A community theater FOLLIES....- Page 3

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 2:50pm

This is the best thead ever on the main board!

I laughed, I cried, I threw up a little.

And add me to the Diana Canova love. I gave her a shout a few days ago as being one of the (very) few bright spots of he 90s revival of Company.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 2:51pm

Actually, I'm mostly thankful that youtube wasnt around when I was doing community theater!

[StunningPerformer]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 3:06pm

I would hardly call these comments "critiques"! More like bashing good hearted, and talented performers who could probably sing circles around any of you! The animals who post the negative comments are obviously insecure with themselves. Even as a broadway performer, I know that!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 3:11pm

Unless you played the set, I don't understand why you're so hostile.

[newintown]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 3:15pm

Or that clarinet...

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 3:23pm

Oh good...all of these people have been sent here to answer our questions!

Mine is...why does young heidi have wings?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 3:32pm

Because they pulled her off the top of a Christmas tree.

Duh.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 3:32pm

In theatrical circles, bashing good-hearted performers is part of the territory. (Whadaya talk? Whadaya talk? But he doesn't know the territories!) Every Broadway performer knows that.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 3:59pm

I just interviewed Matt Hydzik, who now plays Tony in the current production of WEST SIDE STORY. I'm in the process of writing the article.

In the conversation I had with him, Matt says this about the musical's director, Arthur Laurents: "Arthur knows what he’s talking about. It’s tough to throw out the blanket statement and say that he’s ‘old school’ but he IS ‘old school'...I don’t want to say that being ‘old school’ necessitates being insensitive to another’s feelings, but I think it does in many cases. If Arthur thinks something sucks, he’ll say so in as many words. Now you can either choose to get mad, or you can crumble or you can get on your feet and ‘do it'."

I think what we're doing here is using the "old school" approach that Hyszik talks about.

This production of FOLLIES sucked and now you can get mad or crumble, or get on your feet and do it better next time.

[StunningPerformer]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 6:11pm

My main message to you bashers is to learn compassion...something that will be extremely hard for you to comprehend! This is community theater, so take it easy. Besides, many performers from the show did not dish this stuff out to be mocked by you...we did it to be supported by you...something that is still hard for you to understand! What planet do you bashers come from anyway? I would love to see your performances!!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 6:18pm

Ok, fine. Here I am singing "America". Enjoy! (And don't be too harsh, K?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsFLEE6sri0

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 6:23pm

Jordan, I admire the way you made yourself sound like Tatiana Troyanos with a Puerto Rican accent!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 6:24pm

Thank you. We had a really great director.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 6:28pm

>>>"This is community theater, so take it easy."<<<

If you're charging admission, you are setting yourself up to be judged accordingly. I'm not about to "take it easy".

Develop a spine and a thick skin. If you're going to continue your attempts at performing/directing, along with your delusions of grandeur, you've gotta take the blows that come with it.

[StunningPerformer]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 6:56pm

"We all have a spine and a thick skin". If I looked under your hard exterior, there probably wouldn't be much of anything...except a dry, crusty, old hole..."My delusions of grandeur" just turned into a disgusting nightmare!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 7:59pm

>>>"'My delusions of grandeur' just turned into a disgusting nightmare!"<<<

Good! Maybe that'll keep you away from the stage, unless you want to work for Wells Fargo.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 8:14pm

Besides, many performers from the show did not dish this stuff out to be mocked by you...we did it to be supported by you...something that is still hard for you to understand!

Of course they didn't dish it out to be mocked. But that's what happens when performance videos get posted publicly on the internet. If the performers had nothing to do with the videos being posted and they read the nasty comments, it's humiliating and sad, but it's nobody's fault except the person who decided to share the videos with the world. You want to blame someone, blame that person. If that person is you, then accept responsibility and move on. Unless you post the videos on a secure site where you can traffic and monitor the people who view and moderate their posts, then you cannot blame people for posting their own opinions and reactions. Maybe you don't like what they have to say, but there is no rule that people have to respond in a way you deem favorable. People don't have to walk on eggshells on Youtube just because it's "community theatre" or because the actors "worked hard". You're talking about strangers. This is why I have the sense God gave my poodle and don't post my own performance videos. I know exactly what will happen because the majority of the people who will see it are anonymous STRANGERS. Professions know this. Amateurs knows this. That's theatre. That's life. That's the internet.

Life Lessons 101: Intro to the World

Seriously, can I get paid for this?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 8:17pm

Beautifully written Matt. Lots of applause coming from this end.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 8:22pm

Can you believe this group's next attempt at theatrical magic will be CITY OF ANGELS ???????

What do you say we organize a group to catch this gem?
The James Street Players

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/29/10 at 10:38pm

Jordan--don't let the naysayers get to you. You're every bit as good as that girl they gave the Tony to! EVERY BIT!

[DrDemento]

Posted: 9/30/10 at 1:16am

Yes the next production will be city of Angels and you are welcome to come see the production. We've posted most of the groups clips up recently as a way to preserve and Chronicle for our members in a group that has been active for over 40 years.

The group currently does four productions a year donating profits back to the community. No one is paid,and the group has invested in a space that is shared with a soup kitchen, and addiction support groups. The space is not optimum for theater since it is without fly space, wing space, and any item that enters the stage has to be smaller than 3 feet.

The group has always tried to be inclusive and family oriented. They also are set up to be a group of people who like theater, but have real jobs. Most "professional" theater on Long Island has runs of 6-8 weeks with 4 shows a weekend for little more than gas money. Our longest runs are 6-8 performances (which ironically is longer than many Sondheim shows ever ran).
Many of the younger Weisman girls are the third generation of actresses in the group, with some of their mothers' and grandmother's as the elder Weisman girls. We try not to do Guys and Dolls or Music man year after year and have premiered shows as well as tried to give our audiences shows that they have not seen over and over.

So I look forward to meeting anyone of the posters to this thread at City of Angels. I'd be interested to see who is willing to not hide behind ficticious names with dubious stage experience making snarky potshots as if they were the next Peter Filichia

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/30/10 at 1:24am

Our longest runs are 6-8 performances (which ironically is longer than many Sondheim shows ever ran).

That is incorrect. Anyone Can Whistle was the shortest-lived Sondheim show. And it ran for 9 performances.

[chellie]

Posted: 9/30/10 at 2:29am

Sure, you tried. And failed. People don't usually get gold stars for trying their very, very best (and failing) after they leave the fourth grade. It's bad. No one is going to - or should - tell you a bad production was good. So I'm not sure exactly why you're looking for praise.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/30/10 at 8:22am

I like you guys. You've got moxie.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 9/30/10 at 9:48am

God this is absolutely ridiculous.

I'm sorry your feelings got hurt, but grow up. Instead of coming back and defending yourselves to people you don't know, take a lesson and learn from it. Either don't post videos, or learn to accept criticism.

When I was a theatre major we were taught that any critique, good or bad, if they justify it, or explain why they did or did not like it, makes it valid. And yes, "Just cause," is valid.

A few years back, I saw Fort Worth Opera do "Angels in America." I, on my personal blog, wrote a review. It got back to the cast and they were pissed and decided to personally attack me. In doing so, they ensured that I would never again go see an opera there, and potentially never go see an opera ever again.

The taste you're leaving behind, of people who don't want to see criticism, and will lash out at those who do critique, and insult them (and that whole "Well, let's see how well you do onstage" argument holds about as much water as a slotted spoon) can give the same effect.

I may not live near Long Island, but if I ever do, I doubt I'd go to one of your shows. Aside from the fact that I thought both Follies and Once On This Island looked terrible, your insistence of defending yourselves and calling the posters here names combined with the fact that you have yet to even JUSTIFY one of your decisions about casting, direction or design has totally turned me off of your company.