How do actors keep from getting bored doing the same show over and over again?

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

They 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.

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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.

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Marlène Danielle says it best.

"It may be old for me, but it's new to them."

I 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.

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Whenever 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.

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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.

when they get their paycheck

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

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All motivation in any job, is a paycheck...

It 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.

Response 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.

No 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.