Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: If you could choose... pros/cons

Author

Message

GracieLea
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 7/15/09
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Topic: If you could choose... pros/cons
Posted: 2/02/10 at 11:23am

I've been given a choice of three shows to direct for our next season, and I'm not familiar with any of them.

I'd be interested in any comments/experiences/pros and cons about the three shows, as I mull over my decision. The nominees are:

Laughter on the 23rd Floor - Neil Simon

What the Butler Saw - Joe Orton

Anne of Green Gables
(sorry, don't remember the playwright on this one. I'm about 2/3 through the script and it's pretty cheesy...but this one has appeal because I do a lot of work with our children's theatre and this would be a good chance for some of our older teens to be in a "real" show)

Thanks for any insight!!

IP Logged

Amos Hart
Lead
Lead

Joined: 12/15/06
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 36

Posted: 2/03/10 at 3:05am

If your theatre has any adult language issues, "Laughter on the 23rd Floor" is not for you. I directed it about ten years ago. Funny show, but it doesn't have any core goal for its characters and it has no ending. I mean, it stops, but the ending is bleh. It's more like a loosely connected series of anecdotes about "Your Show of Shows", which I loved, but much of the audience was no longer in tune with.

"Anne of Green Gables" I don't know.

I've seen "What the Butler Saw". I'd do that. Keep it moving. It also has a problematic ending, but it's a farce so it can get away with that. It's also easier on the director, in that all the movement is dictated by the script. With "Laughter", you're going to spend a LOT of your time working on "What do I do with the nine people onstage who are saying funny things to each other but aren't moving a hell of a lot? How do I move three or four of them without it being contrived or stealing focus?"

IP Logged

edh915
Celebrity

Joined: 11/19/09
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 325

Posted: 2/03/10 at 2:03pm

I totally agree with Amos Hart about "Laughter on the 23rd Floor". It goes nowhere, and the language is bound to offend nearly half of your audience.

I'm not really all that wild about "What the Butler Saw" either.

I'm a sucker for "heartwarming" stuff. If the script is at all decent, "Anne of Green Gables" could be great fun. (I'm a big proponent of doing shows that you wouldn't be afraid to bring grandma to.)

IP Logged

gelcat
Celebrity

Joined: 6/12/09
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 106

Posted: 3/12/10 at 11:28am

There are several different scripts for "Anne" - it may be the script that is throwing you off at the moment. I can't find the info on the version we did last year, but I know the director had a hard time finding the right script.

www.actorsguildonline.org
Actors Guild of Parkersburg
Parkersburg, WV

IP Logged

B-M-D
Celebrity

Joined: 11/03/05
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 346

Posted: 3/12/10 at 1:49pm

Very different scripts. Laughter On the 23rd Floor is my favorite. Fall on the floor funny. And Amos Hart did we read the same script????? ".....doesn't have any core goal for its characters and it has no ending." Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?

"Dying is easy, comedy is hard."

IP Logged

Amos Hart
Lead
Lead

Joined: 12/15/06
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 36

Posted: 3/16/10 at 4:11pm

".....doesn't have any core goal for its characters and it has no ending." Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?"

Would I kid you? I directed it. It's a series of loosely connected anecdotes and the ending just lays there. Audiences went with it until the ending and then went, "Huh? That's it?" Reading it and staging it are two different experiences. What seemed ok on the page did NOT work when it was put on its feet.

IP Logged

tristanrobin
Celebrity

Joined: 4/25/05
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 704

Posted: 3/16/10 at 6:51pm

Originally posted by B-M-D

Very different scripts. Laughter On the 23rd Floor is my favorite. Fall on the floor funny. And Amos Hart did we read the same script????? ".....doesn't have any core goal for its characters and it has no ending." Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?

I have to totally agree with you.
The characters are very well defined and diverse - and there is most certainly an ending.
I think it's hysterical.

I also love all Joe Orton plays - but he is an acquired taste. I must say, I prefer Entertaining Mr. Sloane to What the Butler Saw - but Butler is also very very funny.

Not a fan of the overly sentimental mushy stuff (i.e. Anne of Green Gables) - though I did see a musical version which worked because the songs were nice and the singing and dancing in the production was superior.

Edited by tristanrobin - 3/16/10 at 6:51pm

http://tristanrobin.blogspot.com

IP Logged

B-M-D
Celebrity

Joined: 11/03/05
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 346

Posted: 3/18/10 at 4:34pm

Originally posted by Amos Hart

".....doesn't have any core goal for its characters and it has no ending." Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?"

Ha! Read it and been in it. Losely connected anecdotes? Have to disagree with you 110%. We had the audience in tears at the end. I'm thinking perhaps you or your cast just didn't get it. We are talking about the same script, Laughter on the 23rd Floor by Neil Simon based on the Sid Ceasar show, takes place in the 1950's? Max punches out a wall, walks around in his boxers for part of the show?

"Dying is easy, comedy is hard."

IP Logged

little_owl
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 12/19/09
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8

Posted: 3/23/10 at 2:32pm

We did Anne of Green Gables when I was in the sixth grade. I want to do that play again. I remember we got a lot of flowers for the set.

IP Logged

tech_director
Star
Star

Joined: 10/19/08
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 53

Posted: 7/07/10 at 11:58am

I just saw "Laughter on the 23rd Floor". I felt the same way as most on here. You find out so early on that the Max Prince Show is failing and you know that it's going to end in failure. You just spend another 1 1/2 hours watching it happen.

IP Logged

Directing
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Directing