Most Physically Hard Show You've Had To Do...

I find them to be some of the most rewarding.

I think I have a tie with mine. The first was when I did "Crazy For You." I was in the Cowboy Trio...and being one of the only guys who knew how to dance...I was also places in a lead dance position. It was very hard for me. I literally had NO tap experience and when I heard we were doing the show...I ran out to take a tap summer course. It was hard to learn but I got the hang of it. When it came showtime our choreographer wanted to use all of Stro's choreography...I thought she was kidding...I was wrong. It was a grueling experience. People left rehearsals with bruises and limps...but it was well worth it. They drilled us into the ground but the show was spectacular...and we nailed all of Stro's moves.

The second had to be "Fiddler." I say this because, first, I had about 5,000 costume changes. I was cast as Sasha, the evil russian. Our director had done "Fiddler" all over the world in numerous touring companies...so he wanted to do "Fiddler" completely authentic. Not only did I have to play Sasha, but I also had to play one of the citizens of Anatevka...which means...you guessed it...the BOTTLE DANCE. Oh no...no velcro...no tape...no nothing. Just glass wine bottles and hats. One of the hardest dances I have ever had to do. We learned that dance at the first rehearsal and practiced it every day until showtime. I even drilled it at home. I literally walked around my house with a bottle on my head. Not only did I have to do that dance...as soon as it was over I had to do yet another costume change back into Russian garb to go destroy the wedding I had just been dancing at. Again, it was a killer show. Hard rehearsals and non stop drilling. But, it turned out to be one of the most rewarding and amazing theatrical experiences of my life. Oh, and not to toot my own horn, but I was the only bottle dancer who never dropped the bottle.

Anyone else have stories?

---

Updated On: 3/17/05 at 10:40 PM

42nd street. oy

I was Mac (Julian marsh's bitch)/ swing/ and billy and andy u/s.

I performed Mac (reguarly), 3 different ensemble tracks, and billy. I wanted to do andy SO badly! But I was so physically drained by the end.

---

Updated On: 3/17/05 at 10:42 PM

Mine would definately be CRAZY FOR YOU. I played Sam and the chorus really has a lot to do. Slap That Bass and I Got Rhythm were the hardest numbers to get through because our choroegraphy was really intense (lots of acrobatics and lifts and leaps, etc) and also because they're both REALLY LONG. Also, just getting through all those costume changes (I had 7) was pretty exhausting.

Hmm...
probably 42nd Street
Les Miz is very physically strenuous during the barracade scenes...the Students have to climb over and swing from the set and basically make it look like they are building it

42nd Street, hands down.

before that show i didnt know a thing about tap. (the only reason i made it in was cuz i was a boy who could act and sing!) Our Choreographer was a nazi and we had 5 hour rehearsals 5 days a week! We would all come home from rehearsal drenched in sweat. it was sooo hard, but soooo much fun. I can tap now too!!

we put on the best show Bakersfield has ever seen! (yee-haw!)

edit: Ohh, and our costume changes were practicly impossible.

Updated On: 3/18/05 at 12:08 AM

I did "Charley's Aunt" my freshman year of high school and between acts two and three almost the entire cast had to change from Victorian day wear to Victorian formal wear. In about 90 seconds. So we all had to book it during the blackout, through the labyrinth of furniture and techies backstage to our respective changing areas, rip our costumes off, throw on completely new ones, and make our entrances without being out of breath. Oy!

---

for me the hardest show that i did was Joseph.... I played the narrator and was 12 when the rest of the cast was about 17-22...It is hard carrying a show like that so young!

This sounds silly compared to some of the others here but my hardest was "Anything Goes" senior year. I was an angel and had more costume changes than the leads did. Plus we did 10 times more dancing while the leads got to walk around and sing. we had three or 4 all cast numbers including a massive tap break in Anything Goes with the angels and Reno Sweeney, but we were dancing during almost everysong while trying to sing. Some of the choreography was a lot more difficult than it needed to be for people who had to sing a lot as well, somtimes pretty high notes. It was demanding but fun too

Hmmm ... I'm still bruised and scarred from Tobias in "Sweeney Todd", but I had to have my back readjusted every week the last time I played Barnaby in "Hello, Dolly!" --- soooo many acrobatics, dancing, singing and physical comedy. So much fun!

---

42nd Street is indeed a bitch. Anything choreographed by Michael Kidd -- The Quadrille number in CAN CAN is absolutely killer.

well, since I'm a techie and not much of an actor, stage managing Footloose and Cabaret have been the most demanding, rewarding, and best experiences I've ever had :)

Physically difficult--Noises Off, by far...second would be Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz.

Mentally difficult--Tom in The Glass Menagerie

---

I have to say 42nd Street too. I had 17 quick changes. I played Mac and also danced in the ensemble. It was a re-staging of the Original Broadway Production and Choreography.

I felt like those quick changes took a year off my life every time I did them. I accidently elbowed my dresser in the face a couple times too. After the show every night I could barely walk.

Looking back I have to say I loved every minute of it.