Can actors really cry every night onstage?- Page 2

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 9:04pm

Oh please, redhot. You cry at Hallmark commercials.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 10:20pm

I saw Margaret Colin in "Jackie" three times. Each time I saw real tears during the funeral scene.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 10:21pm

It really is not that hard to cry on comand and if you are really into your character and the show, it should be even easier! I can do...tears roll down my face and my nose gets stuffy...

[paradox_error]

Posted: 12/5/04 at 1:14am

Sometimes the moent is pretty incredible. If i were a woman and playing the part of Dot in SITPWG i would have tears whilst singing "we Do Not Belong Together". Bernadette had them in the DVD, and I hear Audra MacDonald was when she played Dot.
That is a moment where the emotions would be overwhelming

[mbjts]

Posted: 12/5/04 at 1:20am

I think it's a different "process" for different actors, but if audience members (especially those who see plays multiple times) can start to bawl, I think the material itself can lead an actor to cry in character as well.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 12/5/04 at 2:12am

of course they can

[wickedkiwi]

Posted: 12/5/04 at 2:34am

jajaja yea, i suck at crying, even in real life...although ive gotten a lot better at looking teary eyed and getting my voice and my face and everything except the stupid physical tears going...but what the hell, i've got time...

ooo one thing they told me that works is, once u know u might want to cry, is to order urself to stop crying, that ur not supposed to cry ladeda, and the tears will just pour out...

of course with me this didnt work, it just made my eyes dryer, if anything

but ah well....

[jarred03]

Posted: 12/5/04 at 2:54am

I just dealt with this in acting class recently, I was REHEARSING a monologue and at the end I made myself cry and made my voice crack, and everybody thought it was good but they could tell that I forced it, so my teacher told me that I should really live the character. Well after 2 weeks of practice and really becoming more involved with the character,the crying at the end of my monologue came naturally. I no longer had to force it, because I felt it and everybody could see the difference. So I think that's the difference between being a good actor or just crying on command because you really can tell when people fake it.

[broadway_star_tomorrow]

Posted: 12/5/04 at 3:36am

some can. but there is often something to be said for the visible struggle to hold back tears. actors often make the mistake of crying onstage in a scene where they would not cry as readily in life.

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 12:31pm

In Spelling Bee, Cellia Keenan-Bolger impressed me both times I saw it by crying a single tear during her heartwrenching "Mama, Mama, Mama" song. I can cry with ease onstage but the control she had was impressive to me.

[Katecab99]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 12:34pm

in RENT, every time that i have sat really close, most of the characters actually cry during the "i'll cover you" reprise.

[Amneris]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 12:45pm

this is one gift I am grateful for in my acting chops. I can cry on command or even when I don't have to and it's a horrible moment in the script, I tend to do it..because I get so lost in the piece. My teacher said it's a good thing to have. I usually don't boast about myself but, I am pleased that I can use this.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 1:10pm

yes. training and concentration are a great thing.

[broadway86]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 1:18pm

I played 'Creon' in "Antigone" for several months, and had to cry my eyes out, every night, during the play's finale.

What I did was I listened to Antigone's final speech (before she walks off to her death) and the words did me in.

[writer19702]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 1:24pm

I saw Phylicia Rashad in "A Raisin In The Sun" last summer and good gracious! She was incredible throughout the play, but the scene where she finds out that Walter Lee has lost the money...I don't know how she was able to get to the level of anguish she brought to that scene. I was only in town for the weekend when I saw the play so I saw it twice on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. She "gave it up" at both performances. As a matter of fact her performance at 8:00 p.m. was even more powerful than at 2:00 p.m. I also saw her in "Gem of the Ocean" twice and again, it was the same thing. The level of talent this woman possesses is ridiculous! She doesn't overact. She gives her characters a "just-rightness" that makes them real. And when she cries, it is heart-breaking. There is no question that her acting ability is a gift from God because Phylicia Rashad is an anointed actress.

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 1:42pm

My mother played Nellie Forbush in South Pacific (I was Jerome) and in the speech and when shes all like Dont Die EMile and does the Reprise of Some Enchanted Evening she cried every night, infact it was so real I didnt know if she was acting or really crying.

[Barnaby12345]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 2:46pm

When I saw RENT this summer, Jeremy had tears running down his face during "Your Eyes," but that definitely doesn't make up for the fact that I can't stand his Roger.

[kec]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 4:09pm

"You cry at Hallmark commercials"

Doesn't everyone?

When I saw "The Boy From Oz" last June, in the scene where Jarod Emmick sang "I Honestly Love You," I could see tears on Hugh Jackman's face. This happened both times I saw the show that week.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 4:13pm

Toni Braxton cried ALL THE TIME while playing Aida.

And in response to the initial post: The four times I saw "Reckless," Mary-Louise cried real tears during the last scene every time.

[LostLeander]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 4:45pm

I will reiterate that crying doesn't make you a good actor.

I hate when I see people trying to make themselves cry. I've always been told "Play the intention, not the emotion".
Intention is always stronger, and plays better than emotion.

[DTBG2]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 5:29pm

intention is important...but come one, the audience is not filled with people who've been in acting classes and know the methods, and the ins and outs...so if you can pull off tears and stay in character and in the moment...then you're selling it my friend!!!

i was in an emotional play about AIDS..and i cried every performance, in character...and i would break character for a moment while another actor would be speaking and glance into the audience..and they were crying with me...great feeling of accomplishment.
Updated On: 3/21/05 at 05:29 PM

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 5:36pm

Karmine Alers cries a river every night during "Goodbye, Love" So it can totally be done, but im sure it isn't easy.

[LostLeander]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 6:39pm

AH!
Break character and look into the audience?
A cardinal sin, my friend.
Intention breeds emotion.
Not the other way around.

Re-reading what I said, I didn't mean to abandon emotion.
I meant don't go for the Tony, go for honesty.
Don't try to make the audience cry, or yourself for that matter.
Just let it come naturally, and if you cry, you cry, if you don't, at least the audience can understand what your are conveying, whether they are trained or not.

[greenifyed]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 7:20pm

Krystal L. Washington used to look like hell from ICY:R pretty much until Finale B.

And I've seen Jeremy Kushnier cry nearly every time. Most of the actors in RENT cry.

[Raggy Q poo]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 7:30pm

I too just had to deal with this situation in my acting class. We had to do an improv scene where we just found out that our partner just got arrested from robbing a bank. He needs you to go to court with him to defend him. You try kicking him outa the apartment but he refuses to leave and keeps trying to get you to go to court with him.

One 'couple' that went really really got into it. The girl is actually wheelchair bound and the guy was making use of her being in a wheelchair as part of the scene. Although she knew it was all about the scene and he wasn't making fun of her for real (in fact they are really good friends) she still was very much into her character and towards the end she got all teary and when he screamed at her she started crying and 'wheeled' out.

It's very true...you can't make yourself cry but if you are truley in your character's shoes, you would be able to cry every night if thats what your character's actions called for.

As my teacher says "The Moment Before" is the most important time of each time you act. This is where you transform into your character, this means you are no longer yourself and you no longer do what you normally would do but what the character you are playing would do.

She oddly relates this to multiple personality disorder. When one has this disorder, they can be allergic to peanut butter one moment but a few minutes later they can be perfectly fine with peanut butter. This is like acting because, one moment you are yourself, and then after you take your 'moment before' you are a totally new person. Odd way to think about it but it really is true.

Updated On: 3/21/05 at 07:30 PM