May 30, 2008
Honest Criticism or Feel-Good Reviews?
One thing I’ve always wanted from my friends and co-workers that I never receive is honest-to-God constructive criticism. It’s just so hard to get people to tell you what they think of the shows that I’ve done. No one will give a straight answer when all is said and done.
Your parents will always love your performance, no matter what. And even if they didn’t, they’d never tell you.
Your friends and castmates don’t want to hurt your feelings (or ruin future networking ops).
Your director doesn’t want to lower morale and/or admit that he/she screwed up in casting you.
Any random audience member is going to say SOMETHING positive to your face.
Critics’ reviews, if any, are generally going to focus on the show as a whole rather than individual things you can do to improve your own performance.
When I took my first Directing class and had to direct a one-act, one thing that Doc told us was that we were not allowed to perform in our own show. His reasoning was simple: you can’t see yourself on-stage
In film and TV, you often have directors making cameos or even starring in their own shows. This works because of the simple fact that they can see themselves on screen and see if it works or not. An actor on stage can’t do that.
As an actor, I rely on someone else to tell me what I can do to better my performance. Not a show has gone by where I haven’t asked the director on multiple occasions what I could do better — ESPECIALLY on nights when he doesn’t give me notes at all. It’s imperative to me that each performance be better than the last, and there’s no note that I hate worse than “You’re fine”.
Fine? That doesn’t help me at all. First of all, the entire performance can’t be “fine”. There’s always, always room for improvement. So what parts are “fine”, what parts are “good” and what parts are “not-so-good”? Help me out here, man.
As a director, I strive to provide as much honest criticism to my cast and crew as possible. If I’m not happy with the way something is going, I speak up. If someone is talking too fast, I slow them down. If someone keeps changing the blocking, I put them back on track. If someone is seriously misinterpreting a character or doesn’t understand a punch line or is simply reciting his lines or seems to stumble over her lines, I’ll speak up. I’m not going to be rude about it, but I’m going to be firm.
“Matt, you need to slow down.”
“Okay.”
(later)
“Matt, you need to slow down.”
“Okay.”
“No, listen. Your character is setting up all of Zoe and Adam’s punch lines, so the audience needs to be able to understand you. You’re speaking so fast that nobody will get the punch lines, because they didn’t understand the joke. Make sense?”
“Ohhhh, i see.”
“Yeah. Slow down.”
The above example is a true story from my last show. I had to tell his one guy to slow down every five minutes. It was insane. Opening night, he was still a little fast, but he had slowed down considerably — enough for the audience members who paid attention to get almost all of the jokes. He often came to me after rehearsals and said “How am I doing?”
I refused to answer with just “You’re fine.” On the nights when he did well, I told him so. “You were a lot slower tonight, which is good. You didn’t miss very many lines at all, which is good. You’ve got the personality of the character down pat, although he’s a little more sarcastic and a little less nice. Overall, good job. I have some specific notes that i”ll give you tomorrow.”
I’m pretty sure he appreciated my candor.
I want YOU to be the best actors you can be. I’m going to do everything in my power to make that happen.
So why doesn’t anyone else do the same for me?
May 26, 2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
This one will be short and sweet.
Go see the new Indy movie, if you haven’t already. It’s good.
May 21, 2008
All Work and No Play isn’t fun.
I didn’t get into any graduate programs this year
Well…
…there’s always next year, right?
Right.
I wrote the guy back at my top choice, and I said “What can I do to improve my chances at getting in next year?” and he wrote back and basically offered some advice that boiled down to “You have a passion for directing. Keep directing!” He also told me to email him mid-Fall if I was interested in applying again next year. I hope that’s a good thing.
So now I have a problem. I’m working over an hour away from my home, and I work 8-9 hours per day. By the time I get home, I’m exhausted, I’ve spent 11 hours away from home, and I want to eat and go to sleep. I get home between 7 and 8pm, and from all of my previous experience, that’s too late for any decent rehearsal period at any show.
So what am I to do?
I got a few options.
I can find another job that’s closer to home. Or I can move closer to my current day job (web developer). Or I can just not direct. I don’t really think that last one’s an option. I have to get some experience somehow, and I have to do some theatre or I’ll go crazy.
Just kind of in a crappy situation, I guess.
May 19, 2008
Boil, boil, boil in a hot steaming kettle of beezelnut oil!
C.S. Lewis wrote a book called “Mere Christianity”, in which he boiled down the essence of Christianity (as he saw it) and put it in a book. He claimed that this was the merest essence of Christianity, that the rest was basically politics.
An article I read recently did something similar. The author discussed boiling down all the advice you can give for a given topic into seven words. Here’s a quote from the article:
“The author Michael Pollan offered an elegant seven-word mantra in his best-selling book “In Defense of Food” that provides clarity amid the bounty of choices on supermarket shelves: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Boiling down investing is a similar exercise: Index (mostly). Save a ton. Reallocate infrequently.”
(source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/17/business/yourmoney/17money.html?_…)
As you can see, they boiled down the advice for food (”Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”) into seven words, as well as investing (”Index. Save a ton. Reallocate frequently.”)
I’d like to hear your thoughts and see what you guys can boil down regional theatre (or theatre in general) into seven words. No more, no less.
Bring it on!
May 14, 2008
Crappy Musicals (and Movies that Never Were)
A few years ago at my alma mater, I enjoyed (read: hated) my first solo number in a musical. I played Everett Baker in Crazy for You. For those who are unfamiliar, Crazy for You is a play that essentially wrote itself around songs by the Gershwins. The story is crap and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, characters are introduced for the sole purpose of singing certain songs, and they’re not great songs to begin with.
At any rate, I tend to avoid those types of musicals because I don’t really think random songs should be stuck together and have a story written around them. If you want to promote music, promote it the old fashioned way — radio or whatever. Stay off my stage with it.
However, I’ve often listened to regular albums or concept albums by artists and felt like these albums had an overall theme. Indeed, often one or two songs will provide a story or overarching theme that ties the rest of the songs into one album. Ideally, this song will be the title of an album.
I’m probably going to receive a lot of flak about this, but one of my favorite artists is Garth Brooks. Many years ago, he released an album under a pseudonym and received a LOT of negative publicity about it. People thought he was committing career suicide (proved them wrong!) and thought that he was trying to cross over from country into rock. This was not the case, fortunately.
Under the pseudonym of Chris Gaines, Brooks released an album that was essentially the Greatest Hits of a fictional rocker, Chris Gaines. The album was to be a “pre-soundtrack” for a movie titled “The Bird” (I think). Brooks loved the script and was even a top contender for the lead role. He felt that once the movie was released, other movies would pick up on his trend — soundtracks that introduced audiences to the characters before the movies were even made.
The movie was to be about Chris Gaines rise to fame and subsequent fall from grace.
Unfortunately, Hollywood moves a lot slower than Nashville. The album was written, recorded and produced in under six months. The movie never got off the ground — possibly because of all the Brooks/Gaines negative publicity.
That album, however, is one of my favorites. I enjoy seeing Brooks go off into different genres. Each song on the album has a different feel to it. As an actor, I also enjoy Brooks going off into a completely different persona — Gaines made appearances on The Today Show, Saturday Night Live (mango!), and many others.
An interesting side note: the day I bought the album, I also bought Final Fantasy 8. I listened to the album over and over and over, learning all the words as I played the game. Now, whenever I listen to the Chris Gaines album, I get flashes of the video game in my mind. I associate certain songs with certain parts of the game. Neat.
Anyway, to tie this all together: two of the songs on the album strike me as very good stories that could ultimately tie the entire album together into a musical a la Crazy for You (albeit not total shit) or Across the Universe.
I’ve debated writing a script for it. The big question is whether or not to actually incorporate the songs. And even if I did, what’s the point since I’ll never get rights to the songs? Another possibility is to use the songs as the basis for an actual straight play.
Another show I’d love to write/do is Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. I know Bowie essentially did a show for his rock shows, but they were basically rock performances and not really musicals. I think there’s a lot of potential there for a well-written musical.
What do you think?
May 11, 2008
Alms? Alms for the poor?
Here’s an interesting article I stumbled upon.
(Source: http://antistress.ro/2007/12/04/dodge-logo/)
Never have a limit on your income
A wise man said, “Never have a limit on your income.”
Example he gave:
If you sell pens for a living and someone orders a million pens, no problem! You just place an order with your manufacturer for a million pens, get them to the customer, and celebrate.
But if you do hands-on massage for a living and a recent spot on Oprah gets you a waiting list of 10,000 people, “you’ll wish you were in the pen business.”
Point being : if you make a living only providing an in-person (hands-on) service, you are limiting your income. If you were in a “while you sleep” business, there is no limit to how much you can make.
So… what about musicians?
For the last few years, many people have suggested that the products (CDs, even downloads) are now just the free giveaways to get people to go to the show - that musicians are only in a hands-on service-provider business now.
Of course I disagree because I watch CD Baby pay more and more to musicians every month (while they sleep).
Musicians MUST NOT buy into that “only earn by performing” belief because it limits your income.
I spend a LOT of money on music, but haven’t been to a live concert in years. The recorded music has great value to me, whether MP3s, CDs, or even subscription services.
What other ways can music be a “while you sleep” income-earner for musicians? (STUPID BRAINSTORM WARNING
- write songs for others to perform
- creating commercial-use music (that businesses will use in advertising, for example)
- getting your music into film/tv
- paid-area access to your web-archive with all your music, even works-in-progress
- make it easy for fans to donate
- create a recognizable brand once, then license the name or model to others (like “Chicken Soup for the Soul”)
- franchise your band: train multiple bands how to sound just like you, then all can go tour, while you get royalty when they do
- creating music-education programs used by many schools
- release your unmixed tracks for fans to remix, letting them sell the remixes on a 50/50 split
WHAT ELSE?
Derek SiversOkay, so that got me thinking. According to those categories, theatre is a “hands-on” industry while other disciplines like film and TV are “while you sleep” industries. You can’t really do live theatre while you sleep (unless you’re Marvin from Marvin’s Room). On the other hand, once a film is made, all it takes to sell more is calling up the distributor and having them rush out more copies.
In short, this is mostly why two or three commercials in sizable markets can pay enough to last you a year while you pursue theatrical endeavors.
Theatre artists, like musicians, could benefit financially from “while you sleep” things. Notice musicians still tour; theatre artists should still produce live theatre. But musicians can also sell CDs and merchandise and music videos. How can we theatre artists do more “while you sleep” things to help us out financially?
Here’s a few ideas I thought of.
1) Custom T-shirts for Theatres and Plays. It’s relatively cheap to make custom T-shirts and you can do a 10% mark-up to cover costs and bring in a little extra income. You could do custom shirts for each play or do one for an entire season. The sky’s the limit!
2) uh… uh… I’m out of ideas.
Help? Any ideas out there?
May 8, 2008
Civility or Endless Rants?
Over at Angry White Guy in Chicago, Don often breaks out into angry rants (fits his blog title!) about every topic under the sun, from tourists to theatre, politics to gas prices, stupid hats to idiot bloggers calling for civility. In his latest post, “Is being ‘civil’ just another way to shut people up?”, Don argues that his ranting style brings honesty to a culture and community that simply isn’t used to being honest. And let’s face it, folks, he’s right.
When is the last time someone came to one of your performances and, when asked how it went, said “That was a shitty show”? Honestly, when did someone give you NEGATIVE feedback? They don’t. Or if they do, they cushion it with “Well, I didn’t like this part so much *mumble*becauseithoughtitwasstupid*mumble*, BUT I liked your performance. You were so funny!” They deflect the negative criticism while focusing on the positive.
One of Don’s favorite pasttimes was to rip Scott Walters a new one each week. And each week, Scott would retaliate. It always resulted in interesting conversations and arguments for us readers, but to be honest, when the overarching plot of both blogs should have been moving forward, they were standing still, rehashing the same arguments over and over. Many readers, including myself, put out a call for civility.
Don clearly takes offense at this statement. Why should he be civil? Clearly, we’re just trying to shut him up.
That’s not the case.
It’s one thing to say “This Pine Tree cigarette sucks donkey balls” and quite another to say “This Pine Tree cigarette sucks donkey balls because I feel like I’m smoking a picnic table and I think I’m gonna puke”
The first is just antagonistic and worthy of you wearing an “I’m a fucking retard” hat. The second expresses the same feeling, but offers justification which a) validates your opinion in that at least fact-based opinion and b) lets them know exactly why you felt their product sucked donkey balls.
Any time I call for civility, that’s what I’m asking for — not just criticism but constructive criticism. Meaningful feedback that can be acted upon.
I feel like Don’s review of GreyZelda’s The Skriker was a good one — he pointed out the flaws, essentially saying “I felt like this was crap and could’ve been a lot better, and here’s why…” As a director, I would have walked away with a lot of useful information from that. I might not agree with the criticism, but I’d at least listen and learn. The next night, I might watch it with the newfound information and notice what that person was talking about — or decide that their complaint wasn’t relevant (i.e. it only happened that one night, or perhaps you had intended something to work this way — in which case, you need to figure out why they didn’t get it, etc etc).
Just because you don’t like something I did does NOT mean that I’m obligated to follow your suggestions. It simply means that you had an opinion. And most people don’t just make comments like “That was horseshit” without at least a semi-good reason. So if find out what that reason was, I can maybe make it more clear next time.
Be honest. Be critical. Be constructively critical.
For you theatre people out there, if you honestly don’t like something — SAY SO. If you don’t say anything, we’ll never know and we’ll never change! We’ll assume it just works and keep on keeping on. But if you say something, then at least you can rest in the knowledge that you put in your six cents (gas prices, you know) and that if they don’t take your criticism to heart, then you’ve done all you can.
Cause let’s be honest, folks. There’s a lot of shitty theatre going on out there. And we put up with it because we’re too nice to say otherwise. There’s a lot of good theater out there, too. You know what separates the good theatre from the shitty theatre? Criticism. Lots and lots of constructive criticism. These guys get advice from people they trust so that they know what works and what doesn’t.
Anyone who doesn’t accept constructive criticism and at least listens to it with an open mind and hopes to learn is a fucking moron and deserves to wear Don’s stupid hat.
Be honest. Be bold. Be in-your-face. Be constructive.
New site: Yourbeliefs.org
One of the things I look forward to each week is Don Hall’s semi-regular blog posts titled “I believe.” In these posts, Don rages against society and our stupid ways. He rants against tourism, money-grubbing politicians, oil companies, theatre companies, civility, and even himself. It’s a refreshingly honest way of looking at the world, and I wish more people were like Don in their expressions!
People tend to hide behind niceness and civility, so you never truly know what someone believes until the shit hits the fan. They’ll waver and sit on that fence and dodge the questions and give fuzzy answers until they turn blue. So it’s nice when someone flat out says “I believe…”
I think we all believe certain things, from beliefs about religion to secularism, music to movies, politics to entertainment. We all have beliefs — things that can’t be proven by facts, things that are merely opinions. But in this great country, we have the right to our own opinions and we have the right to the freedom of speech.
Inspired by Don’s blogs, I created a website for people to express their beliefs in a public forum. So please, take two minutes out of your life and share your beliefs with the world.
The rules:
1) You have up to fifty words to express your beliefs.
Okay, just one rule. You can remain anonymous if you wish, or you can include your first name or your screen name or your nickname or however you wish to identify yourself.
Share your beliefs with the world: www.yourbeliefs.org
And for those so inclined, please Stumble! YourBeliefs.org or share it with the social media site of your choice. Tell your friends and get them to visit. I truly believe this site can offer a valuable insight into the contrasts and similarities in our beliefs as a society.
Thanks.
May 7, 2008
Am I missing something?
Seriously. Am I? Check out Scott’s latest blog entry, Closed, and then come back here.
Why is everyone acting like he’s leaving for good? Bloggers like Devilvet, Laura Axelrod, and Freeman have written blogs lamenting the latest post by Scott. They’re acting like he died.
Maybe I’m missing something, but I beg to differ.
Scott wrote,
I have used this blog, especially during the past five months, to develop my ideas about theatre tribes. I have floated the first drafts of ideas to see what needed to be clarified, fine-tuned, or scrapped entirely. It is now time to truly focus on the development of those ideas. It does not serve my purpose to continue scrapping with the usual bloggers about whether the theatre tribe idea will work — I know it will work; or whether it is worthwhile — I know it is worthwhile. I am wasting my time, and I don’t have any to waste.
…The discussion will continue, however, just not here. There are currently 64 people who have joined my Theatre Tribe website at Ning, and I have been neglecting them all while I scrap with others. It is time to focus on those who are interested in exploring these ideas, rather than those who are focused on knocking them down in the interest of “strengthening” them. If you are interested in joining this community, click on the badge in the right column that says “Join Theatre Tribe.”
I have enjoyed this conversation, but we all know that I have started to repeat myself, and have the same argument with the same people over and over. Even I am bored with it by now.
So Scott used the blog to promote his theatre tribes idea. And now he’s taking that discussion elsewhere. Does that mean he’s going to stop posting at all? Half of his posts have nothing to do with theatre tribes. Perhaps it’s these lines that people are hinging their posts on:
I leave the door open a crack for a future return, should I feel the need. But right now, I am headed for Ning, and for the quiet of my study as I try to complete this book on the theatre tribe idea.
That definitely reeks of I’m Gone-ness, but I interpret this as an end to this particular conversation. For two and a half years Scott has written about various topics relating to theatre and only in the most recent five months has he developed the theatre tribe paradigm. I don’t define Scott Walters by his tribes idea — and I hope he doesn’t define himself by that.
Maybe he’ll correct me himself, but like many others, I don’t think this is the end of Theatre Ideas. I, for one, would be disappointed should Scott shut down Theatre Ideas for good. So I hope that doesn’t happen.
It is true, however, that his major shift will be to a different medium. So those of you who care about changing the face of regional theatre, I’ll see you at the Theatre Ideas Ning site.
But just to cover my ass: if it is the end, best of luck Scott. I’ll be seeing you on the Ning forum.
Writing’s a lot harder than it used to be
Two years ago I wrote a play. It is based on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin — you know, the one where the rats get drowned by the Piper. I wrote the entire thing in three hours and then spent the next three months tidying it up and making it better. I ran into two problems, two major plot holes that need to be resolved.
I haven’t touched the play in over a year.
Every couple of weeks I spend a good hour or two thinking about ways to resolve the plot hole without compromising the entire script.
I’ve ultimately decided that I may have to rewrite a huge portion of the script in order to make it work.
Lovely.
I’ve also started writing a story — what may eventually turn into a novel of some sort, if it’s good enough. I’m having a really hard time with it. I can see the big picture in my head, and all the points in between, but the details of getting the characters from point A to point B is overwhelming — especially when each point seems to be two dozen pages apart.
Another problem I’m running into is something that I mentioned awhile back in one of my posts. I feel like all of my good ideas are just variations on someone else’s. I feel like my story is just an amalgamation of a bunch of different stories that I’ve read or seen in the past. I keep telling myself that this is different, that I’m attacking these things from different perspectives. But don’t you think that’s what Christopher Paolini said when he wrote that horrid ripoff book, Eragon, and its sequel? I worry myself sometimes.
At any rate, I don’t really think it’ll ever be published, so I’m considering providing my story free-of-charge as an ebook of sorts. Perhaps the play as well. What do you think?