Does anyone here "do" Community Theater?

[Danauk]

Yeah, I do too. I help to run an arts centre in my spare time. 3 years ago our local council wanted to pull the building down but a group of us got together to save it and it is now more successful than it has been in a long time (the council even rent it from us.) Our company is really lucky as we get to practice in a theatre with a full height fly gallery which is still used as a professional theatre.

I also help run our local theatre company and this year I have been in Half a sixpence and Fiddler on the roof. I couldn't take part in our recent Christmas show as I was in WDW. Next week we have auditions for our next show the Wizard of Oz.

I think my favourite show over the years was Singing in the Rain as we hired in the rain set that was used when the show was on in the west end of London. It cost us a fortune to hire but it was well worth it and so much fun. I play trumpet as well and my husband plays bass and we also play in the pit bands for other companies when they do shows in other local theatres.

 

[Queen Quinnella]

My DH started in "The King and I" and then he caught the acting bug real bad. After that he was in "Annie Get Your Gun" as Chief Sitting Bull. That's when he dared me to try out for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" I had never acted before and ended up playing "Big Mama" and he was my son "Brick"! Our DD (6) was also in it. She just about stole the show.

 

[Carl]

Where in Houston did you perform? I live in Wharton, 60 mile s.w. of Houston.

I do most of my shows at Pasadena Little Theater on Allen Genoa Road in Pasadena.

 

[barkley]

the community theatre i primarily am involved with has traditionaly done about 3 productions a year (not including the messiah and a pop's concert) with the summer show always selected to be a family type show (and we made sure it was a play that had roles for kids/teens). for years it worked realy well and was a tremendous experience for everyone involved (we ended up with multi-generational families performing in productions-very cool to see). now the kid's we are seeing come in with no concept that they will have to sit still (and quiet) while another scene is rehearsing, they can't run all over the theatre, they HAVE to stay backstage and then the props are not theirs to play with...

the problems we started encountering started when the public schools cut way back or eliminated arts programs. that opened the door for these children's theatre groups to start up in the communities. they charge a participation fee (plus charge for each kid to have a costume that they get to keep) and guarantee that every kid will be in the cast. they end up with a massive amount of kids and it becomes more of a cattle drive than anything resembling rehearsals (no production of the wizard of oz NEEDS to have 300 munchkins crammed onto a stage and just sitting because there is'nt room for them to move one inch either way ). the situation got realy out of hand and because of the damage the kids caused some area theatres refused to rent space to the groups anymore.
we now have one major children's theatre group in our area and they have some funding relationship with the community college-but again there is a big fee for participation and the kids seem to end up with a sense of entitlement ("why can't i sing a solo, i sang in solo in the last 3 shows i was in"-um, well the role you were cast in and accepted with us does'nt have a solo. "then add one-that's what they did for me last time" ).

our group has had to require that any child who want's to be in a production must particpate in a group sponsored "theatre boot camp" to be completed before the child can audition. the instructors teach basic stuff like stage right/left, upstage/down stage, but focus on what behaviours are expected during the rehearsal and performances. it's helped to some degree but there are still parents who come in and create havoc ("i don't think she should have to sit backstage during rehearsals, she gets bored and wants to see whats going on onstage, i did'nt like the costume you picked so i told her she could wear this, she's so much better than that little girl why can't you just move her into the front...".

i feel so for the kids who want to participate but their parents are terrors-word gets from one company to another and these kids (some who behave great when the parent is'nt around) are out of consideration for casting before they walk into an audition.

i should say i'm not against private voice lessons-a good vocal coach can be very beneficial to a young voice. but i would advise a parent to choose wisely-there are those who are only concerned with making them sound good now and can damage their voices down the line (seen this with allot of little girls who want to sing in the belting "annie" style), and any voice teacher who is including having their students do recitals should be spending some time with them teaching about how to behave/conduct themselves.

 

[Barb D]

I've never been on stage, but I was in the orchestra pit (cello) for several musicals when I was in high school. I'd like to be in the pit again when my youngest is a little older. Does that count?

 

[dizagain]

Hi...never had the nerve to get on stage myself, but both DD's 9 and 11 have been hooked for 5 years now. We just moved from Texas, where they were involved in a wonderful small children's theatre troupe, to the Chicago area where they are now involved in a big children's troupe. DD11 auditioned for the first time here recently and is in the ensemble in "Aladdin"...she's just thrilled to be there, it never occurred to her to be disappointed because she was used to bigger roles in Texas. DD9 is in it more for the fun and socialization and it has done wonders for her shyness. She can now get up in front of her class anytime without major fear....I believe that this activity will stay with them forever and the benefits are too numerous to count - they have learned so many valuable lessons! I LOVE it! DH doesn't because of the time it takes, but even he admits it's good for them!