Actors Looking Bored on Stage- Page 2

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/18/05 at 11:57pm

I saw the OBC of "Jekyll and Hyde" on Broadway, and Robert Cuccioli was amazing. I saw him in it again about a year later, and he just walked through it, completely phoning it in. I was very disappointed. The same thing happened when I saw Brian Stokes Mitchell in "Kiss Me Kate." When the show first opened, he was magnetic. A year later, right before his contract was up, he looked like he was miserable. (But I forgive you Stokes, you're still my hero...)

Anyway, I can understand all this. It's only human to be get bored with doing the same thing eight times a week for a year (or more). This is why most people should leave a show after six months, unless they can somehow overcome the problem and give a fresh performance every night, no matter how long they've been in the show.

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 8/18/05 at 11:59pm

laura benanti made no secret of how bored she was after a month of doing SWING! and the veterans were not pleased with her. i think she has a very short attention span and had no real sense of how fortunate she was.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 12:01am

Maybe that's why her attendance record makes Donna Murphy look like The Merm!

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 12:10am

she would apparently call in sick and then go out somewhere and be spotted or photographed. i hope she has gotten over that.

[JMVR]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 12:13am

Wait a minute here . . .I realize that doing the same show eight times a week must get old after a while, but aren;t these people supposed to be professionals? Don;t they get paid for doing that show eight times a week and isn't part of their job to give a full-out performance every time?

I don't understand actors who complain about not working on Broadway and how shows last so long now that there is little turnover, etc. and then when they do get on Broadway, they are bored an bitter after eight months! Eight times a week of the same show can get old, I'm sure, but didn;t Channing, Chita, Lansbury and Merman and all those legends put up with it for as long as it took?

Many people have blamed Disney, the Weinsteins, the economy and many other reasons for "destroying Broadway" but what about the balme of actors who treat their jobs as if it were torture and ruin the experience for the audience?

As far as I'm concerned, there is little glory in being a lead on Broadway, but to be good for six months and then go downhill.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 12:14am

She was frequently out of Nine and Into the Woods for "vocal problems" and whatnot, and was replaced in rehearsals of The Violet Hour when the geniuses who cast her realized that she couldn't handle a straight play. I seem to remember Janine LaManna mentioning that she covered Laura's part in Swing! for something like three straight months (correct me if I'm wrong). It seems like she's one of those "get-cast-then-get-out" types. The Wedding Singer should be very interesting indeed...

[YankeesFan175]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 12:29am

well in michelle federers defense nessa isnt a huge role, so it has to get kind of boring when you only have a few minutes of stage time. but after 2 years i would get kind of bored, as awesome as the role and show is and how much the audience loves it. but, she doesnt get much feedback from the audience. for example, megan and shoshana can get energy during popular and defying gravity from the audiences response. michelle doesnt have any of those moments for the audience to energize her.

[aegeusrocks]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 12:45am

I didnt see it, but the recent touring cast of Oliver was so bored and so depressed after all the pans, that you could see even crew members standing on stage looking bored, according to people that did. They had just lost all joy in the production. A different reason for seeming bored on stage.

[Radioactiveduck]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 1:38am

Edie Falco (who was brilliant, by the way) didn't do so well onstage in 'NIGHT MOTHER when the other actress (who's name I can never remember) had some long-ish monolouges. Although, I guess that's hard for anyone really.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:00am

The "other actress" was Academy Award-winner Brenda Blethyn, and she was brilliant.

Anyway, about the eight-show-a-week thing - how many actors are unaware of that part of the job? I think it's pretty clear going into it that yes, you are going to be doing the same thing night after night, eight shows a week. That's the job. If you don't like it, be an ER doc. Now that's a job that's different every day.

[justme2]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:07am

Damn straight rath!!

No one applauds when I show up for work, and there are no standing ovations when I flip off the light and go home.

And yet I still show up every damn day. Every damn day.

[wildcat]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:11am

There is absolutely NO conceivable excuse for a performer not to be at their best at all times during a performance, no matter how long they have been doing the show, no matter what the size of the role.

[cabarethed]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:13am

Exactly. I'd rather have to deal with excited fans and the same exact show every night than shoplifting punks and the same routine every night. Either way, I'm still paid to put a smile on my face, no matter how forced

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 2:14am

wildcat, I swear, if you weren't my brother, I'd marry you.

[TabooPhan1]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 3:31am

George Lee Andrews has been performing in Phantom since it opened in 1988...tell Michelle to suck it up.

[RockabyeHamlet]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 7:15am

I dont understand... do they realize how many people would KILL to be in their shoes, even for one night? Even if you do get bored, find something to entertain yourself. There's no reason to bring everyone in the house down with you.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 9:42am

I asked a friend of mine who's been doing Hairspray for a year how he keeps it fresh and exciting for the audience even though he's been doing the same thing day in and day out for a year, and his response was: "ACTING!"

So, to all your tired people up there, I say, "ACT!"

Updated On: 8/22/05 at 09:42 AM

[Cabchic]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 9:45am

I saw Spamalot last night(the night after you) and it looked like they were all having a ball. In fact Tim Curry kept making Sara Ramirez crack up to the point she lost it at the end. But she got right back into character and was amazing. They even added a few new touches to it and Sara plays the Lady of the Lake differently than she was when the show started, which is refreshing and shows she is into trying new things with the characted and not doing the same thing every night.

[twogaab2]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 9:46am

The last cast of "Les Miz" and the Met Opera chorus anytime!

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 9:48am

Faith Prince has been reported to phone in more than 1 performance in more than 1 show.

[freeadmission]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 9:58am

If Regis & Kelly hasn't already been on in your area, make sure you watch the interview with Rachel Weisz. It's excellent. Mostly becuase Weisz is a gem, NOT because of the interviewers. LOL She's a steller actress with an wonderful outlook on her vocation. If only more actresses were like her.

Damn. She won me over with that interview. Ever actor who has EVER phoned in a performance should watch it and feel ashamed.

Updated On: 8/19/05 at 09:58 AM

[pndmnd]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 10:01am

First of all--The Les Miz tour that I saw this winter (January, maybe?)--most of the cast was great, but there were two girls in the chorus who didn't so much look bored, but rather out of place. They looked like they were just marking it for the whole show, and one of them had her hair in this ponytail that she flipped through (like what I do when I'm working out). It was more a case of my thinking, "How did they get cast?"

Second of all--yeah, what's with this whole "Poor Michelle" stuff. She's the one who kept her contract going for so long. Not that it wouldn't be hard, but it was a choice.

[DefyingPopular]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 10:18am

one question though, wouldn't you be bored of doing the exact same thing night after night for over 2 years (michelle's case)? I mean, i know if i see a show a second time, i'm usually bored with some of the parts. Even in my favorite show, some of it still bores me.

[pndmnd]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 10:21am

But she CHOSE to do it for over two years!!!

[freeadmission]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 10:21am

Yes, I would. No doubt about it. But I would still put forth the effort not to LOOK bored. As someone else said, it's called ACTING!