Worst Pet Peeves in Community Theater- Page 2

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 7/14/23 at 1:08pm

- Actors who are not mic'd.  I don't care how "intimate" your studio theater is. If I've done my homework before attending a performance and can't hear the actors (especially over live musicians), odds are there are a lot of other audience members who are completely lost and have no idea what's going on.

- Multiple email blasts or posts on social media using the phrase "Tickets going fast!", when you can pull up the seating charts for multiple performances and see that tickets are not, in fact, 'going fast' at all.  That one is probably my ultimate pet peeve.  Even worse if it's a "Low ticket warning!"

 

Updated On: 7/14/23 at 01:08 PM

[DooWahDiddy]

Posted: 7/14/23 at 1:40pm

The actors' tendency to change a word or two--on purpose--just because it's the last performance of the run. Like, just stick with the script, Betty.

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 7/14/23 at 10:29pm

sbflyfan said: "- Actors who are not mic'd. I don't care how "intimate" your studio theater is. If I've done my homework before attending a performance and can't hear the actors (especially over live musicians), odds are there are a lot of other audience members who are completely lost and have no idea what's going on.

- Multiple email blasts or posts on social media using the phrase "Tickets going fast!", when you can pull up the seating charts for multiple performances and see that tickets are not, in fact, 'going fast' at all. That one is probably my ultimate pet peeve. Even worse if it's a "Low ticket warning!"

"

Man so I have a very operatic voice as a result of both training and just my natural temperament 

And when I did James and the Giant Peach I played Ladahlord, who has a lot of stuff that meshes very well with that kind of voice

And I'm also a high tenor, but I made my voice darker and more dramatic almost like a baritone or dramatic tenor so that I could give off the vibe I wanted the character to have

Only issue though

They heard me sing and went

"Oh it sounds like opera so let's just put the mic on minimum and sometimes not even turn it on"

And that's fine when I'm singing below an A, because I'm keeping the very legit baritone sound, so it carries

But in one of the songs I sing particularly high in where I use the opt up C#5, I obviously am not going to carry a baritone sound there, and I can't even carry the classical sound above a high C, so I started belting

And the way the mechanics of that work in this context is it becomes obvious I'm don't have a working mic

Belting is louder than legit singing but it doesn't carry as far, so you hear it better from close by and on recordings, but the back of the house probably heard me less than many of the ensemble members whose mics were actually on 

And the worst part

The mic tape was horrible and they used so much of it on my face

It's like I had to go through all of those inconveniences just to have my mic turned off

And also some of my belty bits kind of relied on a mic because obviously I can't be expected to belt above a high C every night and not have occasional flaws, which mics actually often cover if the balance is done well 

I think it's cause the sound guy was an intern 

He's a sweet guy but it was obviously his first time

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 7/14/23 at 10:31pm

DooWahDiddy said: "The actors' tendency to change a word or two--on purpose--just because it's the last performance of the run. Like, just stick with the script, Betty."

Man but it's even worse when they do it every night

And you tell them that's against the MTI contract

And you repeatedly tell them the right line

And they're like 

"It doesn't matter, it's not a Broadway show or anything, guh huh huh"

[PabloJuan]

Posted: 7/15/23 at 11:26am

—Peeking through the curtains before the show

—Too many people in the chorus crammed on stage because the director wants to give everyone a chance

—Screaming at the top of their lungs to show anger

—Chorus members smiling at every moment, no matter what is happening on stage, because their mommies told them to.

—Overacting and chewing the scenery

—Actors obviously waiting around to say their next line without listening to anyone else on stage.

[binau]

Posted: 7/15/23 at 5:19pm

BeingAlive44Ever said: "Man I'm surprised how many people are actually responding

Here's another pet peeve I have

It applies to professional theater to some degree as well, although definitely to a lesser extent

And that

Of course

Is typecasting

I live in a predominantly white area

And I'm Asian

And one day a community theater near me was doing Once on this Island

Now I appreciate that the story doesn't make as much sense if the peasants aren't darker than the Grand Hommes

However

All the cast members other than four were white"

BeingAlive4Ever I agree with you and this may be a problem in professional theatre too! Especially for Asian actors (I would say I find it common now to see black people playing all kinds of roles). I don't know if it's a shortage of talent, although suddenly when there is a revival of The King and I or Pacific Overtures or Flower Drum Song there suddenly appears to be an abundance of Asian talent.

I have seen many professional productions in many Western countries and I can barely think of a time I've seen an Asian lead in a musical that isn't an explicitly Asian character. One of the only times I can think of is when I saw Pearl Sun understudy Alice Ripley towards the end of the next to normal tour. Alice Ripley was in very poor vocal health at the time and missing many performances (I had already missed her on Broadway and wasn't going to miss her again so I booked all 4 weekend performances). Low and behold after the first two weekend performances Alice couldn't make it through the weekend so I had the privilege of seeing Pearl Sun and the dan understudy too, Jason Watson. Pearl had very precise clean vocals that was such a contrast to Alice Ripley (though of course no one ever quite had the edge in the role like Alice did). 

What I love about it, having lived in a western city with a very dense Asian population for many years, the pair just looked like many of the families and colleagues in my life (I'd say friends but "I was younger then..." so I wouldn't say I was friends with many parents lol). There was nothing unusual about it and it didn't feel forced or tokanistic. It was just a great performance of someone who happened to be Asian. I would like to see more of this kind of casting personally.  

Hang in there, I hope your time will come :).

Updated On: 7/15/23 at 05:19 PM

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 7/15/23 at 10:32pm

binau said: "BeingAlive44Ever said: "Man I'm surprised how many people are actually responding

Here's another pet peeve I have

It applies to professional theater to some degree as well, although definitely to a lesser extent

And that

Is typecasting"

BeingAlive4Ever I agree with you and this may be a problem in professional theatre too! Especially for Asian actors (I would say I find it common now to see black people playing all kinds of roles). I don't know if it's a shortage of talent, although suddenly when there is a revival of The King and I or Pacific Overtures or Flower Drum Song there suddenly appears to be an abundance of Asian talent.

I have seen many professional productions in many Western countries and I can barely think of a time I've seen an Asian lead in a musical that isn't an explicitly Asian character. One of the only times I can think of is when I saw Pearl Sun understudy Alice Ripley towards the end of the next to normal tour. Alice Ripley was in very poor vocal health at the time and missing many performances (I had already missed her on Broadway and wasn't going to miss her again so I booked all 4 weekend performances). Low and behold after the first two weekend performances Alice couldn't make it through the weekend so I had the privilege of seeing Pearl Sun and the dan understudy too, Jason Watson. Pearl had very precise clean vocals that was such a contrast to Alice Ripley (though of course no one ever quite had the edge in the role like Alice did).

What I love about it, having lived in a western city with a very dense Asian population for many years, the pair just looked like many of the families and colleagues in my life (I'd say friends but "I was younger then..." so I wouldn't say I was friends with many parents lol). There was nothing unusual about it and it didn't feel forced or tokanistic. It was just a great performance of someone who happened to be Asian. I would like to see more of this kind of casting personally.

Hang in there, I hope your time will come :)."

The only leading Asians who play roles that aren't Asian I can really think of are Phillipa Soo in Hamilton,  Eva Noblezada in Hadestown, and Lea Salonga in Les Mis. 

Now, that being said, just recently I had a huge win for the very small Asian population in my area

In James and the Giant Peach, James was cast as white, but I play an older version of James who serves as the narrator and gets to sing a whole lot

And it was so cool for me because there was a white person with the same hair color as the James who wasn't that much worse than me but I was given the role just based on how prepared I was and that was awesome

So my time is either fast approaching or is right now

Thank you so much by the way

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 7/15/23 at 10:38pm

PabloJuan said: "—Peeking through the curtains before the show

—Too many people in the chorus crammed on stage because the director wants to give everyone a chance

—Screaming at the top of their lungs to show anger

—Chorus members smiling at every moment, no matter what is happening on stage, because their mommies told them to.

—Overacting and chewing the scenery

—Actors obviously waiting around to say their next line without listening to anyone else on stage."

Peeking through the curtain is one that can be somewhat fine sometimes, it is done in professional theater, though it's done professionally

When little kids just peek out of the curtain for no reason it's kind of annoying

And sometimes the chorus is full of literally incapable people

And the less competent somebody is, the more confident they are

By extension

They're very very loud and ruin it for everybody

But the shouting thing is the worst, especially in musicals

Like even when I scream for a gag, I generally just sing a quarter tone above an A very loudly and let it sound kind of like a scream (totally just modifying what they do in Wicked)

Shouting is so bad for your singing voice and it just bugs me

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 7/15/23 at 10:58pm

Pre-recorded orchestral tracks. If you can't find a single musician, do a play.

Related to that: music directors that don't know how to play piano. I'm not asking them to be virtuosic, but if you can't at least muscle your way through a song, how do you expect to teach it to an actor?

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 7/16/23 at 10:10pm

Alex Kulak2 said: "Pre-recorded orchestral tracks. If you can't find a single musician, do a play.

Related to that: music directors that don't know how to play piano. I'm not asking them to be virtuosic, but if you can't at least muscle your way through a song, how do you expect to teach it to an actor?"

That first one I find somewhat excusable if the direction and actors are all good, and especially in areas without many people

But man the second one bugs me to know end

Sometimes I'll know more about music than my music directors and I'll get really frustrated

I think it's best to find actual singing teachers/voice coaches to do music direction and pay them super duper well

Instead of literal substitute teachers

[Lanie J]

Posted: 8/7/23 at 9:59am

Show Selection Committees who care too much about prestige and innovation and not enough about putting butts in seats. In my small-town theater, audiences aren't adventurous. As fun as it can be to do regional premiere after regional premiere, those shows don't sell tickets and don't make nearly enough money to justify the expense. Innovation is fun, but if you want to keep the lights on and make sure your theater exists another season, you have to sandwich your obscure innovation in between "Guys and Dolls" and "Mamma Mia." Either you just do the hits or you do a balance of hits and misfits. But you can't sustain yourself if you just do misfits. And then, when the theater closes, there's nothing.

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/7/23 at 12:18pm

Owen22 said: You know what my pet peeve is. Calling a show--done for the love of theatre, done between one or two jobs, or schoolwork, or housekeeping, done between no sleep, no time at home--GARBAGE. It would be nice to have a director or actor or tech designer with talent, but that's not necessarily what community theatre IS! Again, it's love of the art form. I have had to stifle laughs at many an Am Dram or community theatre production, but I always appreciate the work and the sacrifices (at home and on stage) amateur theatre makers have to make."

 

Well put.

 

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 8/7/23 at 1:54pm

Lanie J said: "Show Selection Committees who care too much about prestige and innovation and not enough about putting butts in seats. In my small-town theater, audiences aren't adventurous. As fun as it can be to do regional premiere after regional premiere, those shows don't sell tickets and don't make nearly enough money to justify the expense. Innovation is fun, but if you want to keep the lights on and make sure your theater exists another season, you have to sandwich your obscure innovation in between "Guys and Dolls" and "Mamma Mia." Either you just do the hits or you do a balance of hits and misfits. But you can't sustain yourself if you just do misfits. And then, when the theater closes, there's nothing."

I can feel this.  I'm on the board of a community theatre in a small, conservative area and have to fight against my own esoteric taste when seeking out material for our Production Committee.  Our turnout isn't great anyway, but we get decent crowds when we do something like Into the Woods, Chicago, or Prescription: Murder but when we did something like Marjorie Prime almost nobody showed up. We really have to thread the needle in finding stuff with name recognition or that could attract families while also doing something meaningful.

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/7/23 at 5:49pm

People acting like divas (male or female) when they barely fit the part or can remember thier lines.

Tacky scenery and costumes,even if its Only community theater,which is an excuse ive heard and an expression I dislike immensely. 

Doing the same tired pieces inadfiniteum. There are plenty of pieces that aren't overexposed, that would draw audiences. 

Community theatre should not equate to rank amateur.

 

 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/7/23 at 5:57pm

Also, community theaters that charge way too much for tickets. There's a theater down in south Jersey that uses Ticketmaster, and with fees, center orchestra seats are $75.

[Boq101]

Posted: 8/8/23 at 9:05pm

The lack of imagination. When they spend so much money to make the cheapest looking and most dangerous looking version on a musical you've ever seen.