The Green Room - What's the "straight play" turn off?

Reply #20 - Jun 27^th, 2008 at 11:27pm

TenorJew Offline
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I personally love straight plays almost as much as musicals. Unfortunately, I usually get cast in musicals because I can sing and fake dance, and as such I've developed a lot more familiarity with musical theatre than non-musical theatre. Some of my most fun theatre experiences, though, were doing things like Caucasian Chalk Circle or Cash on Delivery! in high school, and if I thought I could get cast in plays as often as I'm cast in musicals, I'd audition for them much more often. But, just like musicals, straight plays rely mostly on type; and most theatres, especially in Utah, rely on familiar faces. At stops like SLAC or Plan-B or USF, I'm still just a college student without his Equity card, who, 90% of the time, doesn't fit the role. And on top of that, there are much better actors going for the roles. So, my resume ends up dominated by what I know best: musicals.

Hell yeah for CaucChalk!

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Reply #21 - Jun 28^th, 2008 at 1:52am

neverquitethelead Ex Member

TenorJew wrote on Jun 27^th, 2008 at 11:27pm:

Quote:

I personally love straight plays almost as much as musicals. Unfortunately, I usually get cast in musicals because I can sing and fake dance, and as such I've developed a lot more familiarity with musical theatre than non-musical theatre. Some of my most fun theatre experiences, though, were doing things like Caucasian Chalk Circle or Cash on Delivery! in high school, and if I thought I could get cast in plays as often as I'm cast in musicals, I'd audition for them much more often. But, just like musicals, straight plays rely mostly on type; and most theatres, especially in Utah, rely on familiar faces. At stops like SLAC or Plan-B or USF, I'm still just a college student without his Equity card, who, 90% of the time, doesn't fit the role. And on top of that, there are much better actors going for the roles. So, my resume ends up dominated by what I know best: musicals.

Hell yeah for CaucChalk!

Why thank you sir

I had the pleasure of being the Governor (and I got my face molded out of latex so they could behead me!), the cranky old man who "dies," and Shauwa, the judicial sidekick. It was great fun!

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Reply #22 - Jun 29^th, 2008 at 1:57pm

BigMonkey Offline
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spiker wrote on Jun 19^th, 2008 at 8:46am:

Why are you more likely to audition for a musical than a straight play?

Mainly because I just love to sing, and I've got a pretty good voice.

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What was the last straight play you were in?

Tim Slover's Joyful Noise. I played a despondent George Frederick Handle

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What was the last one you saw?

Suddenly! Production's presentation of "ClosetLand" It was amazing.

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And (god forbid) what was the last DRAMA you saw?

The aformentioned ClosetLand.. oh! and The Heiress at Pioneer Theatre Company. Amazingly powerful.

You can't get a "yes" if you never ask the question.

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Reply #23 - Jun 30^th, 2008 at 1:30pm

Captain Malcolm Reynolds Offline
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I felt the urge to bring up this little company I learned about called the Around the Globe Theatre Company: http://www.aroundtheglobetc.com/ So far, after being around for four years and 6 going on 7 big productions, they have yet to solely produce a musical. They are currently getting started on the Glass Menagerie, one of the best straight plays of all time, at least in my humble opinion. There are others doing mostly or all straight plays like Pinnacle or StageRight. It is true that Joseph with his coat of many colors has always and will continue to dominate Utah's theatrical landscape but there is a real variety out there. You just have to look for it when auditioning or being a patron of the arts. I recently watched a straight play, I won't say when and where, but it was filled with people who have obviously either just done musicals or never acted and it wasn't very good. I guess I brought that up because I feel there is a real difference between being good at musicals than there is at being good at straight plays. I'm not saying you can't be good at both, but there is most certainly a different style to performing one than there is the other and not everyone is ready to jump from musicals to straight plays or the other way around.

If someone tries to kill you, you kill them right back!

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Reply #24 - Jul 2^nd, 2008 at 8:24am

DesertPirate Offline
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I think to go back to the original topic hear about Turn Offs for straight plays. IMHO it is mainly the production values. Its hard to put a single box set up with two guys talking about how screwed up their childhood was against a multi-scene musical with a moving stage and seemingly hundreds of people swirling around cavorting to music. Compelling acting aside in either genre, as an audience you have a sense that you have a better chance at getting your dollars worth of entertainment out of going to a big name musical then a no-name play (even if the play is a pulitzer prize winning masterpiece that won the Tony). Until the general notion towards theatre changes musicals will always pull more crowds. So how does one change the preception that plays aren't as entertaining as musicals?I think this goes back to a concept of knowing your audience. You have to move the masses slowly towards the goal like driving cattle, otherwise they will stampede away from you, if they get spooked too much.

As an actor, I find that there tends to be a schism on the "straight" play side of things. I find that more often then not they think, because I have been in predominatly musicals, that I somehow dont posess the "chops" to do their play. As if there is a hallmark of acting that once you hit it, you don't need to decend to the lowly levels of the musical theatre. IE: robinhoodactors post, about inferior acting from musical theatre players. I think most of us here would agree that good acting is good acting whether it has the backing of music or not. And the that the ability to derive the pace and tempo and meaning from lyrics really is the same as deriving it from the lines in the script. Some people have it and others need a lot of directing help to get it.

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Reply #25 - Jul 2^nd, 2008 at 8:55am

The Dark Knight Ex Member

DesertPirate wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2008 at 8:24am:

I think to go back to the original topic hear about Turn Offs for straight plays. IMHO it is mainly the production values. Its hard to put a single box set up with two guys talking about how screwed up their childhood was against a multi-scene musical with a moving stage and seemingly hundreds of people swirling around cavorting to music. Compelling acting aside in either genre, as an audience you have a sense that you have a better chance at getting your dollars worth of entertainment out of going to a big name musical then a no-name play (even if the play is a pulitzer prize winning masterpiece that won the Tony). Until the general notion towards theatre changes musicals will always pull more crowds. So how does one change the preception that plays aren't as entertaining as musicals?I think this goes back to a concept of knowing your audience. You have to move the masses slowly towards the goal like driving cattle, otherwise they will stampede away from you, if they get spooked too much.

As an actor, I find that there tends to be a schism on the "straight" play side of things. I find that more often then not they think, because I have been in predominatly musicals, that I somehow dont posess the "chops" to do their play. As if there is a hallmark of acting that once you hit it, you don't need to decend to the lowly levels of the musical theatre. IE: robinhoodactors post, about inferior acting from musical theatre players. I think most of us here would agree that good acting is good acting whether it has the backing of music or not. And the that the ability to derive the pace and tempo and meaning from lyrics really is the same as deriving it from the lines in the script. Some people have it and others need a lot of directing help to get it.

I think you're absolutely right about the potential turn-offs.

I do think that the style of acting in a musical is usually a little different from in a straight play, in the same way that the style of acting in film is different from stage, and it requires some adjustment to move from one medium to another. But it can be done. Nathan Lane and Kristin Chenoweth would lead me to believe even a good �Broadway musical actor doesn't work well on film. Hugh Jackman tells me that's an unfair generalization. It's a mistake to think that being a muscial actor likely makes you an inferior actor. As Gershwin would say "It ain't necessarily so." Some musical performers are more gifted in song and dance than acting. Some are actually better at the acting. There are actually a few who are equally gifted at all three.

As someone who lacks the ability to sing and dance, no one would be better served than me by the idea that non-musical actors tend to be better ACTORS than musical actors. But, if I look at the performers in local theatre I really admire, it just doesn't bare that out. A good actor is a good actor. Some can also sing, and some can't.

When casting my most recent film project, I was strongly encouraged to stay away from "stage" actors, because they're "too big on film". I auditioned close to a hundred people, and most of the leads did, in fact, go to "stage actors" (who, in this case, are capable of make the adjustment to film style), because they happened to be the BEST actors. I find it highly preferable to judge performers on their individual strengths and weaknesses. Making assumptions based on the medium in which they most often work may be a short cut to narrow down your castying process, but you could easily lose your best prospects that way.

« Last Edit: Jul 2^nd, 2008 at 6:02pm by N/A »

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Reply #26 - Jul 14^th, 2008 at 4:28pm

Badly burnt Albanian boy Offline
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Why are you more likely to audition for a musical than a straight play?

I'm not acutally. I love musicals because I can sing, but hate them cause I have to dance. And I love straight plays because I love to act, and I feel the stories are more real.

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�What was the last straight play you were in?

I was Tommy in The Hasty Heart

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What was the last one you saw? �And (god forbid) what was the last DRAMA you saw?

I saw Othello last year, and also The Orphan a while ago.

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If you prefer musicals as an actor or audience member, why?

The main reason that I love musicals so much is because I love to sing. I wish that I could be using my voice to portray a story as moving as Rent or Spring Awakening. I do not think that one form of theatre is better than the other. I feel that each require a certain taste, some like one and not the other, and some like them both equally. I like both equally.

As mentioned above in one of the posts, I too have noticed that most of the community theatres do musicals, and that is where I have a better chance of getting a part. I am not equity, and I am not known but by a few, so getting a part in some of the theatres that do primarily straight plays is difficult for me. But, I love acting and will continue to audition wherever I can!

Why can't a heterosexual guy tell a heterosexual guy that he thinks his booty's fly?

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