Breaking Character- Unprofessional or Funny

[the.hard.part]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:25pm

I am wondering everyone elses opinion on this matter. I saw DRS today and the scene where Andre is reporting to Lawrence that Freddy was in Christine's hotel room, Lawrence is supposed to yell "where is he" but you look over and Freddy's shoe is in the middle of the stage. Lithgow could barely get the lines out and Jbara was laughing. after a few minutes they got back into character. do you consider it unprofessional or just comedy?
*Edit*-if it makes a difference he did apologize after the show at curtain call for breaking character and kept apologizing at the stage door. Updated On: 4/13/05 at 08:25 PM

[Katecab99]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:31pm

it depends...usually, unless it's an intense scene, it's pretty funny.

on idina's last day in "wicked" (when she was waiting in the wings), during the "popular" scene, JLT couldn't get the pink flower barrette in shoshana's hair, and finally she mounted her and they both started laughing. in the next scene, it fell right out of shosh's hair and she actually had to turn her back to the audience because she started laughing. it wasn't a deep moment, so i thought it was pretty funny.

i also think it's hilarious that matt caplan and cary shields laugh at each other all the time during "RENT". in this case, it's completley funny, because it creates even more energy between them.

[Over_the_Moon]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:32pm

Unprofessional.. yes.

But very entertaining to the non-professional public.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:32pm

Both

[wildcat]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:34pm

If it's genuine it can be cute.
If it's manufactured it's loathesome.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:34pm

In can be both. If an actor breaks character on numerous occasions, it is proof that he is not truly in character, he's not really trying hard enough, not concentrating. On the other hand, if something totally unexpected happens, as happened in DRS, then it would be almost unhuman to not react as yourself, and laugh, and in this type of situation, the audience is certainly going to laugh along with you.

[TonyBWay]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:36pm

No one is perfect and some actors are notorious for breaking/improving and throwing off other actors. For certain theatre goers it can be sort of agrivating, but for others it makes thier performance "real."

When I saw Kristin in WICKED her body mic hit the pillow and starting making "fart" noises. She blamed it on the beans she ate the Oz-eteria. I found it amusing, however sometimes you can't ignore something so blatant.
Updated On: 4/13/05 at 08:36 PM

[KelRel]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:40pm

What is really irritating to me is if actos have lines which are supposed to draw laughter from the audience but not from the characters themselves and they can't even get it out because they are laughing at themselves. Its really irritating

[ShineOn]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:44pm

I think how one handles the situation shows their level of professionalism. We're all human and sometimes you can't avoid reacting to something that catches you off guard. I think most people have found themselves in this situation at one time or another on stage... in a comedy, such as DRS, it can easily heighten the humor, I think... in something more intense... it's clearly more of a problem.

[Elizabeth_DeBris]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:45pm

It depends on the situation.

When I saw The Producers, Hunter Foster started choking on the water Brad Oscar threw at him in the "hysterical" scene. I was sitting in the fifth row of the orchestra and could see Brad Oscar trying not to crack up, and Hunter Foster added "and I'm choking!" after "and I'm wet!" 'Twas amusing. Also noticed Sara Ramirez trying not to laugh in "Oh, no, that's Sir Lancelot!" in Spamalot.

Obviously, if Mrs. Lovett starts laughing at something offstage in the middle of Epiphany, it just ruins the moment, instead of providing amusement for the audience. Updated On: 4/13/05 at 08:45 PM

[IMsooHyprToday]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:52pm

i think it is fine if it has the right circumstances as long as it doesnt really effect the theatre experince in a bad way.

part of the joy of seeing a show like Producers with Matt B and Nathan L is that they er genuinely funny people. When actors are on stage they are shaing somehting with the audience- so why would it be bad if they shared something funny, new, and spontaneous!?

i would love if that happened.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 8:59pm

In the instance mentioned with Kristin, that don't seem like breaking character to me. Kristin stayed as Glinda and kept with the whole Oz thing, but if she had blatantly been, like, "Sorry about that! My mic is acting weird!", that would have definitely been breaking character.

I think there's a difference between breaking character and straying from the script.

[BwayBaby18]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 9:26pm

IT seems like Wicked is notorius for breakign charecter..... when i saw it , the pit director, was tryign to make idina and Kristin laugh during What is this feeling (which they did liek the entire song).....There was like 4 copany members moving during the "frozen" parts of dancing through life... also it souonded as though Idina was bsing her way through the show.....

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 9:34pm

It really depends. There are many shows in which the actors are supposed to be at least semi-conscious they are in a play, and they will often allude to this, as can be found in the characters of Max in "The Producers" and Pseudolus in "Forum" (coincidently, both of which Nathan Lane has played). In these instances, it's acceptable to break character as long as its still within the spirit of the play. However, I've not seen "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and don't know how this would pertain to that particular show.

[jo]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 9:36pm

Hugh Jackman never broke character inspite of all the audience interactions in THE BOY FROM OZ -- except once ( and it was done so smoothly). He couldn't find his BICOASTAL male victim that one time ( the guy was shy), so Hugh started to look for him in his most Wolverinesque manner - eyes piercing and intense and looking under knitted eyebrows, periscoping him from left to right. Many of us familiar with XMEN let out with hysterical gurgles of laughter

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 9:37pm

The thing to take into mind though, is, what about people who aren't really into theatre and are seeing their first Broadway show. It just seems to me that everyone should get the performance they paid their 100 dollars for.

HOWEVER, like Joshua says, as long as they don't stray from the script or just act their looking stupid.

I understand that it's only human to break out once in a while, but if it's all the time (I've heard of a couple of actors that are like, every other show there's an error) then it's unporfessional. In my opinion at least.

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 9:38pm

I've really only seen it happen two times that were quite blatant. One of the last Taboo's when the band didn't start the last song on cue, Euan started singing without them, then the band started up and he said, "Oh, F**k, now they start." He and Liz McCartney were cracking up. The really big one was the final AIDA performance when a lot of us were treated to the infamous Adam "death stare" because of all the flashes going off in the theatre during the final tomb scene. The Taboo one was funny, the AIDA one, not so much.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:24pm

Mostly I would say very unprofessional. However, each situation is different and it is nonetheless amusing to the audience. It kind of ruins the "suspense of disbelief" if you know what I mean though.

[Sporkie]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:33pm

Sometimes it's important- I was once at The Producers and this person a few rows away from us (We were on the top balcony) had a heart attack literally and they were taken away and the Actors tried to go on with the show but five lines in when they're talking about a hatpin, whoever was playing Leo just sort of got freaked out and made a bad, stress-relieving joke about the heart attach, and both of the actors said a little about how upsetting it was and how they were a little freaked out, and it wasn't formal or anything, and then they went back to the show. I thought they handled it well.

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:39pm

Both funny and sometimes unprofessional.

That being said, Cary and Matt laughing at each other in RENT doesn't necessarily mean they are breaking character - they're reacting.

[Bothered and Bewildered]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:40pm

Unprofessional, except for in extreme cases, like the one Sporkie mentioned. In most cases however, it's bad. If something breaks on stage, ignore it! Don't laugh. You look stupid.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:41pm

Sporkie- I would say that's quite the unusual circumstance. When I saw Chicago with Paige Davis, someone in the front row passed out and they had to stop the show for like 10 min. It was scary.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:42pm

bdwaygirl, I don't think anyone would find the "Adam death stare" funny, but you can't really place blame with him as an actor for breaking character. If the audience isn't being respectful (i.e. not taking flash photography like they clearly state at the beginning of the show) than you can't expect the actors to be react professionally.

Updated On: 4/13/05 at 10:42 PM

[ShuQ]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:42pm

Each situation is definitely a different case. But I couldn't disagree with Over The Moon: Unprofessional.. yes.

But very entertaining to the non-professional public.

I consider myself to be a professional in the public and find it quite humorous in certain situations.

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 4/13/05 at 10:45pm

when i saw wicked on tuesday JLT was still pretty sick so she was kinda coughing during beginning of popular... so shoshana broke character for a few seconds to gently tap her back and she said "get it up, get it up" then when JLT stopped laughing continued her line... "like what.. " about the secret or whatever...


so yeah, thats the beauty of live theater. things happen and sometimes you just can't avoid breaking character. i dont think its unprofessional, contrarily... i think its very professional to be able to just "roll with the punches" because nothing ever goes perfect during a show.