Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week? — Page 2

#26

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:33pm

" I just happen to understand that performers are not robots who are programmed to do everything spectacularly well 8 shows a week for a couple years."

Just because it happens doesn't mean it should or that it's "right" for it to. For the record, there are plenty of artists who perform in long-running shows who still give first-rate performances years later. As with any career, there great actors and consummate professionals, and there are not.

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"Get mad, then get over it." - Colin Powell

#27

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:33pm

They're not programmed, no. They're just trained and conditioned to do so.

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"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

#28

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:35pm

"They're just trained and conditioned to do so."

True, but they're still humans.

#29

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:38pm

No one is debating that or saying that performers should be incapable of degrees of quality.

But there is a minimum to that degree, and they need to be meeting it and preferably surpassing it. It is what they are trained to do. It is their career.

When I go to a professional theatrical production, I expect to see performers at the top of their game. Why should I expect less?

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"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

#30

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:38pm

And so are doctors and lawyers and bus drivers and teachers and hunters and parents. (I 'understand' when a parent loses their cool with their kid -- doesn't make it right.)

The consequences to be made are: the loss of a fan, a bad review, a disappointed audience.

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If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.

#31

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:39pm

We are humans too, belive it or not.

And you will not be convinced of something you don't want to change your mind about, what do you expect now?

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Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE

#32

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:41pm

You're a muppet, not a human.

#33

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:41pm

Of course. Just like my boss expects me to always be a consistent employee.

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"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman

#34

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:44pm

Next time anyone screws up at work, just say "What do you expect? I'm a human, not a robot. Do you really expect me to perform perfectly every day of the week?"

Let's see how that works for you.

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Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE

#35

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:47pm

Except that being a Broadway performer is much more demanding than being an employee, teacher, bus driver, etc.

#36

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:49pm

Right. Any Broadway role is automatically more challenging than any other profession. Genius.

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Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE

#37

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:52pm

More or less, yes. Being a doctor or lawyer is more challenging, but Broadway performer is right up there. And it's not just playing the role, but enduring the auditioning process.

#38

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:53pm

...Have YOU ever taught for a full school day?

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"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

#39

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:53pm

You're adorable!

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Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE

#40

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:53pm

Do I expect performers to try their best to give a great performance every single time?

Yes, at least at the Broadway level.

Is a performer actually going to give a great performance every single time?

No, of course not. We're all human.

But a professional will try to do their best to give that great performance. Every single time.

#41

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:56pm

You're adorable too! I always shipped you with Kermit!

#42

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:56pm

"Being a doctor or lawyer is more challenging, but Broadway performer is right up there."

Um, sorry, not it isn't. Raised in a family of theatre professionals and medical professionals. Having somebody's life in your hands and performing, say, an organ transplant as my father has, is MUCH more difficult than being a Broadway performer. To even compare them is an insult. Expecting someone to hit their turns is a lot less pressure than expecting someone to save a life.

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"Get mad, then get over it." - Colin Powell

#43

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:58pm

I stand by what I said that most people wont know what level a performer is at if they are a pro. They will ebb and flow with energy and such but they will deliver the performance.

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"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal "I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello

#44

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:58pm

I'm sure that a firefighter in the middle of an emergency or a cop in a shoot out is thinking "At least I'm not a Broadway performer!"

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Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE

#45

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:59pm

>> "I also think it's unfair to say that an actor is horrible as a certain character just because they had an off day. Having an off day should not overshadow all of their previous amazing performances."

That statement implies that it's OK to have inconsistent performances from an actor. That on some days (even if that's *most* days), their performance will be "amazing", yet on another, (it may be only one) it may be noticeably "off".

That should never happen. Never.

Professionals warm up vocally, physically and mentally before a show so that there are NO off days. If they're under the weather, professionals do extra warm-ups, use *all kinds* of remedies (steam, lozenges, teas, sour patch candies...) to make sure their performances are consistent.

You can't cut an actor slack (or say it's "unfair") for having an off day. You should never be able to notice. If you *did* notice, they haven't done their job.

#46

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 9:59pm

Are you really saying that being a Broadway performer is anywhere close to the rigor and difficulty of being a doctor? Now I know you're trolling. I'm also willing to bet that you're neither a Broadway performer nor a doctor, because no one in either profession would say such an idiotic thing.

#47

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 10:00pm

Kelly2, I said that being a doctor is more challenging. I literally just said that.

#48

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 10:02pm

I'm aware. I said it's an insult to mention them in the same breath.

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"Get mad, then get over it." - Colin Powell

#49

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 10:02pm

...followed by, "but Broadway performer is right up there"

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"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

#50

Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?

Posted: 5/19/13 at 10:03pm

Yeah, like Top 5.