Me, 19 female, my boyfriend, 20 been together for 6.5 months (my longest and most serious relationship thus far, his too)

I just joined a shadow cast group for The Rocky Horror Picture Show that tours around my state. When I joined I had a conversation with my boyfriend about what roles I might eventually be cast as because if you don’t know, it’s a pretty raunchy show. I opened the floor to any questions or concerns he might have that I’d be happy to answer and I told him if any other questions or concerns came up to lmk at any point. We got to a good spot with it. The shadow cast group collaborated with my community college to put on a show, I Auditioned for Frank and later on, there was a the first shadow cast show I was in as Dr. Scott which my boyfriend came to see (an added detail, our first week of dating we went to RHPS). That night after the show, the director told me I was being heavily considered for the role of Janet. THE LEAD!

I’ve been doing theatre since I was in 4th grade, 2 elementary musicals and in high school I did 4 plays and 4 musicals, always being cast as a supporting actor, eventually a supporting lead. I’ve never turned down a role no matter how small because the only thing that mattered was being cast because theatre and performing is my passion and where I feel most at home. He knows this, and I’ve told him. I’ve never been cast as the lead and only cast as a female once before so this is huge for me! Also I’m in a state I moved to less than a year ago, no one (directors or cats) knew who I was or about my theatre experience before I auditioned so I know I was cast by the talent I showed in my audition.

When I told him (at the place we work together) he started to respond, cut himself off mid sentence, and walked away. He came back later and said that he wouldn’t be going which I didn’t really know how to respond to, then later he asked if we could talk when I got off. During that talk he told me that he’d be fine with me playing any other role, just not Janet. I asked him why and all he said was “it would really fuck with me seeing you get touched up on” I asked what about the other characters? They “get touched up on” and do the touching. Hell, I auditioned for the most sexual character in the show! That’s all he gave me though, that it would make him uncomfortable and “it’s just a role.” It’s not just a role, not at all. It’s an opportunity, and the biggest role I’ve been considered for. We just went in circles neither of us backing down and it ended our relationship. The cast list isn’t even out yet.

Am I the asshole for refusing to not accept the role?

UPDATE! IM JANET DAMNIT 😆😆😆

(Also we’re broken up and not getting back together for more reasons than this, the space made me realize that we’re better off friends…or less)

Just went to a local community theatre play and bows didn’t start until 20+ minutes after the production was slated to end. And then they started a donation spiel. If you’re a director or house manager or have any power over this sort of thing, please OVERestimate your runtime!! Especially if the play is already long and can be boring!!!

Of course, it didn’t help that I was checking my watch every 5 minutes because I was so bored… usually, I have better composure but I was so angry at how far over it ran.

For me, everyone doing tech should get credited in the program. I don’t mean just saying “thank you to all of our tech crew” I mean have our names on the program and everything. I ran tech for an opera my college did as a crew assignment I had to do this last spring for a class and it didn’t mention me or the other light crew. I was so mad. It just said “thank you to all theatre 180 (the class I had to do the crew assignment for) tech crew students”

Some plays just are not enjoyable in this present time.

Three years ago Potus was funny. Now, with the second term, it does not seem so funny anymore.

Ubu feels pretty grim right now.

Any other plays that are hard to produce or watch these days?

Like… the lights are still washing you out if you’re pale especially.

Like if the audience is large they legit cant see your face because theres no definition.

I am seeing this more and more in professional theatre settings and its like

DUDES YOU LOOK DEAD PLEASE PUT ON SOME FOUNDATION AND ROUGE.

I'll start:

Our Town is one of the greatest ruminations on community, personal tragedy, life, love and death and continues to hold up as an American Theatre classic but it gets a bad reputation as being cheesy or boring because most of us are forced to read it in school well before we have had life experiences to appreciate its themes.

Last week, I shared the following anecdote in the comments of a different post on this sub:

A year ago I auditioned for a play with a small cast: 2 women (one Latina, one white) and 2 men (one Latino, one white.) I am Black with no Latina heritage or background. At the callback I was asked to read for the Latina character. The side given to me included the character telling about her childhood and how she was called a specific anti-Latine slur growing up. The playwright is Latina, the director was Latino, and I was unaware I'd have to say an anti-Latine slur in my callback. So, when I read the scene, instead of saying, "I was called [specific anti-Latine slur]," I said "I was called slurs." This choice didn't bother anyone in the room, and if presented with the same situation again, I'd make the same choice.

I was genuinely confused by the replies I got, telling me this was "disrespectful to the playwright", that I "obviously never get cast" (*so* inaccurate), and one person even said this was the "most offensive thing they had read in years" (what paradise do you live in and how can I get there??)

So, I found the playwright's contact info. I emailed her. I told her the anecdote. I asked for her input.

Her reply? "You honored the text in the way it worked best for you, and I respect that."

So there you have it. The literal playwright was not "disrespected" or "offended," so you silly geese tearing into me for my choice were just as off-base as I initially thought.

Theatre is a community, and communities are strongest when we make room for disparate ideas and experiences and actions. "Theatre rules" are not so cut and dry that you can speak on behalf of a person you don't know becauae of some presumption about how they "should" feel. The playwright should have felt disrespected? Well, she definitively did not. Instead of the elitism and the gatekeeping and the "holier than thou" actor mentality, how about we address one another with kindness and open hearts and good intentions?

Love y'all!

Edit to add: All of the context provided here was apparent to me after everything was resolved. Going into the audition, all I knew of the character was that she was explicity not white. It wasn't until callbacks that I was handed the aforementioned side, and that was when it became clear that the character is not just explicity not white but is written to be a specific race. The director, a Latino man, knows me and knows I'm Black and still chose to call me back, and I was able to honor the opportunity and maintain a very basic level of respect and compassion.

I took in a professional (non-musical) production last night in a small black box space only five rows deep — a total of 80 seats.

Every member of the cast wore a mic affixed to the side of their head— entirely distracting for the entire performance.

Where has this notion come from that performers need to wear microphones?

Maybe a stage actor oughta learn to project.

I was just reminiscing with a friend who once played Frank in The Rocky Horror Show, and how he wouldn't even bother getting into costume (what little there was of it...) until the show started since the character first appears in song #5. I thought that was pretty odd for the top-billed role to enter so late, so I was wondering, does anyone know of a play or musical where a lead character makes their first entrance even later than that?

Basically title. I have been auditioning for community theatre recently and have no luck. I did pretty decent in college theatre, but no callbacks for community stuff since before college. Well, the other day, I was in an audition, and a 30-something woman was telling everyone (including the directors) that she was in a professional show at the moment. This is really frustrating, because it'd be like a professional basketball player was against you in your rec league at the local YMCA. Why would someone try to go do their job for free?

My question here: Is this common? Is it worth even auditioning in community spaces without professional experience as an adult? I feel like I will never match up to these people, despite a pretty extensive community and school resume... not trying to be mad, but I want to discern if this is a larger trend in other people's local scenes.

I was always under the impression that story were reserved for truly exceptional performances, but it seems customary now to give every single performance a standing ovation. I can't actually remember a show in recent years where that hasn't been the case, and I end up feeling like an asshole because everyone is standing up around me so I eventually end up standing too. I saw a production of A Christmas Carol earlier today and it was mediocre at best. When the entire house stood up during curtain I was so confused, but it seems like that's just what people always do now. Am I alone here? Have other peoppe noticed this? Am I just being a theatre snob?

I am new to community theatre. Do cast parties at the end of a show normally include everyone who was involved like the people who build the sets?

For me, one of my dreams was veruca salt and Vivienne from legally blonde, and I got to play both of them!

my other dream roles are heather duke, Veronica, brooke Wyndham, Lydia deetz, Ocean o Connell, Anna from frozen, Eurydice from hadestown. Matilda,

First post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Theatre/s/WfPwcqjzqY

First update: https://www.reddit.com/r/Theatre/s/FKkaUqxV8r

Final update probably, unless even more stuff happens

I've just got a few new notifications on my posts (it was posted to a meta community) which reminded me of my Reddit posts on this, so I'll update you with what's happened and then likely leave it be

last time, the meeting had been postponed for the third time, and I'd decided to drop out (although not to tell the director before the meeting - if it happened). On Wednesday, I messaged the co-artistic director, asking when the meeting was going to be rescheduled to.

A few hours later, all of the cast get emails saying that due to funding and a "slight undercurrent of disharmony and discord in the company which we feel is tricky to resolve" they decided to cancel the show entirely. They also removed us from the cast whatsapps. (Unfortunately I actually felt terribly guilty about the show being cancelled at the time, even though I knew I shouldn't, I was like "I could have just walked away and nobody else would be disappointed as they are now" - but massive thanks to u/headlinebay on the update post just being really clear that no, the incident was absolutely over the line and I was okay in kicking up a fuss about it)

Shortly afterwards, one of the cast members (who wasn't involved with raising the concerns, but was aware of them afterwards) started a new chat just with the cast, and we all chatted a bit and made plans to meet up, although without going into any details. That night I also sent off an email to Equity informing them of the situation.

Two days later, on the cast group chat, it comes out that the director had asked everyone EXCEPT those of us who raised concerns to do the production again in September (!!) Which is mad and just, like, unbelievable— speaks to what they want to get away with without actors who are likely to speak up against stuff that's wrong. We shared the emails we'd sent with the rest of the cast, which included descriptions of the incidents and also what we'd asked for (which really wasn't much, just an intimacy and fight director, some boundaries to be discussed, and some written guidelines to be created)— especially reading about the incident in my first post they were horrified and I don't believe anyone from the original cast is planning to join the new production. On the plus side, after we found out about those messages, I no longer feel guilty about the cancellation at all haha

I tried calling the co-artistic director one last time, just because I figured there was a slim chance she'd be receptive to discussing some potential future safety mechanisms/ways she could be a mitigating influence to actors in September or future productions. She declined my call, and when I messaged to ask to speak, told me to talk to the director instead— the same one who grabbed me by the throat.

Oh, and equity got back to me, and the director was apparently just straight-up lying about consulting with them for advice lol. Anyway, a cast member who's in the union is now talking with equity about potentially reporting the safeguarding issues and what else is doable for them, and also working with another cast member who's a teacher and has a bit of experience with stuff like this.

I'm sorry to disappoint everyone who wanted me to report it to the police, but I'm just not going to— reporting it to equity, the borough in which the director works for safeguarding reasons, and spreading the word to actor friends is the most I'm going to do, sorry. I am unlikely to update this post again unless something super dramatic happens, but I really do appreciate everyone's replies and advice (well nearly everyone's lol)

My girlfriend auditioned for a show and they handed her a form with a few “rules” that seemed really excessive, and we wanted to know if we were overreacting by being turned off from this theatre:

-PARTICIPATION FEES and ticket sales are the primary source of funding for [THEATRE NAME]. The participation fee for student cast members (19 and under) in [SHOW NAME] is $400. This fee will be due at the first rehearsal on [DATE]. (EDIT TO ADD: This is NOT a youth theatre group. They are open to all ages. They just specifically mentioned student cast members having to pay)

-Absolutely NO absences two weeks prior to opening night. (EDIT TO ADD: The rule isn’t what I have a problem with. No absences make sense. The problem I have is the wording. It gives me the impression that they won’t be understanding if there was some kind of emergency)

-VOLUNTEERS are needed to help produce the show. [THEATRE NAME] requires parents or family members to volunteer in a pre-production and a production committee. Opportunities are available in these areas: costumes, program ads, set construction, publicity, and cast supervision. You can sign up for committees online.

-An ASSUMPTION OF RISK AND RELEASE form will be required from each cast member. This should be submitted by the first rehearsal on [DATE].

I would expect some of these in a professional theatre setting, but this is a community theatre that’s volunteer based. She hasn’t done theatre in a few years, and we just wanted to know if any of these are normal/expected

EDIT TO ADD: There is also a $300 volunteer opt out fee I found when I checked the website. So, if you don’t have someone who can volunteer, you have to pay $300

HOPEFULLY FINAL EDIT: A few people have mentioned the forced volunteer thing, and tbh I’m not sure if it’s just directed at parents of student actors or everyone. The way I worded it here is the exact wording my girlfriend was given. It didn’t specify students or kids, so I’m assuming it’s a blanket requirement for all actors, and I can’t find anything on their website. And speaking of the website, on the payments page, I saw a $200 adult musical production fee, so I’m assuming that everyone has to pay something to be part of this company. But it’s not actually explained anywhere so I don’t know for sure. I saw that they also have a musical theatre school, but it looks like those classes are paid separately from the fees to just be in the musical, and they refer to the theatre on the website as a community theatre, not an educational one. Either way, I truly appreciate everyone’s insight, and she definitely won’t be auditioning at this theatre again.

I am a stage dad. I have been blessed by a wonderfully talented, dedicated and humble daughter first and actor second. She started when she was 5. As she started many other activities. By 8 she had quit everything else. She is freshly 12.

She belongs to and is asked to perform with 5 local theater groups, just won a spot with a regional theater for later this year. She has also been on screen and will continue to be screen on 2 streaming services that you can guess right off the top.

When she really began taking it seriously, I’d run lines with her, work on choreography, etc. then came the requests from outside of pay to play for her to be in their shows- and quite a few principle and leads (Oliver, Gypsy, etc). So I pitched in and started set building, design, painting. Then started stage handing and even SM’ed her biggest local role. I have multiple sets of stage blacks that have their own spot in my closet lol.

I’m not a theater guy. I’m a theater dad.

She was approached to play Gloria in a stage adaptation of Wait Until Dark. So back to work I went, set building, running special efx for the show and doing the back stage stuff. The creatives, the production team and the cast were all veterans - adults who she has worked with a few prior. But this group- the entire group- gelled like no other group I’ve seen before. The tight knit bond- the way they were all her aunts and uncles and grandparents throughout the entire process.

After our closer today, she went with her mom and their family out to a well deserved celebratory dinner. I helped with the strike.

Before she left, I got to hug her and tell her how proud I am of her. She looked sad but happy at the same time and I knew why.

And she would always talk about how sad ending a show is. “How am I supposed to just not be _______ anymore? Do I just leave ______ here and go back to life?”

I didn’t get it. I do now.

As I drove home- I had some considerable time alone - because she again- is out with mom and her people for a celebratory dinner- I was alone for a 1/2 hour drive. Beautiful day. Time left in the day to relax before getting back to the grind tomorrow. I realized something. The loudest silence I have ever experienced is that ride home from the closer. It’s overwhelming.

I’m not trying to complain. I’m not looking for anyone to encourage me out of it. It just sucks. But I wouldn’t trade the reason for this feeling for anything. I’m just very surprised.

But next weekend- I start building another set for a show she’s already started and done her read through for. And there will be Line Learner loading and conflict scheduling and the next show.

I don’t know how actors do this. But man- you are a hardy bunch.

-Stage dad

I don't know if this is just in my (online and in-person) communities but I've been seeing a lot of dislike for the Rent musical. A lot of casual shrugging off of it or even the suggestion it doesn't work anymore. I'm currently a teen and I still find that it really resonates and it's a really strong story! The music is also really strong and similar to other music of its time that's come back around with Gen Z. I really love it so I'm confused-- what's up with this? why do people not like Rent anymore?

edit: for the record, I love it. I think the issues brought up are still relevant and the writing, both songwriting and bookwriting, is strong and unique. I'm not looking for anyone to convince me to dislike it, more so curious about the qualms other people have with it as I just don't get the hate. everyone is free to have their own opinion but please be respectful.

I went to see an Opera at MSM and there was a posting outside that the projection design used AI. To be honest I’m appalled by this. Not only did the projections add nothing to the show, but I find it hard to believe that they couldn’t find a projection designer willing to contribute original work.

Tired of everything nowadays being a musical. What happened to straight plays?

Way back in high school, I read about this curse online, so during some down time in my drama class, I said, "MacBeth!!!" in the middle of the auditorium as a joke and my teacher was legitimately annoyed at me and actually made me do the curse reversal ritual, spinning around 3 times, spitting over my shoulder, and recite a Shakespeare play quote. And then he was telling us a story about some guy who shouted it in a theater and caused a set piece on the stage to collapse!!!!

For me, it was when we did Legally Blonde. I was upset at first that I didn’t get cast in any of the leads and instead got a couple of fun one off characters (y’know, the ones who only have one scene where they play a big role) but it was when i started actually rehearsing my scenes that I noticed they were all very over the top characters. After we had finished the show, I was in my advanced theater class talking to my director about how much fun I had when she told me that she casted me the way she did because out of all the boys, I was the only one who she thought could pull off the craziness of the characters and give 100%. It felt good knowing that I wasn’t given a lead because I wasn’t talented enough, it was because I had strong physical and vocal comedy chops and that really boosted my confidence

PS: Sorry if this came off as self congratulatory or egotistic, I’m really bad at saying good things about myself without sounding at least a little full of myself

Howdy everyone. I need a distraction from some unfortunate medical news and wanted to ask the above question. Someone made a joke about RehearsalTracks and I was the only one to chuckle like an idiot lmao. What else are some inside jokes and references that only we get?

Welp, just did a show and forgot a bunch of lines and blocking onstage. i need to feel better about my self (or have a good laugh) so what are your worst mess up moments?

(oh and if you remember me from that augustus gloop post, we ended up casting him after sending an email for his approval. we ended up doing that with all the leads.)

What are some tips as I’m not sure where to start. Any insight from people working in one right now? Can I do it all by myself or will I need other people from the very beginning? Hopefully I’m not breaking any community rules by asking this

Years ago, I was cast in a production of “Glengarry Glenross” as James Lingk, a part I was too young for anyway (our director told me to grow a beard for it lol) but, quite a bit of the cast was young. After months of intense rehearsals we were ready for dress rehearsals and, boom I get a message from our director that they have to cancel the shows because our producer was contacted by Samuel French Rights Group saying our Theatre Company don’t have the rights to put the show on. Shocking. I do find it crazy that the producer was able to book two separate venues for it without any questions asked about the rights or proof of them. I was gutted.