Theater....

This may come as a surprise, but I love the theatre. (Yes, I am using 2 different spellings. ) But I despise theater....let me explain.

I have had experience both on and off the deck. I was in many plays/musicals growing up, and I am a professional stagehand. Those of you who do it, understand better than others.

We create different worlds and characters to learn in and grow with. Stories that make you laugh, think, cry, etc. For me as a tech, I love the magic we create. The 20 minute fade for a sunrise in the window, the audio bits that help immerse the patron and make the show that much more real. The numerous other little things we do that you never notice, but somehow would miss if we didn't do it.

Of course, you have the BS also. The director who wants that deck to have sand and water on deck for the beach in South Pacific....4 years later and movers are still getting sand in the works. The artist who had call backs for the latest cannes hit film...didn't get the roll but had a call back so the ego comes to audition and subsequent rehearsals/shows. Horrendously bad coffee, craft services who have decided that you will eat vegan bc they don't/won't serve meat. Stupid long hours of hurry up/wait. And my favorite...we open in 3 hours but the green the painters used does not convey the sense of dread you should feel while watching the set before the show starts...repaint now!

And we do it because we love it, we thrive off it.

And when I went to my daughter's opening night for a bunch of student written/directed/acted one acts..10 minute time limits. From the first skit, I was pissed....and disappointed. Not in the kids...they work hard with the little budget they had, and the lack of leadership from the advisor.

Theatre was to challenge you and society in general...I get that. A way for an opposing view to be explored.

But theater today is all about bashing those who don't group think. It is sad.

Last nights show open with DC moderating a trial of Florida. You had the cool kids...CO, CA, MAINE, ETC. Dressed nice and all inclusive. And then KY, TN, TEXAS, ETC. Dressed as trailer trash, drinking beer ( American beer) and just your stereotype characters. The "trial" revolved around name calling and no explanations of the opposing views...just stating that they are wrong and ended with Florida being voted out of the US.

It is a sad state of affairs, when in Playland, you can't oppose the narrative. The very thing that theatre has fought for, freedom of expression and speech, has been killed by theater.

Why are people sheep? Why can't they listen and learn from opposing views.

We are not a people evolving, we are devolving. What i find tragically sad, is those who are pushing this conforming, are the very ones which will lose everything they fought for because social utopia only exists when one is productive and not different from others. And they will be blindsided and dumbfounded when it happens.

a reply to: theatreboy

a reply to: theatreboy

Yep, people suck

and you are correct.

Don’t you dare think outside the box unless your thinking outside the box reasoning has earned you millions so others can think the exact why you did when you originally thought outside the box.


Side note. I believe all people should be called just actors.

If men are actors and women are actresses

What are the rest called? Actrem?

a reply to: theatreboy

My wife and I love theatre, too! And yes, theatre should remain one of the last bastions of freedom of speech and thinking.

To avoid any angst I'd stay up in the rafters...

Also, do they still keep a light on or candle lit when the show is over and throughout the night? Is it still taboo to name the unnamable play by W.S. for fear of evil spirits? Is purple frowned upon, still? Finally, before every show remember to say the auspicious words shouted in Italian Theatres... Merda, Merda, Merda!

a reply to: theatreboy

Bad coffee and only vegan food- Kill Me Now.

I am patiently waiting for the SJW woke crowd to realize that they have become extreme hypocrites and sound ridiculous.

Did the Texans have the obligatory Texas flag T-shirt with the sleeves ripped off? I like when people make fun of us- truth told, we make fun of our own too.

a reply to: theatreboy

I live in a small southern town and have experienced first hand the fat egos of some people in the local community theater. One particular dude who always ends up "producer" of plays/musicals thinks he is Broadway-worthy and ends up being a cog in the wheel of every production seemingly just to throw his weight around. He is loathed by directors, actors, stage hands, sound & light people, who just want to have fun, work as a team, and put on the best possible production. He has run many people off, even board members. Sad really. Some people are just too big for their britches!

Alternately, I was recently a part of Anderson Senior Follies, an annual production where participants must be 55 or older. I have never had a more positive experience where participants "left their ego at the door" and worked as a team to create something truly magical. The director/producer is incredibly amazing at how she motivates people to rise above their own expectations. Definitely staying with this group!!

a reply to: theatreboy

The five stages of grief:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
Waking up to the reality of how things are versus the illusion we are taught growing up sucks.

a reply to: theatreboy

i was in 2 back to back productions of Man of La Mancha- todays worlds doesnt get the "chasing windmills" correleation to life...
I was in 2 of Fiddler on the Roof...boy! Ethnicity, Family, Simplicity, God, Faith...today? Geez.

Add to the above Camelot and a King and Queen love affair with a brother-knight...Chivalry? Today? Not so sure...
The world of the stage is not the same in schools as it was for us. Some of my best stage training there. I was a child star at 13 in music...but my love of theatre? Ha. Like yours!

Its not a dying breed my friend. From our kids exposure, to our memories, to...thank God...you n me...still here talking about it. And the American Idol wanna bees...that does help.

About the current Broadway resurgence? Halleluiah. Praise God...and "gimme a C!"....

God Bless...keep a song in your heart...MS

a reply to: theatreboy

Another add, friend? Isnt this current "state of life and world affairs" one of the craziest scripts...neither of us could write?

The blocking sucks, the lightings too offset...the scripts gonna crash, and what-about-the-ending?!

Theatre. Life. All the worlds a stage...you know!

God Bless

a reply to: theatreboy

At least you get some respect for being a stage hand. Movies and film people aren't well thought of here at ATS.

Still...union proud, union strong!

a reply to: mysterioustranger

You give me hope, MS. so much so that I am pondering the creation of a new company. Not quite sure how to go about it, but why not show this town why the show must go on!

a reply to: theatreboy

We've prob got so much in common.....

PS in LaMancha....one....I was in it and in charge of full cast makeup design, and for Fiddler.

Methaphor somewhere there....to assist others...on stage to give them options to look their best...when they really don't...to portray a facade, an ideal, a persona.

Wife and I went to the Detroit Opera House in '21 to see Jesus Christ Superstar.

That...those performers defiant against odds of covid...restored my belief....that Broadway's not dead brother....it was only sleeping!!!!

God bless...holler back sometime

*Just missed touring comp of RENT! Next time....!😎✌️

Just got home, donated my time and gear to shoot archivable footage for grad school music productions at our local university. MFA material.

It's an honor to be able to contribute to projects for kids that some day may be my boss; Or they might be working for me. What a fantastic community of creative people.