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Topic: Rehearsal scheduling... | |
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NDTENOR
Star Joined: 1/18/11 Online Status: Offline Posts: 49 |
Posted: 3/29/11 at 12:05am |
Music ManD:
Socrates said " The unexamined life is not worth living' . I always examine peoples motives and question them. As I examine my own. And if you seem to be having a problem with my observations ....then..." Methinks the lady ( or He ) doth protest too much". Finally.... I have the greatest respect in the world for some directors... and absolutely none for others. |
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MusicManD
Star Joined: 3/21/11 Online Status: Offline Posts: 91 |
Posted: 3/29/11 at 1:02am |
Shrug... a troll is a troll is a troll.
I just don't appreciate the way you respond to things. You post a lot about directors that you have an issue with, and very rarely about the ones you claim great respect for, leading the reader to assume that there are more of the former and less of the latter. Like it or not, this says a great deal about you. For that matter, you post a lot in this Directing forum, almost exclusively from the perspective of an actor, and often the discourse ends with, "Well, if you were the director, I wouldn't act in your show" or "I would think twice about auditioning for your show." You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but I simply don't care for the way you talk about it; entering under the auspices of assistance or insight, but instead crying out, "Look at me! Look at me!" Take this thread, for example. Your first statement is, "I was fortunate enough to have done only one show in High School." Here you proclaim your inexperience and that even the one show was a bad experience, but then you plunge forward as if you are some sort of authority, attempting to tell a teacher what students are capable of. At no point do you even attempt to answer the question posed in the original post, nor would you be able to, not being a director. Every part of your participation in this thread has been from a position of condescension which, again, I simply do not appreciate. |
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TonyDi
Celebrity Joined: 9/13/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 325 |
Posted: 3/29/11 at 7:28am |
MusicManD, unfortunately there is always ONE on every site and this has gone on for quite some time. I agree with everything you've said thus far. There are times when as Lincoln has been attributed as saying I believe, that you do "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." Sadly there is always that one "expert" who thinks they know more than anyone else and has no problem "opening their mouths". I'm sure everyone has an opinion but we ALL know the cliche' about opinions I'm sure. And it's less and less fun to come on here where people are normally so good about helping and sharing and expressing their stories of work "in the trenches" so to speak, only for that "one" to come on and make snide remarks, to criticize, to boast mightily, in an attempt to elevate themselves or to try to set themselves apart - so everyone may think they're some expert at doing theater when it is so subjective as to be ridiculous to try to make it sound as though their way is the only way. Seems this member in question has had bad experiences that has made them sour to the intent of community theater or educational theater - that being to learn, to teach, to present good work to the best of the collective ability and to HAVE FUN doing it. Some people just come off negative about everything because they think it makes them sound superior. Well guess what - that isn't the case here and it's painfully obvious.
I find it sad that I have to come on here every day and see these kinds of remarks that make it tedious for everyone at having to deal with these self-aggrandizing, self-appointed experts - or seemingly so. I would rather find the edification in what is shared here and for the most part I do. But as I said, there is one in every group (at least). Just keep doing what you're doing. It sounds to me as though you have a great viewpoint on how you do what you do to have a superb experience with your group. I think he who "examines his own motives" needs to do a lot more soul-searching to quit protesting too much as he accuses anyone else of doing. The MIRROR is a harsh but revealing thing to accept. As an actor who has also worked with loads of directors as well as being a director myself, I learn from everything and everyone and don't set myself above anyone regardless of what I think in terms of my own confidence or experience. Rather I choose to be a sponge to everything to make what I get to do that much more rich if it's going to be and fun if I can make it that. This is after all community theater and not Broadway or professional theater necessarily. And if I WANT TO WORK and have some fun, I cannot be so closed-minded or feel so superior that I limit my opportunities because I think I know more or am better than some director or it's "beneath" me as this member seems to think. If some people are so good, they need to be doing it for a living and not criticizing everybody else to try to make themselves look good. This is why I finally retired from doing it - just too many like this that I couldn't stand it anymore and did NOT want to grow to hate it because of this type of negativity or self-appointed authority and promotion. Seems to me - in my nearly 64 years that people like this I've known are trying to compensate for something else in their own sad existences. Ah well, no accounting for good sense I suppose in those cases. Neither do most of us have time for this kind of junk on this site even occasionally. We'd do better to ignore it as much as possible and find the good things that we can share and discuss on here and let the rest pass by - as it surely will.
Good for you - keep up the great work. And I like to read about your experiences. Seems you have a good handle on how to work with your group and make the most of everything you do with positive attitudes and outlook. It's a pleasure reading YOUR comments.
TonyDi Edited by TonyDi - 3/29/11 at 7:33am |
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Rorgg
Celebrity Joined: 2/10/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 151 |
Posted: 3/29/11 at 11:53am |
MusicMan -- you're a braver man than I, Gunga Din. Not only would I run in terror trying to take on a full-fledged musical like this without a distinct MD and choreographer, I don't even like doing straight plays without a staff.
I think I finally got to where I wanted to be in my last directing gig. I had not only an AD and SM with some experience, but they (they're a couple) had suggestions for a costumer and set builder with lots of experience, and my producer knew a set designer (who ended up auditioning for the show as well and did a great job in a major role), plus I called in someone ELSE to do a video segment that played at the top of the show, AND the company had a dedicated sound & light board guy. I talked with everyone at the top of the show, and explained to them the idea for the show, how I thought it should look and feel, and the broad vision I had for it, then assigned my AD to make sure that it was getting done. She covered all those things at a high level, when there was a call to be made it came back to me, but those were very rare, and in the end, we had a great looking show with a lot of complex elements that looked GREAT, and I was able to concentrate on the acting, where I needed my head to be. I can't fathom adding music and dance on top of that without more people dedicated to that stuff. Not to mention, splitting that load lets you work multiple things with different groups at the same time, multiplying your rehearsal time. |
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MusicManD
Star Joined: 3/21/11 Online Status: Offline Posts: 91 |
Posted: 3/29/11 at 12:12pm |
^^ All true and valid points, but you do what you can with what you've got. After all, it's not the kids' fault that the school budget can't support a larger staff. Thus, it's my job to make everything work and still give them the best experience possible.
Luckily, I've had some experience in all those fields, including choreography (although limited), so at least I can do it. Now that I'm discovering student and parent strengths, I'm feeling more comfortable knowing what tasks I can hand to what people without feeling like I need to come up with a backup plan (I'm sure everyone here knows what that's like). I don't think I will ever turn over the reins for the AD/MD roles since the former is my passion and the latter is my profession... but I certainly don't mind letting someone else handle set construction, stage managing, promotion, etc, etc, etc... I suppose if I was forced, I'd hand over MD responsibilities before the AD job... mainly because the AD job is more fun. I can't wait until I have some parent or student who has been heavily involved and trained in dance. This year for the musical, I had a senior who was on the dance team and wanted to do some choreography. I thought that was great and handed her a couple of numbers. Over the course of rehearsal, it didn't get done and didn't get done, and I slowly started choreographing her numbers one by one. In the end, every stitch of dancing on the stage was mine, and I was a lot more stressed out than had I just done it myself in the first place. Now I know that girl was trying to do rehearsals, dance team, and hold down a part time job. The extra responsibility was just too much. |
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Majicwrench
Celebrity Joined: 2/07/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 178 |
Posted: 3/29/11 at 1:35pm |
MusicManD,
Been following this with interest, rehearsal schedule and dealing with--or without--competent assistants is always an interesting subject. Not anything to add really, other than that is seems like rehearsals are getting harder to schedule...kids have too much going on. ANd the senior dancer, good for you for letting her try, even if you ending up doing it all. I have a tought time saying " OK, you can take over that....." is always scary.
Keep it up.
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Amos Hart
Lead Joined: 12/15/06 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36 |
Posted: 3/29/11 at 1:52pm |
MusicManD:
The only thing you can do with NDTenor is ignore him. He has a Must Have the Last Word compulsion and was banned from another theater board for being a fire-starting troll. As for his being an Expert with disdain for directors: a friend of mine saw NDTenor at an audition the other night. His attitude was blatant - "Why are you wasting my time? Just give me the part now." The funny part being that he wasn't a good enough actor to hide this.
I have not responded to him directly on this board, nor will I. And this will be my only post concerning him. Again - the only way to handle him is to ignore him completely.
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TonyDi
Celebrity Joined: 9/13/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 325 |
Posted: 3/29/11 at 2:21pm |
ABSOLUTELY AGREE! That's the best course. That type rarely gets it though and surely won't take the hint. Too bad. Ignoring is best - prudent and rather quite easy. But I SO agree with you on this.
TonyDi
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Rorgg
Celebrity Joined: 2/10/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 151 |
Posted: 3/29/11 at 2:21pm |
Good advice there, probably best if I take it as well.
On the subject of the non-productive assistant -- this is why I put my AD over all the other stuff. I know, I know, another volunteer to oversee the volunteers ... but it all got done. Obviously, you can only do what you can do, though. Frankly, the people who like to do things like costumes, props, set construction ... I don't get it, but I'm INCREDIBLY grateful they exist and love them all to pieces. |
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TonyDi
Celebrity Joined: 9/13/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 325 |
Posted: 3/29/11 at 2:36pm |
"EGO: The fallacy whereby a goose thinks he's a swan."
"An egotist is a self-made man who worships his creator."
"Every time you start thinking you're the center of the universe, the universe turns around and says with a slightly distracted air, "I'm sorry, what was your name again?" "
"The nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people."
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