How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over again?
How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over again?
Fiyero13
Broadway Star Joined: 6/28/07
#1How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over again?
Posted: 11/6/08 at 4:57pm
I mean it must be tough, i got bored doing Aida 6 times in community theater, i can't imagine doing it 300+ times a year
Updated On: 11/6/08 at 04:57 PM
Broadwaynerd101
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/6/08
#2re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over again?
Posted: 11/6/08 at 4:59pmThey add little things to make the role from getting boring.
#2re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over again?
Posted: 11/6/08 at 5:02pmThey hook up with each other, commiserate about the audience, they love the craft of acting so they continue to work on the part and their piece, have a lot of fun with each other backstage, go out after work, sleep with stage door johnnies, party, whatever gets them through. How does a banker, accountant or engineer go to the same job everyday. It's really no different if you think about it. There is monotony to every job.
"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
#3re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/6/08 at 5:05pmAfter seeing Guys & Dolls 22 times doing the lights made me want to kill myself. But now I want to see the revival.
#4re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over again?
Posted: 11/6/08 at 5:06pm
Different audiences mean the show is different every night. If you did six performances with a community theatre, you can probably remember the way each performance differed from the last. Rehearsal can get boring, but performing to an audience means that it's a brand new show every time. Different lines get laughs, different numbers and cast members get the most applause or cheers. I know it's a cliche, but have you ever heard the saying that at every performance, someone in the audience is seeing their first show and someone in the audience is seeing their last show?
Though professional actors obviously do get bored with roles-- not everyone's like George Lee Andrews who sticks it out in Phantom year after year. Most people move on after a year or so, or even less, and do a new project, especially if the role's really physically demanding.
In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy
#5re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over again?
Posted: 11/6/08 at 5:16pm
I've gotten bored with some shows, regionally, but it's true that it is a different show every night. The material is the same, but something usually happens each night that keeps me on my toes. There are some times though when I run to my dressing room and put on my ipod because I just don't want to listen to so-and-so sing that god damn song one more time, but even then there are some shows I've done where that never happened.
I'm doing Les Miz a second time next year and for me every night in that show is like the first because no matter how many times I sing it, I'm still terrified that one night I'm going to mess up the "Master of the House" lyrics. It only happened once in previews last time, but you just never know. I still get nervous and that actually helps to keep it fresh and interesting.
#6re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/6/08 at 5:44pm
Marlène Danielle says it best.
"It may be old for me, but it's new to them."
RyToast1
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/07
#7re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/6/08 at 5:51pmAs Patti said at Times Talks....the audience is different every night, and that makes the show different every night.
#8re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/6/08 at 6:32pmI find it helpful to focus on a different thing every night once a show becomes routine for me. For example, one night I'll focus on keeping my center aligned during dances, and the next night I'll focus on my annuciation. It also keeps my performance quality up since I'm always checking in on what I'm doing. During a long run, you'll often have understudies go on, and maybe a replacement come in. That always brings a new energy to the show and keeps you on your toes.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
#9re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/6/08 at 7:04pm
I've thought the same exact thing! 
They must joke around on stage like Laura Bell said once that during Gay or European she would sing the song in her Celine Dion voice to crack people up around her! LOL!
I also have wondered how they don't go absolutly mad with songs playing over and over and over in their heads! 
esparza 333
Broadway Star Joined: 7/24/07
#10re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/6/08 at 7:20pmWhenever I do a show that runs for a month or so I try to keep it interesting by experimenting with the role without losing track of it. But as a Schmerg said if the role is physically demanding it can get tiring. One year i did two professional productions one was Brundibar and the other was Peter Pan with the sets and costume from the Cathy Rigby production. Both were very high tech but with Brundibar singing was the main thing so that was harder in a way to make new every day as an performer. Peter Pan on the other hand was as our Director put it a triple threat show. While it was amazingly tiring it was easier to experiment every night with lines, movement and other things. But as many posters said the audience brings a new energy every night. I asked Christopher Sieber this question when i was performing in Camelot and he said that it it was easier for him to not get bored ina show like Spamalot since they improvise every night and almost no show is similar to the other.
Current Avatar:The sensational Aaron Tveit in the soon to be hit production of Catch Me If You Can.
#11re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/6/08 at 7:23pm
Audience reactions. Absolutely. And they make little changes and add little surprises to keep fellow actors on their toes and laughing
But for me its always been audiences. =)
"I told you, NO Rodgers and Hammerstein!"- Bart Simpson
#12re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/6/08 at 7:40pm
Well, some actors do get bored and it shows.
It helps to have a well-written role in a show cast with good actors who stay on their toes and help you to stay on yours.
And though making different choices to keep it fresh can help, you have to be careful that your adjustment makes sense for the role and for the production and won't throw off your fellow actors.
Of course, some actors like that, they like being surprised even if they do it pretty much the same every night. I once had an actor I was in a show with say to me, "I'm glad you make it slightly different every performance even though I know my performance doesn't vary slightly from performance to performance as yours does. But it helps keep it alive for me." Other actors react negatively if you change too much. And, of course, the director might walk in one night and say, "What the hell are you doing?" Or the director might walk in and say, "Great. Thanks for not 'freezing it.' Thanks for keeping it alive."
So it's tough. It's a balancing act.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#13re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/6/08 at 7:57pm
Carol Channing told me that she mentally puts someone she fully respects in the audience that night and pretends that he or she has never seen the show before. Then she goes out to give this imaginary person the best performance of her career. She's put the imaginary figures of Henry Kissinger, Yul Brynner and Tallulah Bankhead in the audience many, many times. It's always worked for her.
This is coming from a woman who played Dolly Levi well over 5,000 times.
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
#14re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/6/08 at 10:28pmwhen they get their paycheck
#15re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/7/08 at 7:40am
As an amateur, I rehearse plays for months and months and then perform them for only a week. The rehearsals get kinda dull, but it's awesome in front of an audience. Professionals rehearse for a short number of weeks then get the joy of being in front of an audience for most of the time. I figure that helps a LOT.
#16re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/7/08 at 8:16am
The audience is new every night. It's more than likely 95% of them have never seen the show before and maybe it's their first time at a Broadway show period. THAT motivates them. Like laLupone said, "The audience is different every night, and that makes the show different every night."
I'd think cast changes, ie, new people to work with helps them see it fresh through new eyes and maybe find a new aspect of the story they hadn't seen before.
But I think above and beyond all is the fact they love their craft and the show... most of the time
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
Whispering
Swing Joined: 9/9/08
#17re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/7/08 at 10:56am
I understand not being bored because actors are professional and that requires a professional attitude and solution, but sometimes I don't understand how some actors survive their roles. When I saw Speed the Plow, I became a bit concerned in how Raúl Esparza did not have a heart attack popping those veins in his neck every show. Some roles must really take a toll on physical health, while being bored takes a toll on mental health.
#18re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/7/08 at 2:01pmAll motivation in any job, is a paycheck...
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#19re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/7/08 at 2:08pm
It's part of the challenge of live theater! Those that can't cut it do tv or movies! Or at least can't be successful ON B'way.
A good actor will keep looking for ways to freshen what they are doing, find little new things, rmember that THIS audience hasn't seen the show 229 times before.
Do they always rise to the occaision? Sadly no...but most do a huge percentage of the time.
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.
Radioactiveduck
Broadway Star Joined: 7/18/05
#21re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/8/08 at 5:24amIt takes a very special kind of person to be a true theatre professional, and being able to perform at the same level over weeks and months is just one of those things that comes with the territory.
#22re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/8/08 at 6:14am
It does become very repetitive but i guess its just like doing any job where its a fixed routine.I once stayed in a show for just under 2 years and became really depressed (as well as lost way to much weight and i was slim to start with), the time came again when my contract expired and i was offered a new 6 month contract in the lead role but i had to say no.
The 1st year and a half were fine, we had a lot of fun backstage, went to some great events and it became like a family, but when the cast change happened and many people left it just didnt feel the same
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
wonkit
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/30/08
#23re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/28/08 at 11:43amResponse to an earlier poster about Raul Esparza's vein popping performance in SPEED-THE-PLOW: I saw a Wednesday matinee ten days ago, and Esparza was screaming a lot in the last scene, and his voice was so rough and violent. At the exit, when he and Elisabeth Moss were collecting for BC/EFA, an elderly lady came up to him and said, "I don't know how you do that! Doesn't your throat hurt?" and he replied, "No, actually, if you place the voice right, it doesn't hurt at all. In fact, it's kind of fun." She was floored with that answer.
#24re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/28/08 at 1:10pm
They probably think to themselves, "Holy F, I have the best job in the world."
And then it doesn't seem so boring.
:)
"You see, I told you so! There's lots of things I know. 'Ponine, she knows her way around."
#25re: How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over
Posted: 11/28/08 at 3:58pmNo more boring than other jobs - A receptionist sits at a desk all day every day, a waiter serves all day every day. Just the way of the job.
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