Theater group pet peeves-

¡Hola mis amigos!

Apologies for the long hiatus, I have been working on a new creative story and all of my motivation has been going there-

My school’s musical for next year is rumored to be ‘Annie’ and I am very excited. I want to go out for Lilly, Roosters girlfriend. I know she isn’t the most challenging character to play, but I want some practice in portraying deeper than surface level character- plus, she’s a soprano and I’m a alto- so that will be interesting.

Without further adieu, here is a collection of shifty things that can make theater people seem, well, shitty.

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1. “This musical will be a disaster“

- yes, perhaps it is a little rough around the edges, but negativity will get you no where! When we were putting on The Addams Family, we were sure it would blow up on stage, but we haven’t had a better rated show in the history of the musical! Perseverance and a little positivity pays off, my friend.

2. “I’m never going to get a lead role anyways,”

- you say this either because you are not confident in your abilities (which you should be! You have amazing stage presence and the crowd will love you!) OR

And this is a biggie that my TAC suffers from

you are fishing for compliments-

and I understand that you probably have low self esteem and you want people to say nice things about you -

but

take it from me- you will know it isn’t genuine and you will feel even worse about yourself later.

FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT!

It works, I promise to you!!! Also, if you think, or even PRETEND that you are good, people will believe that you are good, and they will compliment you.

3. “Crew sucks this year”

-stop. right now. you have no idea how hard crew works to make your stage presence etherial. Any performer who doesn't appreciate their crew automatically gets a 0/10 from me. Exit stage left, fellow, what crew does for you MAKES your preformance. Also- I have known crew members to ‘accidentally’ donk rude cast members on the head with set pieces - beware.

4. Gay and mean is NOT A PERSONALITY

-yes, I stole that from a big mouth episode- but it still stands! Being a flamboyant actor is not bad- being a mean actor, is. Being gay does not mean that you are infallible.

5. “I didn’t get cast because I am gay/lgbtq/chubby/ugly.”

- yes, type casting is a thing BUT I doubt you got passed for your dReAm roLE because the director is biased against you. yes, I do know that this exists and happens, but please take some deeper looks at yourself and take that time to develop as an actor, instead of thinking the world is against you.

6. Being nice to a younger actor to their face and making fun of their showmanship behind their back.

-just, don’t, okay? Dig deep into your soul and realize that you are threatened by their talent and showmanship. Don’t you dare discourage anybody from singing, dancing, or theater. If you do, you are a shit human being- I don’t care your motives.

Young actors, realize they are jealous of all of your abilities. This doesn’t make it okay, but let it offer an explanation to their disgusting behavior.

7. late actors

-who are late for literally no reason. show some initiative

(this excludes sufferers from mental illness- I feel you. See above “no reason”, so this statement does not apply to you)

8. Actors bringing their significant others (non-alumni) or friends backstage before a performance.

-this is just inconsiderate. This happened a lot for the girls changing area, where other girls would bring their partners back to while we were changing. It make for a really uncomfortable atmosphere where we didn’t feel safe where we should have. If you insist on doing this, please call into the room to make sure everything is put away and clear.

9. not knowing your music/steps is NOT quirky

- I know it sounds crazy, but I know actors who would brag about how they didn’t know their music up until show week. Maybe it was to prove their ability to improvise? I do not know, but learn your music.

10. Actors who will stab anyone in the back to appear infallible to the directors.

I feel like this explains itself- the way to the top isn’t by dragging others down or, as Oliver Warbucks said, “I was fine being horrible to the people on the way up because I wasn’t going to see them on the way back down” except that isn‘t true in TAC. Sure, you might be the favorite, but then you graduate and you come back for celebrations and you realize that nobody there is your friend. It’s just not worth it

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A little somber of a tone but ya know- what can you do? Hope you enjoyed!!