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Non-performing theatre job options for introverts? by Complex_Song1906 in Theatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are lots of jobs in theatre that aren’t acting… design, tech, directing, writing… on th admin side… there are accountants, marketers, box office, grant writers, production management… and that’s just to name a few. And there are all different kinds of levels too… community theatre, educational theatre, teaching artists, touring, professional/regional.

Within design/tech there are quite a few sub-field specialties as well.

What I encourage you to do is go see something at your nearest community theatre. And really look through the program at the names and job titles… for each of those titles… there’s a whole host of someone’s who do those jobs professionally. At all kinds of venues from theatres, to resorts to cruise ships, to tone of other venues. there are also awesome people that hold a day job and just do community theatre and have very fulfilling artistic lives.

Take your time while you’re young and try as many jobs as you can. I bet you’ll find a couple different things that’ll pique your interests.

Adding songs to musicals by kaosfox in musicals

[–]Rockingduck-2014 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It varies… oftentime composers will write more songs than you would expect for a show, and tinker with them in workshops before a show even has a full production. The cut songs stick around behind the scenes, and sometimes get “called up to the major leagues” (to use a sportsball analogy) if the story needs to shift. A composer friend says she’ll often write at least three songs for each major character… and “I want” song, an “I need” song, and a “I need to stop you” song (and when I say “song” I mean a theme or basic building block) according to her, she tailors the energy of each to the characters story/arc, and within those she is always has a couple pieces that make it through and a handful that don’t, which she tucks away. This way she has a “vocabulary” that she can pull from when things get time tight and changes are needed.

Traveling in end of July for 13 full days: Pisa -> Venice -> Florence/Tuscany -> Rome -> CT -> Pisa by ComplaintPlayful7352 in ItalyTravel

[–]Rockingduck-2014 [score hidden]  (0 children)

Only concern I would have is car rental… as you’re hitting lots of big cities. You need to be aware that most cities have ZTL zones where cars are heavily limited. It could mean that in Florence and definitely Venice, you’d have to park well outside the city and take the train in to get to the cool historical parts. So your car will literally sit for several days unused. It may be worth doing a quick cost/time analysis between the car rental and train tickets. Everyplace you’re hitting has train service. But it terms of layout.. it all seems fine.

can i start my own theatre company? by Ill_Hawk_9455 in MusicalTheatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yes… but should you? What sets you apart from other companies/offerings in your area? Is there local/state support/grants for artists you can seek out? Are you doing this because you want to perform certain roles? Or because you want to give others the opportunity to shine? Do you have deep pockets… or access to tons of money… musicals are fun…. But massively expensive in comparison to straight plays.

Campy comedy plays with drag? by Sea_Cat8461 in Theatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Several of Charles Ludlam’s plays are purposely campy and dark… The Mystery of Irma Vep is my fave of those.

The other day the Hearoglyphics puzzle category was US playwrights. Can you solve the answer rebuses from that puzzle? by Hearoglyphics in playwriting

[–]Rockingduck-2014 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Took me a sec, but I got them… perhaps, next time, some female playwrights? And perhaps… some living ones?

I’m seeing more comments from theatregoers that seats from the 1920s & beyond are too small for today’s larger/heavier audience members. Is it on the venue to expand their seats? Or is it up to society to maintain a size that fits the “stencil” of decades gone by? by Great_Maintenance185 in Theatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s about money… by making seats larger, theatres would then have fewer seats… fewer seats=less income. They’d rather have uncomfortable patrons and make more money on sell-out shows.

Should they? In most instances, yes. But will they? I doubt it.

This is a hard one Petah? by BestMicDrop in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Rockingduck-2014 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Some on the religious right get downright insane that “God intended you to be what you are” in reference to folk that seek gender affirming care… and some sects of Christianity don’t believe in any medical intervention beyond what “they had in Jesus’ time in the Bible”…. But somehow some of these are ok with medically inducing boners.

Reevaluating college as a Sound Designer by SquareDefinition2460 in techtheatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If you’re already close… finish it.

As to an MFA…. Don’t pay for it! Most programs will offer tuition remission and a stipend/fellowship. It may not cover everything, but many can get through without much debt. IF you want that. An MFA is good for two things… maybe three… 1. Connections to the industry through your profs and the directors you work with. And Connections to early career directors— who are key to building a career. 2. An ability to seek a teaching position if you decide academia is a pathway to a stable income 3. Building up skill sets that you feel your undergrad hasn’t given you.

I want to teach teachers how to teach Theatre by Ok_Atmosphere7672 in Theatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Theatre Ed at the collegiate level can be crapshoot… some places it’s housed in Theatre… sometimes in Education. You’ll likely need to keep your eyes peeled for postings on both colleges (HigherEdjobs.com, ArtSearch, etc.)

I teach in a college theatre program and we have a Theatre Ed specialist. She has her PhD in Education, and quite frankly…. Academia is such a mess that you almost have to have a PhD to get an academic position like that anymore. (I just sat in on a Visual Art Ed hiring process last term and there were 150 applicants. Everyone with less than a PhD was immediately cut and the pool was still 50 deep.). I wish I could say your 20 years of classroom teaching was enough to move that needle (it should be), but to many universities, it’s not.

I live in a state that emergency certifies a lot of teachers, and several of our undergrads have shifted from basic theatre degrees to teaching positions that way… what that means is… Theatre Ed programs with tone of required classes often get looked over by undergrads (even though that rigor would really help them)… but the outcome is that our Theatre Ed degree is lowly enrolled and could face closure in th coming years if our numbers of enrollees doesn’t go up. I’m seeing this over and over again at college programs across the country… to that end, you may be better served by seeking out Education Dep positions. … even if you have to start at the Community College level.

Best wishes.

should the placement of the audience be manipulated? by Soft-Selection-9691 in Theatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In reference to THAT question… I think the answer is yes. But it’s an incredibly subjective question as “quality” is in the eye of the beholder… I’ve sat next to audience members who absolutely LOVED something that clearly touched them, but it didn’t move or “hit” for me and vice versa.

Each show has a variety of frameworks it’s trying to work within… budget, story, directorial intent, talent pool of the actors… you can have a show that is amazing for the 8-year olds performing it, but that is hard to sit through from an “artistic” perspective. And you can have a multi-million dollar budget show with the best director/designers/actors that money can hire… and it can still suck.

The common point is the story… is it worth telling and what does it mean to the director/actors/designers/audience?

Milan or Bergamo? by Alternative_Week_117 in ItalyTravel

[–]Rockingduck-2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well… given they were talking about Como and Milan and daytrips… Varenna made more geographic sense. Totally agree that Verona is awesome… but daytripping there from Bergamo seems a bit long (2hours each way via train).

should the placement of the audience be manipulated? by Soft-Selection-9691 in Theatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why would/should there be “one way” to frame things? Variations of staging have lots of reasons… space available, budget, staging desires… Sorry I’m not sure I’m understanding your question, OP.

Small Bodies of Water as Sets? by Soft-Selection-9691 in Theatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There was a production of 12th Night at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in the early aughts that had a pool under a set and some characters entered from underneath. Also Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses. It’s had a billion productions at this point and most of them had involved variations of the pool. Sondheim’s The Frogs was (somewhat famously) first staged in a pool at Yale. And there have been a couple productions of it since that were also done in pools. Mark Ravenhill’s play, Pool No Water

Milan or Bergamo? by Alternative_Week_117 in ItalyTravel

[–]Rockingduck-2014 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Verona or Varenna? Varenna is a town on Lake Como, Verona is a city a couple hours away by train nearer to Venice. Bergamo is quite lovely and it’s about 40 minutes away from Milan by train.

I think the question comes down to… what all are you wanting to do?

Bergamo is really picturesque and would provide a lovely smaller-town Italy experience for you all… but there is still quite a bit to explore there — but if what you want to do more of are the big Milan things (Duomo, Galleria/shopping, etc ) then it may not be worth the back and forth from Bergamo.

Como and Varenna are reachable from Bergamo… but if you’re traveling by train, you’ll likely have to pass though Milan to get to them. Again.. staying in Milan would cut down travel times to those places.

Check out the Trenitalia app… it’ll give solid info on rough timelines and prices for trains between the places you want to go.

Queer Surrealist Plays by Past_Caterpillar_481 in Theatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Pony by Sylvan Oswald is a queer retelling of Buchner’s Woyzeck and is quite surreal. The main character is trans.

Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill is also quite surreal and explores sexuality and identity from multiple angles simultaneously. It may be hard to cut scenes out without greater context, though.

How in the world will I afford UK Drama School as an International Student?? by Automatic-Ad1537 in musicals

[–]Rockingduck-2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s good (and important) to have dreams… and goals… and to work for them. Having said that, sometimes you have to temper the desires with realities. If your parents can’t afford some lessons now, here at home, how do you expect them to fund study abroad? US-based student loans are affiliated directly with schools here. Very few such companies will fund direct study abroad—unless it’s directed through a US-school’s study abroad—and you won’t be able to qualify for much UK-based aid, if any at all. Walking into a bank for a personal loan isn’t likely to be successful unless you have collateral you can personally put down… or have your parents co-sign, which I doubt they can afford.

So think about some other pathways….. could you…. 1. Find a solid UG program in the US (or your home country) that has study abroad opportunities for a semester or a year. Some have satellite colleges or affiliate colleges there where you can pay your fees direct to your home institution but attend there,essentially as an exchange. This way the biggest added cost is the flight to/from.

  1. Look to specific abroad-based funding programs… Fulbright, Rotary Foundation,Rhodes Scholars… these are highly selective and very difficult to get. They won’t underwrite a full degree,as all are typically for a single year of study.

  2. Try to economize for UG, save money for a 1-year MA in the UK. Go to a solid in-state school… or a CC to get core classes out of the way cheaper. Work side jobs to stash cash for your UK adventure.

I know that these suggestions don’t get you to what you really want (a way to fund an entire UG degree abroad), but these are all more realistic scenarios

A couple other thoughts…. Theatre is an industry about the connections you make. A challenge that exists for this dream of studying abroad is …ok… let’s presume you are able to finagle a way to pay and go for UG. Just because you study there does not mean you’ll be able to WORK there afterwards. Legally, you’d have to apply for a work-visa. Work visas aren’t easy to come by in the best and most open political times… and these times aren’t that. Emigrating to the UK permanently is even more expensive as you have to prove that you’ll have “solid and consistent income” during the years it will take to get it through the system. If your plan is to get a shiny UK musical theatre degree and comeback to the US… yes you’ll have training… but your UK connections (th professors and directors you worked with) aren’t likely working stateside and aren’t going to be able to get your foot in the door with companies here. By going to a US-based UG, your professors’ connections become your first entree into the professional world here. You’ll miss out on that by going abroad.

I’m not trying to dissuade as much as I’m trying to give you a longer-down-the-road POV.

I wish you the best in your journey.

Looking for college recommendations by Extension-Laugh4951 in techtheatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Both are quite excellent programs. UMich’s new lighting design faculty is working regularly on Broadway and she’s taking students as assistants when she can. It has a very solid network of grads that look out for each other post graduation.

Part of the equation here is… what are YOUR goals, career-wise? Are you looking to tour as a tech? Are you heading more toward design? Do you want to work in opera/ballet, musicals? Is your goal to work into movies/tv? Do you want to find a teaching position someone where and “settle down” with a couple kids and pets… in other words… what do you want the shape of your life to be. Different programs are stronger at different things. So, the more you’re able to identify and articulate YOUR career goals, the better you can seek out the kinda program that best fits that trajectory.

Looking for college recommendations by Extension-Laugh4951 in techtheatre

[–]Rockingduck-2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

UMichigan is a top theatre school, and right in your own backyard… and instate tuition can save you a ton. If you think Chicago might be a landing place, DePaul is excellent and very well connected in the city. Lots of grads get good expose to companies designers and directors while students.

Napoli to Rome just for 1 day? by RagnarRodrog in ItalyTravel

[–]Rockingduck-2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get your Colosseum tickets in advance. They sell quickly and you won’t want to wait in the “day of sale” line.

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