do you think the people in Phantom get tired of the show

[massofmen]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 10:59am

I mean, I cannot understand why someone would want to be the "whip guy" for 5 years in a Broadway show.
Is this really what actors went to school for? To be the "whip guy" in a 20 yr old show?

It seems like Phantom is where actors go to kill their careers. I am not an actor and do not know, but I was just thinking that these kids go into school thinking about creating and making a name for themselves, and then they get cast in the Phantom tour or Broadway show and then live there for years because they can't get another gig. Maybe because they are really just singers and not actors anyway, or maybe fear of unemployment and uncertinty takes hold and they settle for massive mediocrity.

So all that they "learned" from CCM or Michigan or Carnegie Mellon, goes out the door with their innate creative abilities as their souls begin to crumble thinking of going to the theater again tonight to say "lot 665..thank you sir" for the 550th time.
If i were an actor and had to be in a show for 5 yrs i wonder which one it would be. I think Phantom might be my last choice, with My Fair Lady and Camelot a close second and third.

I think Urinetown might be first (because i believe it to be one of the best musicals in the past decade), followed closely by Sweeney. Shows that actually require acting abilities, unlike the masked man floating in a lagoon 8 times a week.

Thoughts?

[Tevye the Dairyman]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:03am

i'm sure it all feels better once they get that paycheck and can continue to live comfortably with a steady acting gig in new york city. its a job.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:03am

They do get a paycheck every week.

Many of these actors have families to support in addition to themselves, and steady employment is more important than auditioning for new shows where they might risk becoming unemployed if it isn't a success.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:06am

People in ANY show get tired of what they're doing at some point. In any job, in fact.

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:08am

Yeah....

George Lee Andrews once told a great story about how he was very very tempted to go audition for Good Vibrations because he was "tired of doing Phantom"...

[ifuweregay93]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:10am

Then after it flopped, he would have gone back.

[gypsy4]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:11am

the cast members probly call phantom there home.

[canmark]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:20am

I think you could say the same thing about most occupations. You may have gone to college or university, or studied a trade, but at the end of the day you're just pushing papers in an office, or working on an assembly line, or bringing somebody size 9's at the shoe store, unclogging somebody's drains, or bringing somebody their dinner, doing somebody's taxes, or balancing a budget. Most jobs are not that exciting. But even a bit player in the theatre gets to hear applause every night. You may get to work with other talented people who become your work family. And you may get the chance to be "discovered" to to find other lucrative work in commercials, or voiceovers, or hosting, or other jobs that performers can do in their off hours to earn money. It may not be a "dream," but it's a living.

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:28am

You'd be surprised.

Every "whip guy" is different. You may have one who is very appreciative of being the whip guy because he realises that barely anyone makes it in the first place, and that there are hundreds of people dying to be the whip guy. But then there are others who are just dying to get out of there.

If I were in that situation I'd say, "F**k, if I have to be a whip guy, then I'm gonna be the best damn whip guy that I can be!" I think any actor who loves their job would take this approach. Most actors become very close to the show they're doing, and they kind of becoming a family. They have to be really miserable to not enjoy their job.

[CurtisTaylorJr2]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 11:36am

As long as the checks are coming in, it's not that big of a deal for them. A job is a job.
Updated On: 1/18/09 at 11:36 AM

[sally1112]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 3:29pm

I know people in the audience do...

[skb2010]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 3:29pm

I think it's better than being unemployed. And every show is different. Maybe not in a huge way, but there may be understudies, a good or bad audience, or a new cast member. I'm sure it may get monotonous, but if you love what you do, it's worth it.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 3:40pm

The Whip Guy is actually called the Slave Master. Many actors in Phantom stay for a long time because they are comfortable there and enjoy working with each other. Also, many people involved in Phantom are not necessarily musical theatre actors. Many have been experienced/trained opera singers or ballet dancers who are making a comfortable living, and when they eventually leave the show, they go back to their vocal performance world.

[amalou]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 4:06pm

I agree with the idea that you could get tired of anything you're in if you are in it long enough. On the one hand, I understand the frustration, and on the other...you're in a Broadway show. There are so many people who would bend over backwards to take your spot in an instant.

All the same, I'd rather be the "whip guy" for five years and make money doing it than flip burgers.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 4:12pm

I agree with what everyone else has said about it being a job and getting paid, so that is probably the main reason a lot of them stay. I just saw this show for the first time yesterday, and I bet they might keep people as long as they are willing to stay because you need to be a really strong singer for that show. And some of those girls need to be great ballet dancers too.

[Little-Lotte]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 4:47pm

As what many others have already said, it's steady work in a BROADWAY show. 99.9% of performers who have worked on Broadway aren't Patti LuPone or Sutton Foster who are so famous they get offered roles or are able to jump from new original show to new original show. Everyone else does the endless round of auditions until they get cast. So yeah, Phantom has been running forever and the cast members have been doing it for years but it's steady work and if they wish they can still audition and do other projects during the day. Many of them will do other things besides just Phantom. Also a show like Phantom also provides the flexibility that if you leave you are also welcome back.

It's my belief that if an actor who graduated from the so-called "big name theatre schools" is complaining because they only have a bit role in a Broadway show then, in my opinion, they don't deserve to be an actor and there are thousands of talented people who will happily take their place.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 5:17pm

"99.9% of performers who have worked on Broadway aren't Patti LuPone or Sutton Foster who are so famous they get offered roles or are able to jump from new original show to new original show."

For that matter, even Patti LuPone isn't able to jump from new original show to new original show. As she herself said in the Times Talk interview, she has rarely originated roles.

[je veux te voir2]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 5:23pm

a job is a job.

I'm sure people working at whatever banal desk jobs don't consider that to be a part of their "dream" either. But its work.

C'est la vie.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 5:41pm

Think of the rewards. It is doing what they love to do, entertaining an audience 8 times a week.

[nealb1]

Posted: 1/18/09 at 6:20pm

Being in a show...........either a short run, or a long run like "Phantom," is a job. These are people who are employed, making money. I suppose, just like other jobs that people have...........Admin Assistant, Server, Manager, etc.......things can get rather mundane and routine after awhile. But, that's life.

It's that person's choice to be tired or not.

"The Whip Guy," or the Slave Master as he's billed as, is making more money in 1 week than the average person. So, I would say that's very, very lucky.

Massofmen, you're very bitter about this. Did you audition for the show and not get cast? If you don't like the show, then don't see it. Actually, the next time you're in NYC, go to the stage door and ask the performers when they are leaving, if they are bored and report back to use as to what they say. We'd love to hear it!



Updated On: 1/18/09 at 06:20 PM

[amalou]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 11:17am

Little-Lotte: "It's my belief that if an actor who graduated from the so-called 'big name theatre schools' is complaining because they only have a bit role in a Broadway show then, in my opinion, they don't deserve to be an actor and there are thousands of talented people who will happily take their place."

Well said. I couldn't have put it better myself :)

[Craig]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 11:51am

massofmen-

while you bring up an interesting question (regardless of how you phrased or explained it) - have you ever posted anything positive? I just did a quick check(because from my memory I can't recall any) via clicking on your profile and read your last several posts dating back since November and couldn't find anything you say that's positive, supportive or about something you like.

Not that you have to like anything and everything. I'm just curious what are things you do like?

[ThatBroadwayBitch]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 2:01pm

I do wonder this also. I still love Phantom of the Opera because I have so many memories of going to the show with my grandfather when I was very young. However the last time I went I saw an understudy that had been in the show for 20 years. I can't believe that he's been doing that same show since I was 4 years old. Now that's job security.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 2:12pm

Yes.

[ChristineAngel]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 2:24pm

I don't know if Howard will ever get tired of the show =P haha. He is a really good phantom though, but it's about time for him to let someone else have the role.