How do performers do it?

[Jay94]

Posted: 4/30/12 at 9:46am

How do actors in musicals or plays continue to perform the same roles for so long? I know that I'm not an actor, so i don't fully understand the motivation behind it but i imagine that it would just be gruelling. For example, watching My Fair Lady was great but I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to do that same show eight times a week for a few years (as Andrews and Harrison did). Montego Glover has been doing Memphis since it opened in 2009, how does she keep doing it after all these years, the same role, the same songs night after night!?!?!

[hermajesty]

Posted: 4/30/12 at 9:53am

Its a job/profession like any other. Some sit at a desk for 30 or more years doing basically the same office work but doing 8 hours a day, not two.
It must be great doing something one loves doing and have chosen as one's profession.

[dreaming]

Posted: 4/30/12 at 9:53am

George Lee Andrews switched between playing Andre and Firmin in Phantom-I saw him in both roles.

In live theater, the audience is different every night, the energy they give is different and I think it's how they keep going. (In live theater you also never know what's going to happen-it provides variety. I've never seen the same performance twice when I go to see live shows more than once.)

[Flight0017]

Posted: 4/30/12 at 11:39am

What is it that they're living for?

Applause
Applause!

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 4/30/12 at 11:57am

Good point especially about Montego Glover who is fantastic. Having Adam Pascal replace Chad Kimball may have helped her since she has somebody new who might have a different twist on the character of "Huey".

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/30/12 at 12:03pm

A close friend who has worked in several long running shows on Broadway says that whenever she's not 'feeling' it, she just thinks about all the people in the audience who have NEVER seen the show and who have trekked long distances to see it and in seconds, she's back to the very first time she performed in the show and gives her 110% to that audience --- performance-after-performance.

To spice things up for random actors, whenever I see a show anywhere (Broadway, tour, etc.), I always select a random actor and give them entrance applause. In the decades I've been doing this, I never fail to get an entire Broadway house (or theatre) to join in with me. They have no idea who they're applauding but they still join in. I love the startled look the actor gets AND it elevates that performance for everyone on stage a few more notches.

A random gesture goes a long way whenever I'm attending a performance.

[moncruzz]

Posted: 4/30/12 at 12:24pm

that random applause idea sounds awesome. But most of the time I'm too focused on the show to think about doing that, or too shy and scared that no one else will clap!!

[Eris0303]

Posted: 4/30/12 at 12:31pm

I always select a random actor and give them entrance applause. In the decades I've been doing this, I never fail to get an entire Broadway house (or theatre) to join in with me.

I wish you'd been with me the night I tried to get Darlene Love entrance applause in Hairspray. Epic fail.