scene painters on the other.)
Yeah, you're probably right. Funny, too, because according to some
non-theatre aquaintences, all guys in any aspect of the theatre are gay.
<sigh> Don't confuse them with facts. That only upsets them.
--
Moni
fmomoon
"Matthew Winn" <*@matthewwinn.me.urk> wrote in message
news:h58at15pr0dja437l...@4ax.com...
>
> And, of course, you soon get to realise that there's nothing in the
> world that can't be fixed with gaffer tape and WD40.
Duct tape, too. :) It is a good thing the audience doesn't see the upstage
part of a set.
--
Moni
Mark Cipra
> are plenty of them, except most aren't very close to where I live in
> Melbourne, closest one is 10km away I think.
>
> I think I would like to try the the lighting and sounds aspect of
> backstage work after I finish high school, because it appears more
> "straight" and a bit interesting. But will it be likely they accept
> you if you have had absolutely no experience in it before? I'm not
> into costume design/construction because I have very little
> creativity. It would be nice if I could have a part time job and work
> backstage without seeming too busy.
Don't underestimate the creativity called for by lighting and sound design!
I think you'd find in amateur theaters that they'll welcome your help in
whatever area you're interested in and will help you find your own level.
Like most disciplines, there are things you can do backstage with no
experience- holding ladders, handing people equipment - and you'll start to
learn the more complex stuff while you're doing it. Meanwhile, they'll also
try to steer you into other areas where they need more help as well.
>
>> I'm going to take a leap here, and guess that your parents already
>> suspect or are at least worried about your "secret"...
>
> Yeah, many Chinese parents are homophobic due to cultural reasons I
> believe. Something about bringing shame to the family or not
> continuing the family line. I'll probably come out after I finish
> university/college, so by then, they would've payed all of the college
Remember that advice you get on the internet is worth every penny you pay
for it :) but I hope you won't have to go through the next five years
suppressing your nature. I hope you'll find college a more tolerant
atmosphere. And, keep safe!
> fees, and I would be more independent in case they kick me out of the
> house. I do like some women/girls, not because they're attractive/hot,
> but because they're very nice or funny, or share the same interests as
> me.
>
> Anyway, I'd like to get involved in amateur theatre if I have time in
> the future. It makes my life seem more fulfilling, and I might find
> something that I like.
whereismikeyfl
John (Zi Rong) Low wrote:
> musical theatre in America and maybe around the world, so yeah, I am
> really looking forward to the future.
This is really just marketing talk. The best Broadway musicals tend to
come from off-Broadway, London, or theaters outside of NYC. Only the
big spectacle shows originate on Broadway and are usually created by
artists who developed their work elsewhere.
The Lion King is good, but Taymor's shows for off-Broadway's Lenox
Music-Theater Group and Theater for New Audiences were much more
exciting. Ave Q and Rent also were more fun before they made the jump
to Broadway.
And so many wonderful plays never make the move.
The mystique of Broadway is stronger for tourists than for residents of
New York. But I think it is important to acknowledge that there is so
much good theater in the city and visitors will find wonderful
experiences outside of Broadway. Just pick up Time Out New York or some
other publication with detailed listings.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Long ago, I made a decision never to take pictures on trips. Instead of
collecting photographs I would collect memories and stories. If you
really enjoyed a show, you will remember it--no video is necessary.
Matthew Winn
I love seeing the wrong side of a show. Knowing how much is going on
out of sight of the audience, it pisses me off no end when I'm forced
to see only what the production wants me to see.
And on that subject, what is it about actors that makes them incapable
of understanding sight lines? Every crew person I've ever worked with
has understood that if you can see the audience the audience can see
you, but the majority of actors seem to think that if you draw a line
directly upstage from the edge of the proscenium arch and then stand
on the offstage side of that line then you are completely invisible,
even if you're brightly lit and can see half the audience. I couldn't
begin to count the number of times I've seen people waiting to make
their entrance, or exiting and dropping out of character the moment
they cross that imaginary line.
Barbara Bailey
<enti...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Argh, I wish I was older or completed high school by now, so I can get
>all the theatre experience I want, it looks so god damn fun! Is
>lighting and sound the most enjoyable aspects of backstage work?
Not for me. I prefer props or costumes, personally.
Mucking about in papier mache' building boulders is fun too.
So is going on a scavenger hunt to find just-the-right-table (or
whatever) at the local junk shops/antique stores/thrift stores, and
then wheeling the best deal I can make for it (My personal best--a
full silver tea service, including the tray, lent to us for a
three-week run by a local jewelers. Cost to us: an free ad in the
program, and a "Special thanks to..." line. Value of the silver:
upwards of $400 1978 US dollars.)
So is firing up the paint gun and doing a background wash on the set,
or doing a spatter job, or dry-brushing.
But then the carpenters were always cool to hang out with, and they
seemed to get a kick out of the fact that I knew how to handle power
tools (Girls with power tools seem to exert some strange fascination
on a lot of young men,) and wasn't afraid of the hot-glue pot or the
air compressor.
Do you like electronics and electrical things? Do you understand them
or are you willing to learn to understand them?
(See Barb.
See Barb get utterly lost when RATS starts talking about amps and
volts and phases and sinusoid frequencies or harmonics or whatever
they are.
See Barb successfully run a light board when the directions are "Push
this button when I say to. Do not touch anything else."
See Barb have a panic attack if it's any more complicated than that.
See Barb go hide in her sewing room where she won't hurt anybody if
she makes a mistake...)
If you do, then you may well find lights and sound to be the most fun.
If you don't, they may be an uphill slog.
In any case, I'd suggest that you add <rec.arts.theatre.stagecraft>
to your subscribed newsgroups list, and read it religiously. You'll
get a lot of insight into the sort of things that the backstage people
have to do, solve, deal with, and achieve. And you'll get lots of
answers to a lot of your questions about what it's like.
>
>My mum is now shopping, I'm off to the Post Office now to buy IRC and
>envelopes, hope I don't get caught... I hope that as high school
>students become uni/college freshmen, they'll be more tolerant of
>different people. Most unfortunately, that didn't apply to my parents
>or my older brother.
If college gives you nothing else, I truly hope that it gives you
freedom from the fear of being caught that you've expressed several
times. As far as becoming more tolerant, some people will, and some
won't. But you'll have more leeway to avoid the ones who are
intolerant. I'm not saying that you'll be able to avoid them
completely, because you probably won't, but there will be more
different people, doing different things, and you can hang out with
folks you like, rather than being limited to only the folks in your
classes. (I was a Communications major in college; my best friends
were respectively Chemistry, Physics, Philosophy, Economics and
History majors. We had virtually no classes that we shared after the
first semester.)
>
>New York Times seems to have a large listing of Broadway and off
>Broadway musicals currently performing, a much larger variety than here
>in Melbourne (<15 for sure, I checked local newspaper).
Yes, New York has lots and lots of theatre. Some of it's Good. Some of
it's Great (Orson's Shadow! Damn, what a show! Remebering it still
gives me the shivers.) Some of it's Really Sad. And some of it is
downright BAD.
Barb
fmomoon
"John (Zi Rong) Low" <enti...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1138083355....@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Hey, I just visited the local library yesterday. It only had 3 books
> regarding Broadway musicals, and they were all in the reference
> section, so I couldn't borrow them. It was called "Ganzl's Book of
> Musical Theatre", "Guinness Who's who of Musicals and Films" and "Music
> Hound: Soundtracks".
>
> I think the plot for "Guys and Dolls" and "West Side Story" look
> interesting. My grade 6 teacher in the past acted in WSS when she was a
> girl. And "The Music Man" reminds me of that Simpsons episode where a
> man swindles everyone into buying a monorail, funny.
WSS is, of course, a modern and changed version of "Romeo and Juliet." GUYS
AND DOLLS is based on some of the stories by Damon Runyon. Do some research
on his style and you might be pleasantly surprised.
--
Moni
>
fmomoon
"Matthew Winn" <*@matthewwinn.me.urk> wrote in message
> On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 19:46:27 -0800, "fmomoon"
> out of sight of the audience, it pisses me off no end when I'm forced
> to see only what the production wants me to see.
I swear half the show is what goes on backstage. Why else would "Noises
Off" ring so true for people?
>
> And on that subject, what is it about actors that makes them incapable
> of understanding sight lines? Every crew person I've ever worked with
> has understood that if you can see the audience the audience can see
> you, but the majority of actors seem to think that if you draw a line
> directly upstage from the edge of the proscenium arch and then stand
> on the offstage side of that line then you are completely invisible,
> even if you're brightly lit and can see half the audience. I couldn't
> begin to count the number of times I've seen people waiting to make
> their entrance, or exiting and dropping out of character the moment
> they cross that imaginary line.
My daughter (at that time, age 16) was part of the stage crew on a regional
show I did many years ago of 110 IN THE SHADE. Because she is small, she
had to move the very small, old truck on stage and hide in the back of the
car during the scene. She used to delight in seeing how much of the show
she could see without the audience seeing her, so she would look through the
cracks of back wagon cover. She watched the video of the show to make sure
she couldn't be seen, but our Starbuck loved making faces at her as he
leaned into the truck to get out various props from the scene. She really
had to keep herself from laughing out loud, which isn't easy for any 16 year
old. To this day, she talks fondly of her memory of teching a show her old
mom was in. It was a good experience for me, too. I told her from the
start that when I was at the theatre, I was no longer her mom, so she had to
act responsibly and take correction from others in a mature fashion. I was
not going to bail her out. For once, she listened....yes, it can happen.
--
Moni
Barbara Bailey
<enti...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Hmm, I'm not too good at Physics, so the backstage sound work now
>appears harder. I'm learning exactly some of those things which you've
>mentioned about in class last year, sinusoidal waves, voltage and amps
>etc.
See, I suck at that sort of thing. So I never even really learned it,
more just skidded by on the good graces of my High Schol teachers, and
the fact that I didn't need to take any of those classes in college.
(Question: What's the difference between a Speech/Theatre Major and
and an English Major?
Answer: An English Major says, "Would you like fries with that?" and a
Speech/Theatre Major says, "Good evening. Our special tonight is
Mahi-mahi in a mango-cashew-ginger chutney, served on a bed of braised
endive...")
If you can understand it, though, that'll make things easier. But
truly, most backstage folks, whatever their department, are glad to
teach, as long as the other person is willing to listen and learn.
I've hung and focussed lights, even though I didn't understand what I
was doing. The lighting guy I was working with showed me the physical
mechanics (what screw to turn to tighen of open the beam, what the
different instrument types looked like, how to fasten them properly,
stuff like that.) But I can't read a light plot, let alone draw one
up.
Same for programming, which is something else that lighting and sound
techs and designers are needing to know more and more about, with the
newer, computerized boards.
> And I have an unnecessary fear of using power tools, I once burnt
>myself using a hot glue gun and a soldering device in Woodworking
>during year/grade 8.
Oh, honey, I've lost count of the number of times I've
burnt/cut/scraped myself. They heal, and you learn why and how not to
do it again. I've only got one scar that still shows (X-acto blade
that was duller than I thought. It slipped.) Power tools do demand
repect, but fear does no good.
>I'm going to read rec.arts.theatre.stagecraft more often when I have
>the time on weekends or maybe during lunch breaks at school. My school
>doesn't have much to offer when it comes to theatre (very few people
>interested, focus heaps on sports and music), so I'll just try out
>amateur theatre after graduating.
That sounds like the way to go.
>
>How did you meet your best friends from the different majors at
>college? Were they interested in theatre/musicals as well? I am trying
>to enter Medicine at Melbourne university. If I can't enter that, I'll
>do Biomedical Science or Chemistry.
We had one class together first semester: The Philosophy of Logic. My
college required one philosophy and one theology course each year, and
we all chose the same philosophy class. It was essentially the very
basics of symbolic logic, how to construct syllogisms, identify and
avoid fallacies and such stuff. More, logical thought patterns, than
logic as mathematical analysis.
But most of us were interested in theatre, too, which is why we
continues to hang out together; there was no "official" theatre
department, just a bunch of folks who wanted to do shows, and a couple
of professors in the English department who were willing to be our
faculty advisors and usually were the director. Most years we did two
shows, one year we did four.
fmomoon
"Barbara Bailey" <rabr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:q6idt15juqbq6mieb...@4ax.com...
> On 24 Jan 2006 14:46:55 -0800, "John (Zi Rong) Low"
> <enti...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>Argh, I wish I was older or completed high school by now, so I can get
>>all the theatre experience I want, it looks so god damn fun! Is
>>lighting and sound the most enjoyable aspects of backstage work?
>
> Not for me. I prefer props or costumes, personally.
I'm hopeless on anything crafty like that. I'll move sets or work a
spotlight, but put a needle in my hand and I am suddenly the Incredible
Inept Woman.
>
> Mucking about in papier mache' building boulders is fun too.
I'd probably end up with more paper mache on myself than on the boulder.
>
> So is going on a scavenger hunt to find just-the-right-table (or
> whatever) at the local junk shops/antique stores/thrift stores, and
> then wheeling the best deal I can make for it (My personal best--a
> full silver tea service, including the tray, lent to us for a
> three-week run by a local jewelers. Cost to us: an free ad in the
> program, and a "Special thanks to..." line. Value of the silver:
> upwards of $400 1978 US dollars.)
Our prop folks are masters at finding the impossible. How they come up with
some of their creations is a mystery to me.
>
> So is firing up the paint gun and doing a background wash on the set,
> or doing a spatter job, or dry-brushing.
Another one of those things the techs don't let me near. :)
>
> But then the carpenters were always cool to hang out with, and they
> seemed to get a kick out of the fact that I knew how to handle power
> tools (Girls with power tools seem to exert some strange fascination
> on a lot of young men,) and wasn't afraid of the hot-glue pot or the
> air compressor.
Me and superglue. Followed by a visit to an emergency room to pry my
fingers apart. This was apparently before the antidote was commonly known
about. Yup, I'm a danger to society in tech land.
> See Barb get utterly lost when RATS starts talking about amps and
> volts and phases and sinusoid frequencies or harmonics or whatever
> they are.
Harmonics, I get. But there is a reason why I always make sure my sound
guy/gal for my school shows is acknowledged. I'd be lost without them.
> See Barb successfully run a light board when the directions are "Push
> this button when I say to. Do not touch anything else."
<giggle>
> See Barb have a panic attack if it's any more complicated than that.
> See Barb go hide in her sewing room where she won't hurt anybody if
> she makes a mistake...)
Unless you forget about that one...seemingly lost pin....I know I seem to
find it every time.
--
Moni
Barbara Bailey
<fmomoo...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>"Barbara Bailey" <rabr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:q6idt15juqbq6mieb...@4ax.com...
>> On 24 Jan 2006 14:46:55 -0800, "John (Zi Rong) Low"
>> <enti...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Argh, I wish I was older or completed high school by now, so I can get
>>>all the theatre experience I want, it looks so god damn fun! Is
>>>lighting and sound the most enjoyable aspects of backstage work?
>>
>> Not for me. I prefer props or costumes, personally.
>
>I'm hopeless on anything crafty like that. I'll move sets or work a
>spotlight, but put a needle in my hand and I am suddenly the Incredible
>Inept Woman.
>>
>> Mucking about in papier mache' building boulders is fun too.
>
>I'd probably end up with more paper mache on myself than on the boulder.
That's half of the fun <g>.
We did _Brigadoon_ in high school, and the director (who also happened
to be the Principal) tagged me to do the papier mache' rocks for
around the bridge. So I'm down in the basement hallway, surrounded by
chickenwire and stacks of blank newsprint paper, and a bucket of wheat
paste. Everytime the class bell would ring, I'd make sure that I was
wheat paste past my elbows, and trot off to what was supposed to be my
next class, walk in, and explain to the teacher that Sister B. had me
doing the rocks for the musical set, and I hoped that they'd let me
off class that day. But if they didn't want to, I'd need about fifteen
or twenty minutes to go clean up the bucket and the hallway and wash
my hands and arms. I got out of every single class that day.
And the rocks looked awesome.
>> So is going on a scavenger hunt to find just-the-right-table (or
>> whatever) at the local junk shops/antique stores/thrift stores, and
>> then wheeling the best deal I can make for it (My personal best--a
>> full silver tea service, including the tray, lent to us for a
>> three-week run by a local jewelers. Cost to us: an free ad in the
>> program, and a "Special thanks to..." line. Value of the silver:
>> upwards of $400 1978 US dollars.)
>
>Our prop folks are masters at finding the impossible. How they come up with
>some of their creations is a mystery to me.
All good prop masters have access to an otherwise unknown pocket
universe that has -absolutely everything- ever created in it. Of this
I am certain.
>> So is firing up the paint gun and doing a background wash on the set,
>> or doing a spatter job, or dry-brushing.
>
>Another one of those things the techs don't let me near. :)
>>
>> But then the carpenters were always cool to hang out with, and they
>> seemed to get a kick out of the fact that I knew how to handle power
>> tools (Girls with power tools seem to exert some strange fascination
>> on a lot of young men,) and wasn't afraid of the hot-glue pot or the
>> air compressor.
>
>Me and superglue. Followed by a visit to an emergency room to pry my
>fingers apart. This was apparently before the antidote was commonly known
>about. Yup, I'm a danger to society in tech land.
Just don't expect me to solder. Or weld. There, I'm hopeless. And keep
me away from the grinder.
>> See Barb get utterly lost when RATS starts talking about amps and
>> volts and phases and sinusoid frequencies or harmonics or whatever
>> they are.
>
>Harmonics, I get. But there is a reason why I always make sure my sound
>guy/gal for my school shows is acknowledged. I'd be lost without them.
Unsung heroes, the lot of them. What good is a production that the
audience can't *hear*? Abso-frickin'-lutely none.
>> See Barb successfully run a light board when the directions are "Push
>> this button when I say to. Do not touch anything else."
>
><giggle>
>
>> See Barb have a panic attack if it's any more complicated than that.
>> See Barb go hide in her sewing room where she won't hurt anybody if
>> she makes a mistake...)
>
>Unless you forget about that one...seemingly lost pin....I know I seem to
>find it every time.
<huffy voice> I have never "forgotten" a pin in someone's costume.
Ever. </hv>
Deliberately left one when they were consistently an ass to me or my
crew, or any of the other backstage crews? Yes, I admit, I have done
that.
But they had to be unreconstructed asses before I would go that far
and I've done it only twice that I can remember.
David Lawver
> John (Zi Rong) Low wrote:
>>I read somewhere that Broadway is the highest professional form of
>>musical theatre in America and maybe around the world, so yeah, I am
>>really looking forward to the future.
whereismikeyfl wrote:
> This is really just marketing talk. The best Broadway musicals tend to
> come from off-Broadway, London, or theaters outside of NYC.
Gee... of my list of "best Broadway musicals" - West Side Story,
Fiddler, Cabaret, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Carousel, Music Man, Guys and
Dolls (in no particular order) - not a one came from anywhere else.
Now, of the best running at the moment - it's a bit more true, though
it's a bit tricky because "theaters outside of NYF", ie, the big
regional theatres, have become the modern version of out-of-town
tryouts. OTOH, it's not a particularly good time for musicals at
the moment, is it?
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Lawver dmla...@facstaff.wisc.edu
"Without danger, Mr. Bardolph, there is no theatre." -Peter Shaffer
fmomoon
> We did _Brigadoon_ in high school, and the director (who also happened
> to be the Principal) tagged me to do the papier mache' rocks for
> around the bridge. So I'm down in the basement hallway, surrounded by
> chickenwire and stacks of blank newsprint paper, and a bucket of wheat
> paste. Everytime the class bell would ring, I'd make sure that I was
> wheat paste past my elbows, and trot off to what was supposed to be my
> next class, walk in, and explain to the teacher that Sister B. had me
> doing the rocks for the musical set, and I hoped that they'd let me
> off class that day. But if they didn't want to, I'd need about fifteen
> or twenty minutes to go clean up the bucket and the hallway and wash
> my hands and arms. I got out of every single class that day.
>
> And the rocks looked awesome.
Yes, I remember getting out of a few high school classes to "work on the
set." I was always trust-worthy looking (if they only knew), so no one ever
realized that I was just looking for an excuse to get out another boring
math/science class.
>>Unless you forget about that one...seemingly lost pin....I know I seem to
>>find it every time.
>
> <huffy voice> I have never "forgotten" a pin in someone's costume.
> Ever. </hv>
> Deliberately left one when they were consistently an ass to me or my
> crew, or any of the other backstage crews? Yes, I admit, I have done
> that.
> But they had to be unreconstructed asses before I would go that far
> and I've done it only twice that I can remember.
We had this very sweet, elderly lady on the costuming crew who winked at me
and admitted to leaving pins in dresses for the actors who "were snobby."
She must have liked me, bless her heart, because I never got "pinned."
--
Moni
>
Stephen Farrow
> On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 19:33:23 -0800, "fmomoon"
> <fmomoo...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
>>"Barbara Bailey" <rabr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>news:q6idt15juqbq6mieb...@4ax.com...
>>>See Barb have a panic attack if it's any more complicated than that.
>>>See Barb go hide in her sewing room where she won't hurt anybody if
>>>she makes a mistake...)
>>
>>Unless you forget about that one...seemingly lost pin....I know I seem to
>>find it every time.
>
>
> <huffy voice> I have never "forgotten" a pin in someone's costume.
> Ever. </hv>
> Deliberately left one when they were consistently an ass to me or my
> crew, or any of the other backstage crews? Yes, I admit, I have done
> that.
> But they had to be unreconstructed asses before I would go that far
> and I've done it only twice that I can remember.
Oh, there are *so* many better ways of dealing with a cast member who's a
complete arsehole. Like, say, organising a backstage "upstage x" contest with
prizes.
I should be hanging my head in shame here, but the person in question was
*such* a dick that I'm not. The stage management were in on it too.
--
Stephen
Tony: Clint's mother's got that placard.
Bren: Kill The Whore From Hell?
Tony: You'd think somebody would tell her it starts with a W.
Mark Cipra
> On 24 Jan 2006 14:46:55 -0800, "John (Zi Rong) Low"
> <enti...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Argh, I wish I was older or completed high school by now, so I can
>> get all the theatre experience I want, it looks so god damn fun! Is
>> lighting and sound the most enjoyable aspects of backstage work?
>
> Not for me. I prefer props or costumes, personally.
As you will see, which part is most enjoyable is entirely in your hands;
everybody likes different stuff. To a certain extent, since you're a
novice, what you like will probably also be influenced by who else is doing
it; someone will probably take you under his/her wing and start teaching you
the basics.
Remember that each of the disciplines is also very hard work. Speaking as
primarily a performer, I think that onstage work may be the *least*
demanding part - and it's damned hard.
[snip]
>
> But then the carpenters were always cool to hang out with, and they
> seemed to get a kick out of the fact that I knew how to handle power
> tools (Girls with power tools seem to exert some strange fascination
> on a lot of young men,)
And not just young ones. Scottie on Mythbusters can *weld*!
[snip]
>
> In any case, I'd suggest that you add <rec.arts.theatre.stagecraft>
> to your subscribed newsgroups list, and read it religiously. You'll
I'd suggest lurking there for a while, though, to get used to their style.
They don't get into people's personal lives as much as we do here,
sometimes.
> get a lot of insight into the sort of things that the backstage people
> have to do, solve, deal with, and achieve. And you'll get lots of
> answers to a lot of your questions about what it's like.
>>
>> My mum is now shopping, I'm off to the Post Office now to buy IRC and
>> envelopes, hope I don't get caught... I hope that as high school
>> students become uni/college freshmen, they'll be more tolerant of
>> different people. Most unfortunately, that didn't apply to my parents
>> or my older brother.
>
> If college gives you nothing else, I truly hope that it gives you
> freedom from the fear of being caught that you've expressed several
> times. As far as becoming more tolerant, some people will, and some
> won't. But you'll have more leeway to avoid the ones who are
In other words, there'll be a lot more people, of all kinds. You'll find
your milieu.
[snip]
Christopher Jahn
news:43D70F96...@facstaff.wisc.edu:
> whereismikeyfl wrote:
>> John (Zi Rong) Low wrote:
>>>I read somewhere that Broadway is the highest professional
>>>form of musical theatre in America and maybe around the
>>>world, so yeah, I am really looking forward to the future.
>
> whereismikeyfl wrote:
>> This is really just marketing talk. The best Broadway
>> musicals tend to come from off-Broadway, London, or theaters
>> outside of NYC.
>
> Gee... of my list of "best Broadway musicals" - West Side
> Story, Fiddler, Cabaret, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Carousel, Music
> Man, Guys and Dolls (in no particular order) - not a one came
> from anywhere else.
>
30 and more years ago.
> Now, of the best running at the moment - it's a bit more true,
> though it's a bit tricky because "theaters outside of NYF",
> ie, the big regional theatres, have become the modern version
> of out-of-town tryouts. OTOH, it's not a particularly good
> time for musicals at the moment, is it?
>
--
}:-) Christopher Jahn
{:-( http://home.comcast.net/~xjahn/Main.html
A lack of leadership is no substitute for inaction.
Noel...@aol.com
> > John (Zi Rong) Low wrote:
> >>I read somewhere that Broadway is the highest professional form of
> >>musical theatre in America and maybe around the world, so yeah, I am
> >>really looking forward to the future
> regional theatres, have become the modern version of out-of-town
> tryouts. OTOH, it's not a particularly good time for musicals at
> the moment, is it?
Compared to 1956, it's not a particularly good time. But, compared to
any of the past 25 years, I think it IS a particularly good time for
the Broadway musical. And I'd like to hear proposals of what, of the
past 25 years, was as good.
Here's what's playing, in terms of new musicals:
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Avenue Q
Beauty and the Beast
Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life
The Color Purple
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Hairspray
Jersey Boys
The Light in the Piazza
The Lion King
Mamma Mia!
Spamalot
The Phantom of the Opera
The Producers
Rent
Wicked
The Woman in White
There was a time, not too long ago, when it looked like funny musicals
were passe, now they're back with a vengeance. You see audiences
leaving Avenue Q, Spamalot, Spelling Bee and Scoundrels doubled over
with laughter. But the thing that strikes me about the current list is
the variety. No two shows seem particularly similar, even though there
are two Lloyd Webbers, two Disneys and two jukebox musicals. I
wouldn't claim there's something for EVERY taste, but there's stuff for
several DIFFERENT tastes.
I live in New York, and don't claim to know much of anything about the
theatre scenes in other towns. If there's another city with a line-up
like this, I'd be truly interested in knowing about it.
Barbara Bailey
<stephen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Barbara Bailey wrote:
>> On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 19:33:23 -0800, "fmomoon"
>> <fmomoo...@comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>"Barbara Bailey" <rabr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>>news:q6idt15juqbq6mieb...@4ax.com...
>
>>>>See Barb have a panic attack if it's any more complicated than that.
>>>>See Barb go hide in her sewing room where she won't hurt anybody if
>>>>she makes a mistake...)
>>>
>>>Unless you forget about that one...seemingly lost pin....I know I seem to
>>>find it every time.
>>
>>
>> <huffy voice> I have never "forgotten" a pin in someone's costume.
>> Ever. </hv>
>> Deliberately left one when they were consistently an ass to me or my
>> crew, or any of the other backstage crews? Yes, I admit, I have done
>> that.
>> But they had to be unreconstructed asses before I would go that far
>> and I've done it only twice that I can remember.
>
>Oh, there are *so* many better ways of dealing with a cast member who's a
>complete arsehole. Like, say, organising a backstage "upstage x" contest with
>prizes.
>
>I should be hanging my head in shame here, but the person in question was
>*such* a dick that I'm not. The stage management were in on it too.
The couple of folks I "pinned" were shits to the crew, but not to the
other actors, so it was difficult to get the rest of the cast to help
us deal with them. Pinning annoyed *them*, but didn't affect the show.
But I have seen casts deal with difficult cast members in various ways
and it can be a thing of beauty, and a joy forever.
Have you read _"No Pickle, No Performance"_ by Harold J Kennedy? He
tells one story of an actress who was so awful that the director was
in on it -- on opening night.
Newport
From: fmomoo...@comcast.net (fmomoon) We had this very sweet,
elderly lady on the costuming crew who winked at me and admitted to
leaving pins in dresses for the actors who "were snobby."
We had a nasty queen in college who was known for making punishment (too
small, and too tight) costumes. I think he got canned right after I
left.
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Newport
From: dmla...@facstaff.wisc.edu (David Lawver) the big regional
theatres, have become the modern version of out-of-town tryouts. OTOH,
it's not a particularly good time for musicals at the moment, is it?
----------------------------
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