When actors just don't show up?
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Directing
Forum Discription: For questions about handling shows, actors, crew, board members, children ...or do we repeat ourselves?
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5175
Printed Date: 11/23/24 at 1:51pm
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Topic: When actors just don't show up?
Posted By: MusicManD
Subject: When actors just don't show up?
Date Posted: 10/04/11 at 12:55am
I'm having huge issues in my show this year with my high school actors simply not showing up when they are called.
Rather than calling specific scenes, I call specific roles that I want to work with that night. Works great, except when kids simply don't show up.
Excuses abound: work, sports, college visits, illness, moving, too tired (and that's just from the last week)... and some don't even bother with an excuse.
Case in point: Today I called most of my leads to hit some scenes without the chorus. I knew one girl would be late. Out of the others called, one texted to ask if I needed him (when I told him yes, he said he was sick and couldn't come), one told another actor to tell me she had to help her family move tonight, one told me during the day he would be there and then never showed up, and another simply fell off the face of the earth a week and a half ago. That's not to mention the other kids who come in late like it's nothing.
I finally asked another actor to understudy one of these leads just in case, but I'm trying to figure out how I can improve this issue in the future. You'd think that auditioning for the show would be enough to demonstrate their commitment to the show, but sometimes I feel like they don't want to be there.
Any suggestions?
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Replies:
Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 10/04/11 at 11:59am
If they really wanted to be there, they would be.
I would re-think what you are doing.
Are you casting unrealistically large shows?
Are you going for quantity over quality?
Are you picking shows that don't interest your potential cast?
Are you too hard on them?
Are you too soft on them?
How does the school feel about your productions?
Are you fighting for your existence?
Or are you taking yourself and the students for granted?
Are you doing stuff that's too easy? Or too hard?
What size audiences do you normally get?
What quality of show do you ultimately present?
What is your purpose in presenting shows in the first place?
Do you play favorites?
Is this a new problem, or a recurring one?
In a perfect world, what would you do differently than you do now?
Can you do it anyway?
Personally, it sounds like you need a serious dose of reassessment, restructuring, and rebuilding.
At the very least, you need to answer a whole lot of the right questions in order to find the solution. -- Good luck to you.
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Posted By: Majicwrench
Date Posted: 10/04/11 at 1:49pm
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FIrst off, I feel your pain. Seems there are more conflicts all the time.
Tis one reason I like to stick to small cast things.
Good list of questions above, you might also ask if your rehearsal schedule is too long. NOBODY takes it seriously two months out.
I replace a person in my cast once, it was not fun or pleasant to do, but it needed to get done, and it snapped a lot of people to attention. Saying you are going to be there and then not showing is almost unexcusable.
And they should WANT to be there. In one middle school I direct at, I ALWAYS bring some sort of snack. We work hard, but we have fun at rehearsal. And keep rehearsal HOPPING. Nothing worse than bored kids. They will find something else to do in a hurry.
Best of luck, am looking forward to hearing other thoughts...
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Posted By: KeeKeeDee
Date Posted: 10/04/11 at 8:20pm
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From what you wrote before, I remember you were doing your rehearsals in the evening. What I have found in the high school I work at, is that my students cannot be a servant of two masters. When push comes to shove a sport will trump my play. So I make them choose. I schedule reheasrsal at the same time, in the prime after school time slot. Then there is no problem getting back to school, and they are not too tired.
There are many who cannot do the play because of it, but some have actually choosen drama over sports as well.
When someone doesn't show up, I start into plan B. Or C or D. But I have no qualm about changing a show if need be, although I am not doing musicals...which is so much harder!!!!
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Posted By: Scott B
Date Posted: 10/05/11 at 4:00pm
When push comes to shove a sport will trump my play. So I make them
choose. I schedule reheasrsal at the same time, in the prime after
school time slot. Then there is no problem getting back to school, and
they are not too tired.
I know of several small schools that have to work around sports, cheerleading, band, etc. ... but yes ... in a larger school, what would happen to those on a football team and they blew off practice? They would be gone regardless of how well they perform.
I would agree for the most part ... they choose between theatre and other activities. That might mean I have to select a show that is smaller, but it sure beats having all the no-shows. For those that just blow off rehearsals ... I'm not sure I could keep them.
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Posted By: MusicManD
Date Posted: 10/05/11 at 10:45pm
Originally posted by KeeKeeDee
From what you wrote before, I remember you were doing your rehearsals in the evening. What I have found in the high school I work at, is that my students cannot be a servant of two masters. When push comes to shove a sport will trump my play. So I make them choose. I schedule reheasrsal at the same time, in the prime after school time slot. Then there is no problem getting back to school, and they are not too tired. |
While that may work for a straight play with a smaller cast, I don't see that working for a musical in my school. Running down all the men in my cast, I have 3 JV football players, 2 varsity football players, 2 soccer players, and one guy who only does track in the spring... and he's a freshman. The girls are pretty similar- my three female leads are in tennis, volleyball, and cheerleading. Moving down the line, my top non-sports student is probably a sophomore. More importantly, I only have about three or four kids who are not in sports. My numbers might swell to six or seven if I made them choose between sports and drama.
Most importantly, one of the things I love about a small school is how kids can try whatever they want. My lead male decided to try soccer this year as a senior- he starts on the team now. I like having kids who do a variety of things, and accept that those conflicts are part of the game, but they do pose a challenge.
I may look at restricting the spring play to after school. Heck, if I do four or five days a week for a couple hours, we could put together the whole show in three or four weeks! That certainly beats the 10 week rehearsal schedules that we have to do now. Some of the kids will probably get upset, but they should understand when I explain that evenings with my newborn daughter are priceless.
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Posted By: KeeKeeDee
Date Posted: 10/06/11 at 7:57pm
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How many non-musicals do you do a year?
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Posted By: Majicwrench
Date Posted: 10/06/11 at 11:56pm
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A new conflict, my lead gal just got elected Homecoming Queen and can't make rehearsal tomorrow :)
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Posted By: KeeKeeDee
Date Posted: 10/07/11 at 4:51am
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Well, you know, Homecoming is sacred. Lord forbid one conflict with that!!!
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Posted By: MusicManD
Date Posted: 10/08/11 at 7:29pm
Originally posted by KeeKeeDee
How many non-musicals do you do a year? |
We do two shows a year- one musical and one straight play.
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Posted By: drama coach
Date Posted: 11/07/11 at 10:23pm
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I feel your pain. I am doing a small show and I have students who are not showing up during tech week. I've reduced the number of practices, had students only attend when they will be on stage, brought food, you name it. I've come to the conclusion that parents are not teaching their children to be committed. They are allowed to drop out or not show for things. They feel very entitled. Very few take responsibility for their actions. While not all the students are like this, the few that are leave a bad taste in my mouth.
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Posted By: MusicManD
Date Posted: 11/08/11 at 9:05am
Originally posted by drama coach
I feel your pain. I am doing a small show and I have students who are not showing up during tech week. I've reduced the number of practices, had students only attend when they will be on stage, brought food, you name it. I've come to the conclusion that parents are not teaching their children to be committed. They are allowed to drop out or not show for things. They feel very entitled. Very few take responsibility for their actions. While not all the students are like this, the few that are leave a bad taste in my mouth. |
I'll be doing a lot of things differently for our spring play, and I'll write a thread about that and other things I've learned after this run closes this weekend.
I do have one significant lead who told me she has to work during the final dress rehearsal Wednesday. Nice. Also, our drummer will be out the same day for work, which means the band won't be anywhere close to where it's supposed to be. Sigh...
My "joy" on the first day of production week yesterday? One of my significant cast members, a senior who had the lead in our play last year, had been sick in the hospital all last week. When she came out of the hospital, her employer told her that because she missed work last week, they could not honor her request to be off on one of our show nights. She came to me to ask what to do. Well, she was still really weak and was going to go home after school instead of coming to our dress rehearsal, so I suggested that she not worry about the stress of the show and just concentrate on getting healthy.
The girl was part of a "greek chorus" ensemble, so it didn't hurt the production, but man, it stinks to have to tell someone the 11 weeks of rehearsal was all for naught... ESPECIALLY when she was coming to every rehearsal she could. She may still come and help backstage, but MAN...
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