Barn Theatre, Augusta, Michigan

[roquat]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 3:57am

Some time ago, someone posted on this board saying a friend of hers was working at the Barn Theatre in Michigan. I would very much like to know how she is finding the experience. For the rest of you out there, DO NOT EVER WORK AT THE BARN THEATRE IF THERE IS ANY OTHER CHOICE, EVEN SCRUBBING TOILETS! They are rude, condescending, unprofessional, ungrateful slave drivers who treat their interns like Guantanamo detainees. They also play favorites incessantly, even if this means casting a 45-plus queen as a teenage crooner in "Forever Plaid."

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 4:23am

So..you "apparently" came here to find out what someone had posted here about the Barn. And then you could care less what they have to say and you go off on your own little tantrum. Good work.

Having worked there, I can tell you the Barn is a good summer theater that does excellent work. You don't like it..leave. People like Marin Mazie, Tom Wopat and Beth Fowler who come there year after year don't seem to think it's bad. But, of course, you're an EMC (god..let's hope not) who gets in a fit when they don't get cast in the leading role you deserve. And then..god forbid..you have to actually paint the sets, mow the grass and do some yuck non-performing work. Deal. Someone else got cast because they've worked there before? Oh...boo hoo. Welcome to the real world.

The Barn does some good things. About the only bad thing it would seem they did was hiring you.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 8:05am

AMEN Tuttle...I have had MANY a friend work at the barn and ABSOLUTELY LOVE it! One even had a positive life altering experience because he was working at the Barn. Something seems off and smells of fish in the original post!

[Yawper]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 11:28am

LaCage can you tell the story of the positive life altering experience? I like hearing about those.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 11:33am

They lost their virginity backstage

[BabyJohn]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 11:36am

Does your name come from the Play "Ozma of Oz", Roquat?

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 2:00pm

You're right, La Cage. Something does smell fishy.

Our friend came here wanting to find out what someone else posted and then, instead of waiting for a response, rips in the Barn. Smooth move.

Then the only thing he bitches about some old guy getting a part.

Summer theater experiences differ. But you know what your getting into. You know you won't be sitting around all day but you'll be building the set and such. Some divas feel they're above that.

One thing summer theater does is shows you that its not all about you....the actor. It takes the set designer, costume designer/maker, musicians, construction people, marketing, ticket sales, company managers, lighting directors, and prop director to make the show happen.

[roquat]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 1:46am

I am not an actor, you titmice. I'm also not some summer-stock newbie--I've been doing this for at least a decade. Check your facts before you make biased, cliched assumptions. I was hired by the Barn in an administrative capacity and did not actually have to do the massive amounts of grunt work they required of their actors. I just saw what it did to the formerly fresh, eager, just-out-of-school cast members whose first professional theatre experience was tainted forever. The most talented ones, and the hardest workers, were passed over and given spear-carrying type roles in favor of the ones who had been there longer or were better at schmoozing or whom the director of the show wanted to sleep with or something. Meanwhile, the Equity guest artists (Mazzie, Wopat, etc.) were fawned over sickeningly--of course they keep coming back.

I agree that the Barn does good shows a lot of the time, despite the insane political casting--perhaps you can justify casting four actors in "Forever Plaid" whose ages, respectively, were 20, 33, 35, and 47? ("We all met in high school"--HAH!)

The Barn screwed me and several others in my company big time, and it drives away as many people as it keeps. As for the person who lost their virginity backstage--I'm glad SOMETHING good happened there.

Yes, my screen name comes from the "Oz" books.

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 4:22am

Would you like some cheese with your whine?

How nice of you to be so concerned with the lives and "happiness" of others. Perhaps you needed to be more concerned with your job than worrying about others. I know someone there last year who had a good time and wasn't aware of any complaints. And how many of these eager, fresh faced kids were ruined by this experience. NONE.

This is a small business. Bitchers like you get known. And don't worry...Brenden knows who you are.

In the future..worry about your work instead of someone elses. And save the drama for the stage.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 9:11am

My Lord...what you described it how Theater is EVERYWHERE...people just out of school getting smaller roles and Marin Mazzie and Tom Wopat getting leads - GO FIGURE! Simply amazing to me...just exactly how did they SCREW YOU OVER?

And no, my friend didnt loose their virginity. He met his partner of the last 3 yrs there...came out of the closet...got his equity card because of The Barn...and has been ejoying his partner and his life in an off-bway musical in NYC for the last 3 yrs.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 10:31am

The guys in Forever Plaid are DEAD! they're GHOSTS! Who the hell cares how old the actors are?

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 11:09am

What you seem to forget is that Marin Mazzie and Tom Wopat were both EMC candidates and got their union cards at the Barn Theatre as well. I worked on stage with both of them a couple of decades ago and joined Equity in one of the Barn's musical productions.

The Barn Theatre is a great place for hungry hopefuls, most of them just out of school, to see how the "real world" of theatre actually works, but on a slightly smaller scale. For every person that gets a good part, there will always be others who will be upset, feel cheated, or who are jealous of their fellow performers successes. I learned a lot more at the Barn than just how to act, sing & dance in a show with only two weeks of rehearsal. I learned about dicipline and hard work, and what it takes to keep theatres like the Barn running. Yes, that includes scrubbing toilets, waiting tables and parking cars, in addition to time-steps and vocal warm-ups. But I left that theatre as a professional, with a great sense of accomplishemnt... that if I could get through that kind of greasepaint boot camp, I could face anything in life head on and survive it. Twenty years later, I haven't been proven wrong yet.

The Barn Theatre isn't for the thin skinned, but neither is the professional theatre in general. There are a lot of favorites played, people who are cast because they have a "bigger name" or "know the producer," etc. It's no different anywhere else. I think the sooner a young performer learns this, the better off they're going to be. They can decide for themselves whether or not they're cut out for show business, but at least they'll understand what they're going to face. What better training ground or experience could a young performer ask for?

Updated On: 7/4/05 at 11:09 AM

[roquat]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 9:58pm

"I know someone there last year who had a good time and wasn't aware of any complaints. And how many of these eager, fresh faced kids were ruined by this experience. NONE.

This is a small business. Bitchers like you get known. And don't worry...Brenden knows who you are. "

Really? You know who I am? Perhaps you could ask your friend of last year if he/she had any complaints about me, or heard any. If not, it would support my view that I was unjustly screwed over.

[roquat]

Posted: 7/4/05 at 10:01pm

I think that perhaps I did speak too soon and too harshly about the Barn. It obviously has both good and bad points, like any theatre. Personal issues of my own caused me to lose perspective. Please disregard this entire thread.

Posted: 7/4/05 at 11:56pm

Now while i have never worked there, I have seen two shows there and they were top notch. I have had no less than 8 friends/ classmates go there and with the exception of one, they loved it. While they had some bad moments, they came out of the summer more confident, sparkling and professional. They worked hard, and took everything as it came and learned from it. They enjoyed working with some professionals, getting some EMC points, forging new friendships, and working hard. Also everytheatre in the world is like that, and if someone cant handle politics, leave this business. Just wanted to defend it. :)

[nmartin]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 8:44am

This sounds like every other business, not just the theatre. It's called reality.

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 11:54am

Once you realized you've screwed yourself by insulting this place for no reason, you crawl back under your rock.

You are pathetic.

[roquat]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 12:20pm

Just a minute, buddy. I know I went too far, but I'm admitting it and trying to move on. You're no different from any other vicious chorus boy slicing up other people's reputations behind their backs. Except you're worse, because you don't know me.

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 2:10pm

Just keep diggin your hole, "buddy".

Posted: 7/5/05 at 5:04pm

I was at the Barn this past Friday night to see the current show and I will be back again this weekend. I can't wait to take this thread with me to show my friend!

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 5:14pm

I have never been backstage or anything, but I love the shows they put on, I saw Beauty and thr Beast a few years ago and Cats a few years ago and they were both RELLY AWESOME!

[roquat]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 7:13pm

I apologized and am making amends. I'm sorry if that doesn't fit into your "Star Wars" view of the world where everyone is either all good or all evil. We are not talking about Nazi Germany, but about a 90-second drunken lapse when there was nobody around to pry my fingers away from the computer. If you've never been tempted to make such lapses, I'll accept your first-stone casting and congratulate you on your sainthood. But from the tone of your posts, I rather doubt it. "Buddy."

[bare_nakedlady]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 9:49am

Sorry to butt into your thread but I am looking for some info about Meadow Brook Theatre, which also happens to be in Michigan, so if any of you have been there or know of people who have seen shows there please let me know. I'm looking to make a trip there in January to see "No Way To Treat a Lady" but I want to know about the caliber of their shows. Here's a thread already started for this subject. Thx
Meadow Brook Theatre Thread