What is YOUR definition of "PRO"?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 1:12am

People throw that term around a lot. What does it mean to you? That a person is PAID for performing? That they behave in a professional manner? That they belong to a Union despite the fact that they never work under a union contract?


Discuss...

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 1:14am

I think if you are getting paid to do it, you are a professional, and not an amatuer, like any job.

Akiva

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 1:16am

So if you do it for free you are NOT a pro?

[Chloe]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 1:23am

When someone's referred to as a pro in my work (which is film rather than theater), it usually means that the performer is reliable and skillful.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 1:23am

No. That is not to say however that they aren't "professional" about their attitudes, or that the quality is any less...but they are amateurs by definition. Nothing wrong with that. A lot of the most vibrant, energetic theatre I see comes from amateurs.

Akiva

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 1:28am

I know that here in Chicago some of the best theatre is "non-pro." As in Non-Equity.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 1:32am

I use each of the definitions of the term, depending upon the context:
1 a : of, relating to, or characteristic of a profession b : engaged in one of the learned professions c (1) : characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace
2 a : participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs b : having a particular profession as a permanent career c : engaged in by persons receiving financial return
3 : following a line of conduct as though it were a profession

I stand corrected, you are as vapid as they say.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 3:59am

A pro collects the money first and doesn't leave a mess when they leave.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 8:33am

If your question was "what makes good theatre," I'd have a hard time answering with non-equity, community theatre, and equity as terms.

However, since you say professional, I have to go to the definition, which has NOTHING to do with membership in a union. I can be a professional teacher, but because I teach at a certain school, I don't belong to a union. To call me not professional is to demean what I do.

In the same way, a non-equity actor isn't somehow "less than" an equity one. In fact, in most productions I see where they cast both equity and non-equity, the non-equity folks tend to be more talented (because they have more people to compete against for fewer slots). It's, of course, not always true, but it often is true.

[DG]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 8:44am

"A pro collects the money first and doesn't leave a mess when they leave."

Taking a cue from what seems to be a quote from the hooker's bible, a pro always gets the details of what will or won't be acceptable worked out beforehand.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 11:33am

I think "professional" implies something approaching a living wage. It disgusts me that there are theatres in Chicago that pay the actors 20 bucks a week for performances (and NOTHING for the weeks and weeks of rehearsals) and call themselves "professional theatres". I call that "community theatre that reimburses you for your carfare".