Posted: 4/23/16 at 4:05am
Have any of you actually had experience with musical theater(community theater, schools, etc) or do you just enjoy theater as an art from a distance? Hope that makes sense.
Updated On: 4/23/16 at 04:05 AM
Posted: 4/23/16 at 4:23am
This should answer your question:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1091210
Posted: 4/23/16 at 10:31am
I did acting in high school and college, and I currently have invested in and co-produced a handful of shows on Broadway.
Posted: 4/23/16 at 7:59pm
mormonsandglindas said: "Have any of you actually had experience with musical theater(community theater, schools, etc) or do you just enjoy theater as an art from a distance? Hope that makes sense.
I was in one musical for community theatre, I didn't have to sing any solos though. I played Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire", she was supposed to be singing in the bathtub, they took that part out though after they heard me sing, yikes!
Updated On: 4/23/16 at 07:59 PM
Posted: 4/23/16 at 9:32pm
I have been doing community theater since I was about 8 (after starting dance lessons at 3 and acting lessons at 7). Between community and a few school shows, I was in about 30 productions between 3rd grade and my senior year of high school. High school theater made me lose any love I had for performing and it wasn't until the right show came around last year (Legally Blonde), 8 and a half years after my last show in high school, that I had any desire to perform again. After Legally Blonde, which was such a positive (no pun intended - it was one of the best times I have ever had in a show and it was completely free of any drama) experience, it is going to take the right show/company/director to get me back on stage.
I love working backstage/front of house, though, and I will be working stage crew for a production of The Producers in a few weeks with the same company I did Legally Blonde with last spring. I am not auditioning for any of their upcoming shows, however (I don't fit the description for either of the summer shows and am starting grad school in the fall, so no fall show for me, either) but will be auditioning for the January production of Love, Loss and What I Wore, which will fall over my winter break.
ETA: Despite being burnt out from performing after high school, I still minored in theater in college because I a) needed a liberal arts minor and b) love reading/studying plays so it was a good middle ground where I could take some theater history courses, a few acting/directing courses to get some new perspectives and some more tech experience (although I was one of the rare few at my high school who couldn't/wouldn't commit to solely tech or performing... I usually performed in the musicals and did tech for our competition one-acts).
Updated On: 4/23/16 at 09:32 PM
Posted: 4/23/16 at 9:50pm
I have done a few shows...
BROADWAY
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
CLOSER Music Box, Natasha Richardson, Rupert Graves
ANNIE Hirshfeld, Nell Carter, John Schuck
LA BETE O’Neill, Ron Silver
STARDUST pre-Broadway , Betty Buckley
SHADOWLANDS Atkinson, Nigel Hawthorne, Jane Alexander
THE CIRCLE Ambassador, Rex Harrison, Stewart Granger, Glynis Johns
BREAKING THE CODE Neil Simon, Derek Jocobi
BLITHE SPIRIT Neil Simon, Richard Chamberlain, Geraldine Page
LEGENDS! pre-Broadway, Mary Martin, Carol Channing
AREN'T WE ALL Atkinson, Rex Harrison, Claudette Colbert, Lynn Redgrave
TOURS
ANNIE Sally Struthers, John Schuck
WEST SIDE STORY
BLOOD BROTHERS Petula Clark, David Cassidy
CAMELOT Robert Goulet
MY FAIR LADY
ALOHA! Aloha Showroom, Waikiki, Hawaii
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY Tony Lo Bianco
SLEUTH Stacy Keach
SIEGFRIED AND ROY japan
AREN'T WE ALL Rex Harrison, Claudette Colbert
CAMELOT Richard Harris
HELLO DOLLY! Carol Channing
Posted: 4/24/16 at 3:50pm
Yes, there are people on this board who have experience in various aspects of theater...though some of the old timers have passed or left the boards. I spent a lot of time working in the theater both regionally and in New York. Sadly, a lot of the people on the chat boards these days seem to be more interested in popularity contests than in talking about theater. Thankfully, there ARE people who really do care and who are interested in thoughtful conversation.
