Broadway Boredom - Does it ever happen??

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 8:27pm

Hi all.

I was just wondering do Broadway actors ever get bored to death of doing the same play/musical day in, day out - especially if they're in a show for a year or two. I mean after the first three months, are they not like "I have had enough of this ****" - I mean come on, they're only human!

Thoughts?

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 8:39pm

I've always wondered that myself. I'm sure they do. Doing the same thing 8 time a week has to get boring at some point. Or at least there must be certain scenes in a show that get annoying to repeatedly perform.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 8:48pm

Professional actors find ways to keep their performances fresh and alive. Ask Carol Channing. I saw her play Dolly 74 times and never once did she "walk through the part".

[JOak]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 8:51pm

Ask George Lee Andrews, 22 years on Phantom.

[jdtp12]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 8:52pm

I agree with what Dollypop said. I'm sure they must get bored at some point, but if they are truly professional they find some way to keep the role fresh and keep the life in it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 8:53pm

Of course! Sherie Rene Scott is probably the worst offender. She even talked about how she marks during matinees in her downstage center interview from a while back.

[NotSinceCarrie2]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 9:59pm

Streisand was also guilty of this. According to William Goldman, she did at least one performance as Jerry Lewis as Fanny Brice.

[TheatreFan27]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 10:10pm

I'm sure it happens to a lot of performers. Once the excitement of the new role, music, etc dies down, they're ready to try something different. I know there's a recording floating around Youtube somewhere with Patti LuPone talking to the audience of how a couple of months into the run of LES MIS, she grew tired of listening to the same score night after night. It was actually quite funny!

However, there are also a lot of performers who love the role they're in and find new ways each night to change it up a bit to keep it fresh and exciting for them!

[Kalimba]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 10:18pm

Just ask Faith Prince when she was in Guys and Dolls. She gave new meaning to the word "autopilot".

[Overkill]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 10:47pm

It happens all the time. If Nathan Lane isn't enjoying a show he's in, he'll play on stage. Ad-libbing and trying to crack other actors up. That happened in The Odd Couple when I saw it. He screamed a line that is supposed to be said calmly just to throw Matthew Broderick off and it did. It was funny. I always say you gotta do whatcha gotta do to keep something you do 8 times a week fresh and fun. As long as it's nothing TOO drastic.

Carolee Carmello addressed it on her blog:

got an e-mail this week from Jordan G. who has been doing a show for about 7 months and asked:
How do you have the energy to do the same show 8 times a week? Like, how do you not get bored?
Well, Jordan, that's a tough one. I have been in several long runs in my life, which makes me fortunate, I know, but it is a continuing struggle. Some actors don't do long runs for that very reason. For me, the key is remembering that most of the people in the audience are seeing it for the first time. No matter how many hundreds of times you have said that punch line, or sung that song, for them it is totally new and they deserve your best. Everyone has their own way of dealing with this issue, though, so I thought I'd ask some of my cast-mates at The Addams Family for their opinions about this tricky subject.

Krysta Rodriguez (long runs- A Chorus Line, Spring Awakening, In the Heights) said : We play games onstage....try to keep things new....try to attack the scenes in a new way.

Zachary James (long run- South Pacific) said: I do lots of outside projects like readings and workshops of new shows and concerts. During the performance, I keep myself entertained between scenes by watching movies on my computer in the dressing room

Clark Johnsen (long runs- La Cage aux Folles, Mamma Mia!, 42nd Street) said: I try to notice something different onstage every night....like a lighting effect or a particular musical instrument, or someone's make-up.

Terrence Mann (long runs- Cats, Les Miserables, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Beauty and the Beast) said: When I get really bored, I try to start really listening to the other actors onstage....like I'm hearing everything for the first time.

And when I asked Jackie Hoffman (Xanadu, Hairspray) "How do you stop yourself from getting bored doing 8 shows a week in a long run?" She said: "YOU DON'T."

She's right, of course. It's inevitable. I truly believe that no matter how much you love doing something, if it becomes your job and you HAVE to do it every day for a long time, you will get bored. And you'll get frustrated. And you'll get tired of it. But, there are also moments when you'll have fun and the time will fly by and you will be very grateful to be employed....just like at any job.

[steven22]

Posted: 1/20/11 at 11:01pm

Just ask any of the actors that were in Rent (Shaun Earl, Matt Caplan, Karmine Alers, etc.)

[Overkill]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 6:16pm

Oh, and for evidence that it does indeed happen...go see The Phantom of the Opera with it's current cast...it happens.