Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Christian/church theater

Author

Message

sonshine
Lead
Lead

Joined: 3/23/08
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 33

Topic: Christian/church theater
Posted: 7/21/09 at 2:44pm

Is anyone involved in church theater? We have a community theater with a Christian theater. What challenges are you facing?

IP Logged

colugino
Star
Star

Joined: 6/30/09
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 55

Posted: 7/31/09 at 2:42pm

Hi sonshine. What kind of shows are you doing? Are they religious shows or non-religious?

The one theatre group I currently help run is based out of a christian church. We run into lots of fun problems. LOL Where to start!!! :-)

Our one issue is that many of the members are older. They do not like change nor disruptions to their church experience. So when in our church hall we put up a stage extension, loaded in our sound and lighting, started moving in props, etc people got very upset. Even though we took careful consideration to ensure that everything was out of everyone's way at all times.

Some people were not happy that we were not doing religious shows. I think where we went wrong was last year was our first stage production (we had done dinner type theatre prior to this) and we did Godspell. People weren't happy but not losing their minds because it was religious. This year we did Cats, which caused a lot of tension and attitudes within the church. Some people were downright rude about/to some of our cast members - who are mostly teenagers but the MOST respectful kids you will ever meet. I am talking some people treated these kids like they were lepers or something.

We are basically banned from doing many of the more mainstream type shows due to content.

If you would like to discuss more, feel free to contact me! I would love to discuss this more with someone in the same setup.

IP Logged

Scott B
Celebrity

Joined: 12/08/04
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 239

Posted: 8/02/09 at 2:10am

This is always a problem. I have one church that has basically told us we're welcome anytime, but subject the matter is of course going to be an obstacle.

We would like to do Nunsense this fall, but I don't know if the jokes are too over the top or not. I guess we'll see.

IP Logged

colugino
Star
Star

Joined: 6/30/09
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 55

Posted: 8/02/09 at 5:37am

Because of content restrictions and the issues above (plus soooooooo many more), that is why we are in the process of setting up our own theatre. We will still probably continue to do venues at the church but they will not be the more mainstream shows or anything too large. It is a shame because we have so many members of our congregation that enjoy the theatre program and are blown away by the things we have done but unfortunately the complainers are the ones that win out. The few people that complain have a good hold on the decisions that are made and it is a shame that the ones that want us to continue will have to come see our shows somewhere else. We are trying to keep it in the same area so it will hopefully not be too far for them or our kids to get to.

When we did Cats this summer we had many people come up to us and ask where we hired our dancers and actors from and who we hired to build our set. They were blown away when we told them that none of our actors were hired; that most of them were kids from the area, and that I designed and built the set with the help of two volunteer carpenters. The people that support us were bragging to everyone how proud they were at the amazing job everyone did and it didn't take even a day for the "high" to come crashing down around us when the complainers started in. The compliants upset a lot of people but nothing we can do. It took a lot of convincing to everyone involved that we aren't running away by doing our own thing. We aren't "letting the bad guys win" but with all of the stress involved in doing shows we don't need the added stress of having people tell us basically that we have no place in a church. I mean we built a temporary stage addition to fit our set and cast and a few weeks prior to the show one of our members stated that he was going to do everything in his power to ensure that our show didn't go on. He reported us to the township saying our stage was unsafe (even though it was built with the help of two carpenters) and up until about a week before the show we didn't know if it was going to even happen and about $20,000 that we killed ourselves to raise and 6 months of planning and rehearsals were going to go down the toilet. I mean we made sure ahead of time we got approval and all our ducks in a row but this guy was making such a noise that we thought he was going to win. The township wrote him off finally as a total nut, but still.

IP Logged

colugino
Star
Star

Joined: 6/30/09
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 55

Posted: 8/02/09 at 5:40am

And regarding Nunsense, it's funny you are looking to do that because we are looking at doing the show as well. I have not seen the show or the script so I am not sure about the content. But with our church, any jokes that aren't 100% G rated or "Jesus correct" are not allowed. We are actually doing it at a VFW hall or something. We are also trying to see if doing it somewhere else will bring in more people because we know some people are afraid to go to things at a church because they are afraid we're going to try and tie them up and force them to find God.

IP Logged

Scott B
Celebrity

Joined: 12/08/04
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 239

Posted: 8/02/09 at 2:09pm

Since we have no building we're at the mercy of any place that will allow us to perform. That's one reason we haven't done anything in the last THREE years. There's just nothing available.

The one church that has told us that we're welcome back anytime (except Easter and Christmas) has a built in lighting and sound system. The stage area is small and carpeted, but we can do small shows with a unit set.

The two that we have done so far and have been successful is Smoke on the Mountain and Forever Plaid.

If we can't do Nunsense then we might consider Grand Night for Singing or The Taffetas. The music from these shows really hits our demographics.

I just saw Nunsense on Friday and it was hysterical. The jokes aren't "dirty" but some members might be offended. I probably need to get a perusal copy and send it over to the church to see what they think.

There's always a bit of comfort finding others with the same problems and how they cope.

IP Logged

colugino
Star
Star

Joined: 6/30/09
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 55

Posted: 8/03/09 at 9:21am

I agree! It is comforting to find we're not the only ones with these problems .

IP Logged

teridtiger
Star
Star

Joined: 10/24/05
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 69

Posted: 8/03/09 at 12:09pm

FYI - Although "Taffetas" seems benign, there are definitely some campy humor moments regarding questionable sexuality of male movie stars during that era (i.e., Rock Hudson...).

IP Logged

sonshine
Lead
Lead

Joined: 3/23/08
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 33

Posted: 8/06/09 at 5:43pm

I thought we were the only ones running into this problem. Our number one problem is that we cannot get enough people to come out and audition. The Christians don't want to come out to audition, then we open auditions to everyone and all of a sudden there is a big attitude about it.

IP Logged

ttlss
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 4/16/08
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Posted: 8/07/09 at 3:15pm

We are a christian church that runs a fine arts department. Because our Fine Arts Pastor volunteers at the local High School directing the Choir, they allow us to use their facility one weekend per year. Budget cuts were putting the music department in jeopardy, so it works out great for all parties.

We do a Christmas show. This year is "It's a Wonderful Life- The Musical." We have also done "A Chrismas Carol- the Musical." The shows have been fun, festive and family oriented. Our auditions and rehersals are done at the church, but the week before the performance is done in the auditium at the school. There are plenty of shows that work for this situation. The biggest obstacle is that we are moving in and set in one weekend, rehearse through the week, perform Friday and Saturday and strike set on Saturday night. We treat this as a community theater, by posting auditions in the local theatrical papers. We also advertise the show in the paper and local TV

Keep up the Good work!

IP Logged

Running Your Theater
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Theater Administration :Running Your Theater

Topic: Christian/church theater( Topic Closed)
	Page of 2 Next >>

Author	Message
sonshine Lead Joined: 3/23/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 33	Topic: Christian/church theater Posted: 7/21/09 at 2:44pm
	Is anyone involved in church theater? We have a community theater with a Christian theater. What challenges are you facing?

	IP Logged

colugino Star Joined: 6/30/09 Online Status: Offline Posts: 55	Posted: 7/31/09 at 2:42pm
	Hi sonshine. What kind of shows are you doing? Are they religious shows or non-religious? The one theatre group I currently help run is based out of a christian church. We run into lots of fun problems. LOL Where to start!!! :-) Our one issue is that many of the members are older. They do not like change nor disruptions to their church experience. So when in our church hall we put up a stage extension, loaded in our sound and lighting, started moving in props, etc people got very upset. Even though we took careful consideration to ensure that everything was out of everyone's way at all times. Some people were not happy that we were not doing religious shows. I think where we went wrong was last year was our first stage production (we had done dinner type theatre prior to this) and we did Godspell. People weren't happy but not losing their minds because it was religious. This year we did Cats, which caused a lot of tension and attitudes within the church. Some people were downright rude about/to some of our cast members - who are mostly teenagers but the MOST respectful kids you will ever meet. I am talking some people treated these kids like they were lepers or something. We are basically banned from doing many of the more mainstream type shows due to content. If you would like to discuss more, feel free to contact me! I would love to discuss this more with someone in the same setup.
	IP Logged

Scott B Celebrity Joined: 12/08/04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 239	Posted: 8/02/09 at 2:10am
	This is always a problem. I have one church that has basically told us we're welcome anytime, but subject the matter is of course going to be an obstacle. We would like to do Nunsense this fall, but I don't know if the jokes are too over the top or not. I guess we'll see.
	IP Logged

colugino Star Joined: 6/30/09 Online Status: Offline Posts: 55	Posted: 8/02/09 at 5:37am
	Because of content restrictions and the issues above (plus soooooooo many more), that is why we are in the process of setting up our own theatre. We will still probably continue to do venues at the church but they will not be the more mainstream shows or anything too large. It is a shame because we have so many members of our congregation that enjoy the theatre program and are blown away by the things we have done but unfortunately the complainers are the ones that win out. The few people that complain have a good hold on the decisions that are made and it is a shame that the ones that want us to continue will have to come see our shows somewhere else. We are trying to keep it in the same area so it will hopefully not be too far for them or our kids to get to. When we did Cats this summer we had many people come up to us and ask where we hired our dancers and actors from and who we hired to build our set. They were blown away when we told them that none of our actors were hired; that most of them were kids from the area, and that I designed and built the set with the help of two volunteer carpenters. The people that support us were bragging to everyone how proud they were at the amazing job everyone did and it didn't take even a day for the "high" to come crashing down around us when the complainers started in. The compliants upset a lot of people but nothing we can do. It took a lot of convincing to everyone involved that we aren't running away by doing our own thing. We aren't "letting the bad guys win" but with all of the stress involved in doing shows we don't need the added stress of having people tell us basically that we have no place in a church. I mean we built a temporary stage addition to fit our set and cast and a few weeks prior to the show one of our members stated that he was going to do everything in his power to ensure that our show didn't go on. He reported us to the township saying our stage was unsafe (even though it was built with the help of two carpenters) and up until about a week before the show we didn't know if it was going to even happen and about $20,000 that we killed ourselves to raise and 6 months of planning and rehearsals were going to go down the toilet. I mean we made sure ahead of time we got approval and all our ducks in a row but this guy was making such a noise that we thought he was going to win. The township wrote him off finally as a total nut, but still.
	IP Logged

colugino Star Joined: 6/30/09 Online Status: Offline Posts: 55	Posted: 8/02/09 at 5:40am
	And regarding Nunsense, it's funny you are looking to do that because we are looking at doing the show as well. I have not seen the show or the script so I am not sure about the content. But with our church, any jokes that aren't 100% G rated or "Jesus correct" are not allowed. We are actually doing it at a VFW hall or something. We are also trying to see if doing it somewhere else will bring in more people because we know some people are afraid to go to things at a church because they are afraid we're going to try and tie them up and force them to find God.
	IP Logged

Scott B Celebrity Joined: 12/08/04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 239	Posted: 8/02/09 at 2:09pm
	Since we have no building we're at the mercy of any place that will allow us to perform. That's one reason we haven't done anything in the last THREE years. There's just nothing available. The one church that has told us that we're welcome back anytime (except Easter and Christmas) has a built in lighting and sound system. The stage area is small and carpeted, but we can do small shows with a unit set. The two that we have done so far and have been successful is Smoke on the Mountain and Forever Plaid. If we can't do Nunsense then we might consider Grand Night for Singing or The Taffetas. The music from these shows really hits our demographics. I just saw Nunsense on Friday and it was hysterical. The jokes aren't "dirty" but some members might be offended. I probably need to get a perusal copy and send it over to the church to see what they think. There's always a bit of comfort finding others with the same problems and how they cope.
	IP Logged

colugino Star Joined: 6/30/09 Online Status: Offline Posts: 55	Posted: 8/03/09 at 9:21am
	I agree! It is comforting to find we're not the only ones with these problems .
	IP Logged

teridtiger Star Joined: 10/24/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 69	Posted: 8/03/09 at 12:09pm
	FYI - Although "Taffetas" seems benign, there are definitely some campy humor moments regarding questionable sexuality of male movie stars during that era (i.e., Rock Hudson...).
	IP Logged

sonshine Lead Joined: 3/23/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 33	Posted: 8/06/09 at 5:43pm
	I thought we were the only ones running into this problem. Our number one problem is that we cannot get enough people to come out and audition. The Christians don't want to come out to audition, then we open auditions to everyone and all of a sudden there is a big attitude about it.
	IP Logged

ttlss Walk-On Joined: 4/16/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 8/07/09 at 3:15pm
	We are a christian church that runs a fine arts department. Because our Fine Arts Pastor volunteers at the local High School directing the Choir, they allow us to use their facility one weekend per year. Budget cuts were putting the music department in jeopardy, so it works out great for all parties. We do a Christmas show. This year is "It's a Wonderful Life- The Musical." We have also done "A Chrismas Carol- the Musical." The shows have been fun, festive and family oriented. Our auditions and rehersals are done at the church, but the week before the performance is done in the auditium at the school. There are plenty of shows that work for this situation. The biggest obstacle is that we are moving in and set in one weekend, rehearse through the week, perform Friday and Saturday and strike set on Saturday night. We treat this as a community theater, by posting auditions in the local theatrical papers. We also advertise the show in the paper and local TV Keep up the Good work!
	IP Logged