News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

What is YOUR definition of "PRO"?

SueleenGay Profile Photo
SueleenGay
#0What is YOUR definition of "PRO"?
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...


PEACE.

Link Larkin Wanabe Profile Photo
Link Larkin Wanabe
#1re: What is YOUR definition of 'PRO'?
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 Profile Photo
SueleenGay
#2re: What is YOUR definition of 'PRO'?
Posted: 3/14/06 at 1:16am

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


PEACE.

Chloe Profile Photo
Chloe
#3re: What is YOUR definition of 'PRO'?
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 Profile Photo
Link Larkin Wanabe
#4re: What is YOUR definition of 'PRO'?
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 Profile Photo
SueleenGay
#5re: What is YOUR definition of 'PRO'?
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.


PEACE.

smartpenguin78 Profile Photo
smartpenguin78
#6re: What is YOUR definition of 'PRO'?
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 Profile Photo
TheatreDiva90016
#7re: What is YOUR definition of 'PRO'?
Posted: 3/14/06 at 3:59am

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


"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>> “I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>> -whatever2

touchmeinthemorning
#8re: What is YOUR definition of 'PRO'?
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.


"Fundamentalism means never having to say 'I'm wrong.'" -- unknown

DG
#9re: What is YOUR definition of 'PRO'?
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
#10re: What is YOUR definition of 'PRO'?
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".


Videos