Surprising good Community Theater??????

[HollidayForever]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 7:45pm

Have you ever gone to see a community theater of a Broadway musical and it was surprisingly not that bad?

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 7:46pm

No.

Just kidding. I saw an alright production of Sweeney once. Usually it's painful. Updated On: 9/6/09 at 07:46 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 7:46pm

Hon your post makes it look like you're asking about community theatre ON Broadway.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 7:52pm

Not really...

[Lumen2]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 7:56pm

I saw a High School production of Godspell that was surprisingly well sung. The scenic and costume design was horrible, but at least the performers didn't make your ears bleed.

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 7:58pm

It must be surprisngLY good if it took all those question marks to ask the question.

Updated On: 9/6/09 at 07:58 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 8:04pm

"a community theater of a Broadway musical" implies it is on Broadway. Once something is performed outside of Broadway, even if it started there, it is no longer a "Broadway musical".

[Lumen2]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 8:05pm

Wow, you're really pedantic.

[alightinthedark23]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 8:07pm

When I was in High School they did a pretty good production of Les Mis. From what I remember it was well sung and the costumes looked fantastic.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 8:08pm

Nothing wrong with asking someone to use basic common sense and 3rd grade essay skills when making a post.

[madbrian]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 8:16pm

Over the years, our HS has done remarkably good productions of Les Miserables, How To Succeed..., Children Of Eden, and Annie Get Your Gun.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 9:34pm

Yes...quite frequently. In fact part of my "job" is to supply reviews of community theatre productions to the local papers.

The very best productions can sometimes outshine a professional staging. A few years ago one of our community theatre groups did FALSETTOS. It just happened that the people in the cast and the others behind the scenes all loved this show so much and put so much effort and enthusiasm into it that, as I said to the producer, they could move the production intact to a a downtown theatre and charge full price and no one would know the difference.

One group in Toronto specializes in doing older classics that have not been done here at all. They gave us the Canadian premiere of ALLEGRO a few years ago in a production that was attended by members of the R&H organization. (The production is briefly mentioned in the liner notes for the new CD.) Last Feb they gave us the first ever Toronto production of Cole Porter;s SILK STOCKING and this season they are doing the Richard Rodgers musical REX.

Community theatre has been tainted by some badly played and misguidedly directed productions. Directors are sometimes musical theatre queens who think they know better than the original creators and impose their own unique concepts on shows. Others stick to the original scripts so slavishly that they do intermediate scenes (originally intended to cover scene changes) when they are no longer necessary. The best directors know how to streamline older shows, how to keep the pacing steady and what their audiences will buy.

Ultimately the success or failure of community productions hinges entirely on the enthusiasm of the casts. One local group did 42ND STREET a few years ago and you could tell their hearts just weren't in it. It was a deadly dull production where even in the big chorus numbers you could not hear the singers. Yet I have seen them do other musicals where the energy level was through the roof.

It is a shame that the really bad ones have tainted the reputation of community theatre in general.

[mina3]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 9:41pm

Ugh.

I've seen quite a number of community theatre performances that I'd rank on at least the same level as many Broadway productions. Sure, community theatres rarely have the budgets to put together elaborate sets and costumes, but they do have people who care so much about theatre that they volunteer every spare minute to do what they love and make their productions as good as possible.

Yes, I grew up doing community theatre (and some of my former castmates are now starring on Broadway and in national tours). Yes, my mother is a designer for several theaters in my hometown. Yes, I may be biased, but I hope that working in professional theatre never makes me lose my admiration for the energy, passion, and talent that community theatre artists bring to their stages.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 9:55pm

Granted, I've seen more bad/weak community theatre than good/great...but it does exist.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 9:56pm

I've actually seen quite a few. There used to be a BRILLIANT director here in town who put on some really good shows. I've also seen my fair share of crappy community theatre, but this director was (still is) a genius. We also had a pretty good talent pool here for a while.

[Maceman91]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 10:20pm

It may seemed biased but anyone in my town who enjoys theatre can rave about my community theatre's last production of the music man (our only really decent production). The costumes were professional, but the set was awful and loud and changed by members of the cast who weren't on stage during certain scenes (even leads). There was however one thing we were told we had every performance: passion. I still recall our last performance where we had just completed the chase scene in act 2 and half of us were trying to hide our tears due to it being our final show. I will never forget that production!

[Annas_Priest]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 10:40pm

Tommy at the University on Tennessee earlier this year was AMAZING. Better than some Broadway I have seen.

[legally_popular]

Posted: 9/6/09 at 11:38pm

My old high school put on Beauty and the Beast and the costumes and sets were amazing... well except for Mrs. Potts who looked more like a flowered lemonade pitcher than a tea pot, but I was really in awe of how it looked. If the students could actually sing and act then it could have been a really decent production.

[byebyebaby12]

Posted: 9/7/09 at 1:01am

There is a community theatre I worked with that always has AWESOME sets. Their costumes are not so fabulous but the majority of the talent is. I saw Oliver there and the performances were wonderful, their Bill could have been a professional.

[dented146]

Posted: 9/7/09 at 2:26am

About a month ago the San Diego Junior Theatre performed Les Mis. The theatre draws kids from all over the San Diego area. Most of the leads were 17 and 18 and had 6-10 years of theatre experience. The show was complete with only a couple of words changed. The ensemble numbered about 64.

With the exception of the sets, the show was better than the revival I saw on Broadway. It was remarkable.

[Lorelai]

Posted: 9/7/09 at 12:27pm

Papermnill Playhouse in NJ isn't as painful as I once thought it would be.

[gypsy4]

Posted: 9/7/09 at 1:04pm

check out my community theatre in my town we've always done an exceedingly job.

community theatre! Updated On: 9/7/09 at 01:04 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 9/7/09 at 1:06pm

Papermill Playhouse isn't community theatre.

Neither are college productions.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/7/09 at 1:10pm

"Papermnill Playhouse in NJ isn't as painful as I once thought it would be."

Oh dear God. Some people are so clueless.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/7/09 at 1:11pm

Papermnill Playhouse in NJ isn't as painful as I once thought it would be.

That's because they're not a community theatre. Papermill is a professional, regional theatre that employs Equity actors in all of their shows. In the glory years, many of their productions were just as good (and as lavish), if not better, than a lot of what you'd find on Broadway. They're still usually excellent productions, but not what they once were.