How do Broadway stars stay interested?

[verynewyorkcurious]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 6:52pm

8 shows a week sounds tough as hell. Makes me wonder..How do they do it? How do Broadway actors / actresses stay interested? Repeating the same lines, same songs, same dance routines hundreds and hundreds of times..

and people have bad days. A bad day for me means that I won't be able to put the same effort in things I do on a daily basis. How do they get through bad days?

Is it serious passion? Doing what they love more than anything? Do they have pep-talks before each show to keep the actors encouraged? What is it?
Updated On: 1/15/08 at 06:52 PM

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 6:57pm

8 shows a day? Wow, that is demanding!
Back in my day, they did 8 a week.

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 6:57pm

Well, if they are going to brave auditions and the entertainment business to begin with, I'd say they are passionate enough to do the show 8 times a week. If they're lucky, they'll adore the show they're doing. I've heard of some ensemble members not enjoying the show, but hey, it's their job and they are LUCKY to have it, and I'm sure they know that.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 6:59pm

8 shows a day? That DOES sound hard.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 7:00pm

I spoke to one HUGE star who was in her show forEVER and she told me that it was the thought of seeing all the smiling faces at the stage door, hundreds of people just waiting to touch her waiting to take a picture of her, get just one more piece of her...that is what made her keep going.

Updated On: 1/15/08 at 07:00 PM

[dramarama2]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 7:00pm

Actors need money too...

[verynewyorkcurious]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 7:01pm

you know i meant 8 a week. sorry.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 7:09pm

Money talks. But only if you're not doing a non-profit.

You can tell when many actors are phoning it in, especially if you've seen them at their peak.

It's impossible not to get bored at some point - that's why many actors change various line readings night-to-night.

Ethel Merman was notorious for, if nothing else (riiiight!), her consistency. She gave the same performance on closing nights that she did on opening nights.

Victoria Clark delivered a wide variety of stellar performances in Light in the Piazza. Some nights she'd tear up, some nights she'd sob...

[winston89]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 7:21pm

8 shows a week is tough. But, if your doing Broadway then you know what it is your in for before you sign the contract.

Many of the actors on Broadway want to be there. They like performing in front of a live audience.


If your enjoying the show your in you find ways to make it enjoyable.

There are some actors who are doing one show for a long time because they love the show that they are doing even though they could easilly get another gig.

And there are actors who are doing a show for a long time and can't get another gig.

[TomMonster]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 7:29pm

It's your job, and you always have to remember that your audience, for the most part, hasn't seen it before.

You make it fresh everyday. It's called technique.

It helps if the material is great. Each performance can still find discovery.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 7:31pm

Carol Channing told me that they way she handles long runs is to imagine someone special out in the audience; someone who has never seen the show before. She does it at every performance and I've never seen her give less than 110%

[Chipster07]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 7:35pm

I feel that theatre is different from every other job. Flipping hamburgers 8 times a week is very different from performing a role live 8 times a week. There are always new things to draw from. A new audience can change the mood of a performance, a different inflection on a line from a fellow actor, etc... I think these are some of the things that keep performers going. Also, the performers (especially if in the ensemble), make faces at one another and such to help make it more fun, if they are having bad days. And everyone is allowed to have a bad, off, sick day...thats why they have understudies. But most of the people who are performing on Broadway are there because they are extremely passionate and want to be there. They get joy out of entertaining others and don't want to miss a day of work unless its a dire circumstance.

[proptart101]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 8:04pm

2 answers:

1) As Sir Laurence Olivier once said: "It's called Acting."

2) Payday is Thursday.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 8:39pm

Hey Bud.... you absolutely did not mention 8 shows a day in your post. It was the second person who wrote that in his message.
from RC in Austin, Texas...

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 8:54pm

its called ACTING! Really listen to your castmates during perfomances, not just for cues, there's a human connection in the listening, keeping the reations true, and that keeps the performances real, hopefully... I just finished reading the Meisner book for acting class, and boy, am I full of this stuff...

[jbdc]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 9:52pm

cocaine.

[jigblob]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 10:23pm

Haha well lets put it in perspective here. Even for the performers that don't love what they're doing; they are working like 3 hours a day for a *sometimes* nice paycheck (ok 6ish on some days; but they also get days off)

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 11:25pm

My heart goes out to the performers when they have a headache or when the women are on their periods.

[bkonbroadway]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 7:48am

A friend of mine once upon a time was a cab driver, and Betty Buckley got into his cab once. He asked her when she thought she would leave the show since she's been in it for a bit and it must be difficult. She paused dramatically and said in a brassy, rehearsed voice, "As soon as I get it right!"

[Dancin Thru Life]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 8:10am

It's simple, really....(cue music, with apologies...)

They're a special kind of people known as SHOW PEOPLE
They live in a world of their own
The audience paid plenty to sit there and clap
Hearing them sing, watching them tap

Did you know their dentist longs to be in show business
Their window washer wants to be a star
And though their analyst may
Never couch it that way
They all know how lucky they are!

They're a special kind of people known as SHOW PEOPLE
They live in a world of their own
Their days are tied to curtains
They rise and they fall
They're born every night
At half-hour call!

They can’t picture being anything but show people
Civilians find the whole thing quite bizarre
But that hop in their hearts
When the overture starts
Helps them know how lucky we are!

It’s an honor and a joy to be in show business
They feel that spotlight hit them and they're gone
At the last curtain call
They're the envy of all
So they know THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

[Steve2]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 8:54am

I have always wondered this myself.
Especially with some shows having weekends with two performances per day on Saturday and Sunday.

[tazber]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:22am

Many don't. They're just going through the motions and you can tell.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:45am

Because it's your JOB.

Hopefully it's a job you love and that you have passion for. I mean, why else go into a business where you are employed less than 20% of the time, and the other 80% is spent looking for work?

If you are one of the lucky few who get the Broadway role, you do it 100% every time. You leave your home problems at home, just like you do any other job. If you have problems on the job, you handle them appropriately.

But the audience has paid their hard-earned money to see the same show the critics saw on Opening Night ... or a better one! It is your job as a performer to make it so.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 12:06pm

ok 6ish on some days; but they also get days off

There's not a profession in the world where workers don't get time off. And mostly they're two days instead of just one.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 1:14pm

They do what ANYONE who has a job that is the same night after night does.