A little while ago, I decided that I will take a break from acting. I've earned it: 10 shows in 12 months! But when I am ready to restart, I have a few thoughts.
(1) No more plays that I don't like. I thought "Shakespeare in the Trailer Park" wasn't a very good play. And "42nd Street" was pretty bad, too. Sure, everyone loves "42nd Street". "42nd Street" had some great musical numbers, but in between the musical numbers -- the actual play itself -- it sucked. I've had a philosophy of "getting my name out": auditioning everywhere and taking whatever role was offered to me. Well, no! If I don't like the play, I won't even bother. I haven't come up with a strategy for original plays ("Shakespeare in the Trailer Park" was an original work, so I couldn't go to the book store and look it up).
(2) I have nothing against small parts, so long as I am building my skills and learning something. I have nothing against a small part so long as the part is interesting. No more "phoning in" my performance! The beadseller in "Murder on the Nile" was a small part, but I learned so much from the director and from working with the theatre company. On the other hand, my part in "Shakespeare in the Trailer Park"? Nothing. My part in "42nd Street"? Nothing. These parts didn't challenge me. I didn't learn anything, and I didn't improve my skill-set one bit. Why bother?
(3) If I don't feel like people care about the part, it's not for me. For all the problems with "Shakespeare in the Trailer Park", I never felt like people didn't care about my character, small as it was. The directors gave me direction. They got me costumes. And I heard several times from the audience that I was one of the favorite parts of the play. For my part in "42nd Street"? Well, not so much. The directors spent so much time and energy on the huge dance numbers that they didn't seem to think about the "play" itself. I saw signs of that with the performances of the other actors and some of the staging. From my own end, I received little to no stage direction. Was it because I am so amazing that I knocked the ball out of the ballpark from the very start? Or was it because the directors were so involved with the dance numbers that they didn't have time for anything else? I had the flexibility of reworking my character the way I wanted, portraying him differently from how anyone has ever portrayed him. What did the directors think? I have no idea. I don't think they even noticed. A week and a half before opening night, I realized that they had no costumes for me, so I had to buy the costumes myself. Why? Because my character wasn't in most of the dance numbers, so no one cared. As for the audience? Maybe I did an amazing performance that wow'd everyone, but by the ending everyone has forgotten about that because of the dance numbers. This is incredibly dissatisfying. If no one cares about a role, then it's not for me.
(4) Multiple performances at the same time? Let's limit that. Starting at the end of January, I had rehearsal for "42nd Street" and "Shakespeare in the Trailer Park", and I had my acting class. One day, I was asked to be in a one-day filming of a student film. This was all a bit too much! I need to drop back, to perhaps one play and one class at most. I'll still be open to things like that student film, but that will be all. When I think back to the fact that in less than 12 months, I was in 10 plays, I must wonder whether or not I am insane!
(5) Let's hold off on musicals for a while. Simple fact: I don't like musicals. Also, I don't sing particularly well, which by definition means I will not have a major part in a musical (since, presumably, a major part will require singing a solo or a duet). Also, many musicals are severely lacking in interesting characters and dramatic opportunity. In "Godspell", the "acting" was essentially just fooling around. In "42nd Street", most of the cast are just there to be in a dance number . . . they don't even have personalities. Sure, I have never been turned down from a musical (I suspect this is because most musical productions badly need men), but I don't enjoy them either.
(4) Multiple performances at the same time? Let's limit that. Starting at the end of January, I had rehearsal for "42nd Street" and "Shakespeare in the Trailer Park", and I had my acting class. One day, I was asked to be in a one-day filming of a student film. This was all a bit too much! I need to drop back, to perhaps one play and one class at most. I'll still be open to things like that student film, but that will be all. When I think back to the fact that in less than 12 months, I was in 10 plays, I must wonder whether or not I am insane!
(5) Let's hold off on musicals for a while. Simple fact: I don't like musicals. Also, I don't sing particularly well, which by definition means I will not have a major part in a musical (since, presumably, a major part will require singing a solo or a duet). Also, many musicals are severely lacking in interesting characters and dramatic opportunity. In "Godspell", the "acting" was essentially just fooling around. In "42nd Street", most of the cast are just there to be in a dance number . . . they don't even have personalities. Sure, I have never been turned down from a musical (I suspect this is because most musical productions badly need men), but I don't enjoy them either.
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