Do you expect performers to be great 8 shows a week?- Page 5

[Kelly2]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 12:24am

So what are the 5 most demanding jobs? I'm so curious.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 12:29am

I would like to know that too. Since anything I say seems to be useless.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 12:31am

Eponine
Elphaba
Evita
Young Eponine
Elphaba

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 12:34am

According to the wonderful gossipguy215, every job is demanding in its own way and everyone works hard, so I must listen to him.

Marianne2, don't feel like anything you say is useless. Just have confidence and believe in yourself.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 12:49am

Eh, everyone has an off day. I went up on a few lines in the last show I did one night. And then I was sick for one week so I had to sing through a sore throat and damn-near laryngitis.

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 12:55am

I don't know why I'm giving the time of day to this ridiculous and incredibly offensive thread, but I find it comical that you're hating on teachers who ultimately are responsible for molding their students into all (yes, all) of the professions mentioned. Without teachers, where would the doctors or lawyers or nurses or even your beloved performers be?

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 1:26am

I was specifically talking about teachers in middle schools and high schools. Besides, I'm not saying that all teachers' job is meaningless or not valuable. Their job is just not that demanding. DEMANDING is the word of the day here.

Updated On: 5/20/13 at 01:26 AM

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 1:35am

So middle and high school teachers have an easy job?

You're delusional.

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 1:38am

I'm not saying that their job isn't easy. I'm saying it's not as DEMANDING as being a Broadway performer.

[MusicalTheatreGeek2]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 2:41am

I think I'm inclined to agree that people have off days! I mean I just read through this whole thread laughing, when I really should be preparing for the exam I have this afternoon!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 3:25am

Yes, I can see how demanding it is to sing and dance in front of your audience. Yikes. Performers -- however do they do it? Whatever could be done to make their job easier and less 'demanding'. And before you ask, I've performed plenty of times in front of a packed house. It's exhilarating.


YOU are the best example for why teachers have a stressful job.

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 4:31am

You know that being a Broadway performer is much more than just performing in front of an audience. That's not even half of it. So I don't know why you're underestimating the demands they go through and implying that they don't do anything but perform on stage. You know about the workshops, rehearsals, crazy schedules they go through and all the hard work that leads up to the opening night, and 8 shows a week. Performing is exhilarating and amazing, but showbiz is cut-throat and tough! I shouldn't even have to explain this to you. You should know better.



Updated On: 5/20/13 at 04:31 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 6:22am

YOU, child, have no idea.


No actor, ever, has said, "Wow, that performance was so connected because I could recall every single person that I beat out for the role."

Updated On: 5/20/13 at 06:22 AM

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 8:46am

And YOU, mama dear, need to stop underestimating the amount of demands that these Broadway performers go through and realize that show business is like a freakin' shark tank. They have to have a thick skin in order to succeed and do what they love to do.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 8:52am

Yeah, dramamama, surely you must realize that playing Officer Krupke 8 times a week is *far* more demanding than actually policing a gang-infested neighborhood. Surely you must realize the mental and emotional strains that actor goes through are far and away more taxing than the rigors of just being an actual police officer in a violent and dangerous environment. For shame.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 9:05am

I expect that anyone can have an off performance now and then. A night or matinee when it just isn't happening.

I don't expect it to happen on a weekly basis.

[binau]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 9:12am

I for one am sick of the old chliché that it is demanding to be a broadway performer. It is so highly variable. Obviously if you're Bernadette Peters playing Rose for 1.5 years it must be quite physically demanding considering the effort she had to put in to sing the role and her age. But for many ensemble roles in many shows I'm sure it's an easy, if slightly tiring routine (but the same can be said about almost ALL jobs). At absolute worst it seems like a bludge if you're doing something like one of the cameo roles in MASTER CLASS.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 9:16am

Henrik has (not surprisingly) given the most reasonable answer anyone could give to this question. Not that it matters at this point, but his answer is really the only answer.

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 9:26am

Well, jnb9872. NO ONE here said that being a police officer is less demanding than being a performer on Broadway. You're the only one who said that. Not me or anyone else here.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 9:44am

So, class, let's update BroadwayStar4's list of Top 5 Demanding Professions

1) Police officer (where people can die)
2) Theatre Performer (i.e. musical, where people can dance)
3) Soldier (where people can die)
4) n/a (but not a teacher)
5) n/a (but not a teacher)

[jnb9872]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 9:58am

You do realize, BroadwayStar4, that when you say things like "it's in the Top 5," people will assume that you mean them. Since a Top 5 is preposterously arbitrary, but you introduced the concept, until you state what your Top 5 consists of the entire line of reasoning you pursue is hilariously ridiculous.

You are an exercise in hyperbole and reckless expression. You reap what you sow.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 10:00am

Teachers' jobs are more demanding than Broadway performers' - the hours are longer, the work is harder, the rewards are lesser, and they are rarely applauded.

And yes, I want a performer to give a great performance when I'm at their show - that's the deal made between a performer and their audience.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 10:14am

Why are you all feeding this troll?!

It took Kad to page three to figure it out, but some of you just keep on posting, end are expecting some sort of logical answer, when its obvious that the OP isn't going to give you one.


Stop feeding the trolls.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 10:21am

It's better than working.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/20/13 at 10:29am

Yes it's a troll, and yes, the responses it gives are predictably ludicrous, but the question is actually a good one that can illicit good answers from/for others. Chiefly, there are people who need to get over their mythologized ideal of professional performing as being something other than a job.

It is a job. A union job that people are paid to do. And performers love what they do, as many people who have jobs love what they do, but they don't do it purely for love--no matter what A CHORUS LINE says. They do it for, among other things, a check and medical benefits. And so, like every other job, there is an expectation of consistent professionalism and a high standard for performance.

Like Henrik said, everyone has an off day. This is true of performers, of teachers, of office workers etc. but it should happen few and far between. If it is something that happens consistently, then there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

Performing may seem glamorous to some, but it's a job first and foremost. And a certain level is expected.