Quitting a show...Advice Needed

I have a situation that i need some advice on.
Im due to be in a show at school in 3 weeks time of the wizard of oz as the tinman. However the rehearsals have been going so bad, people not learning their lines and just generally messing around all the time and not wanting to do anything.

Last night I was trying to get to sleep but I was so stressed out by the thought of having to rehearse tomorrow and am so depressed every time I think of the show. Every time I think of this show i just want to break down and im getting so stressed out about the whole thing.

Is it too late to throw in the towel and just leave? I was going to do it 2 month ago but i just kept thinking it would get better and to be honest it hasn't it has gotton worse, with people leaving and just not putting any effort in at all. Im just so upset thinking about having to be in this show which is unusual as i normally enjoy performing.

Has anyone else ever been in a situation like this before? The main thing stopping me is its 3 weeks before the show and i don't want to let people down, but everyone is just no trying at all. Thanks for any advice.

Don't quit.

You made a committment. Simple as that.

You can learn from every show you do, no matter how bad the situation.

Don't worry about those other people and their lines. If the show just isn't working, there is nothing one singular person can do to save it. The end result won't be a reflection of your personal ability. You're the actor. Let the director worry about everything and everybody else.

Do the best you can do. If anything, you will stand out and possibly steal the show from the people who just aren't trying.

Try to have fun. It will be over in three weeks. And don't get too discouraged. A lot can, and usually does, change in the last weeks before opening.

Best of luck.

Updated On: 6/12/07 at 08:22 AM

Ok, I have spoken to the teacher in charge and he has reassured me on what I was worrying about. I wasn't at the friday rehearsal on the afternoon because I had an exam, but he said it had gone really well. We also have alot more rehearsals than i though because the whole week before we are going to have rehearsals through the day so we will have plenty of time to sort things out.
I guess that since I started it i need to finish it and I can see now that pulling out would be letting everyone down too much than I could cope with.

please do not quit the show. it may ruin you. quitting shows has blacklisted me and other people I know from certain theaters.

Updated On: 6/15/07 at 08:55 PM

I was in a similar situation this fall. I was scheduled to be the title role in an opera and nothing was coming together because the director was very disorganized and we had agreed that she would work around my schedule if I did the show because I had college auditions and other shows that were a priority and she started being really demanding of me with the rehearsal schedule and keeping me late at night because all the other actors were adults (I was 17 and a senior in high school). Although the cast consisted of some professionals and extremely talented people, it was more because it was disorganized and didn't look like it was going to come together from other aspects and I was considering quitting about a month before the show because I needed to focus on more important things and it was preventing me from doing so and stressing me out. My mother convinced me to stay because it would have been horrible to have left them stranded, and I'm glad I did because the show turned out great and it's a great credit on my resume, and it turned out to be a great experience for me. I focused on my personal performance and threw myself into it, and it was a blast. So don't quit, make the most of it. Don't focus on everyone else, you obviously have a higher level of commitment, and probably talent, than the rest of the cast, so take advantage of that and do a kickass performance, so that everyone will leave the show raving about the tinman! Believe me, it'll be worth it.

Updated On: 6/14/07 at 11:43 AM

Here is what I did the last time was in an IDENTICAL situation to your's... This is gonna sound krazy but it totally worked for me.

I was in a show that was doing horrible and, even worse, I was doing horrible as well! There are many factors to this which I will spare you of. Eventually I decided that my attitude was EVERYTHING. I was going on stage in 3 weeks in front of about 1,500 people over a weeklong run and WOULD NOT embarass myself. I decided to "trick myself" into being excited and enjoying the work. Once I actually ENJOYED what I was doing, I thought I would do it better.

I started just pretending like everything was amazing. People would ask me how the show was going and rather than saying "it SUCKS and I'm so freaked out" I would say "It is going really well and I think it will turn out just fine." I even wrote out an entire page or two about how much I love this production and how I love my part, etc.

Guess what? IT WORKED. After oozing with so much optimism I eventually believed myself, had fun, learned my music, and had an EXTREMELY successful production week.

Perhaps thats a bit extreme but it worked for me!