The #1 Misconception about Theatre and the Performing Arts
This Makes My Blood Boil
I’ve been involved in the dance world for 30 years. I’ve been involved in theatre for about 20.
I’ve seen many things. I’ve heard many things.
What has astounded me the most are the things I’ve heard from people who are not involved in the performance world in any capacity.
There’s a misconception that this “theatre stuff” is easy. That it requires no effort. That it’s just fun, without any hard work put into it.
That if compared to any other activity or profession, theatre, dance, and music are just child’s play. That anyone can do it, so any stress or exhaustion felt is nonsense. That pisses me off.
The first time I encountered this astoundment was in high school. It was my senior year. My friends and I were in a production of Titanic: The Musical. It was nothing like we’ve ever done before.
We had to sink the freaking Titanic on the stage. How the f*** were we going to do that, when all the shows we’ve done so far are leave-you-feeling-happy-fun-cookie-cutter-musicals?
Up until this point, not one of us had to portray REAL people from history. Not one of us had to act out one of the biggest tragedies ever to have happened in the past hundred years. None of us had to die on stage before.
None of us even had the capacity to understand the emotional turmoil of the people affected by the sinking of the Titanic. We were mere teens who lived a mostly pleasant life.
Every morning, a group of my friends gathered for our morning hallway hang at my locker. I had an end-of-the-row one, so it was prime real estate. Hallway squirming avoided.
It was Tech Week. If you don’t know what Tech Week is, here’s a break down:
Lights/sound/and microphones are added to the show.
Costumes are added to the show, which may mean costume changes.
There’s a TON of stop & go to make sure all light, sound, and music cues are on time and run smoothly.
It’s no longer about the actors. The priority is the inclusion of the live pit Orchestra (sitz probe is my favorite day!), the Lighting person/people, the Sound person/people, the Stage Crew to move sets if necessary, props, and more. All hands are on deck, and the Director is leading it all.
There’s no more time for the actors to learn. They must have their lines, blocking and choreography, and their track with mic/costume changes memorized. If they don’t know it by now, they never will.
Run the show as it will for the performances starting later that week.
It can be insanely stressful both physically and mentally. Emotions can run high, and you may be in Tech till the wee hours of the night.
On this particular morning, my best friend and I were barely alive. We might as well have introduced ourselves as zombies. We got home at midnight the night before, and each had individual work-loads for our high school education.
It just so happened another friend of ours was also a zombie. She was saying how she had practice for the sports team she was on. Her work load for higher education was also different.
One thing led to another with our conversational bond about being tired and stressed. Somehow it got into a competition on who is more tired and why. I sat against my locker and listened to this unfold.
My sports friend said something like “But it’s theatre. It’s not hard. So you shouldn’t be this tired.”
I’ve never been angry with this friend before. My blood literally boiled, or at least that’s what it felt like.
We were in rehearsals until about 9 pm for 4 months working up to this week. In 3 sentences, this friend completely invalidated and shoved all of our work into the ground.
I looked over at my best friend, and another friend/cast member. She was also turning red. Our other non-theatre friends looked and listened on in awkward silence.
With a firm voice (one that my friends have never heard before), I said “Stop! You have no idea how this works. You’re not in the theatre world. We’re not telling you sports are not tiring. We’re not saying one is over the other. Apples and oranges. All fruit (I really like My Big Fat Greek Wedding). So please, just accept and respect why we’re zombies today.”
She went silent for the rest of our pre-first period bell hang. The rest of the day sucked. And we did tech all over again that night, never even finishing an entire run of the show.
This theatre-is-easy misconception boils my blood to this day, and here’s why. Not only is all effort negated with this misconception, but theatre and the performing arts are what ALL of us live on.
Do you have a favorite movie? Do you love binge watching a series? Are your earbuds constantly in your ears? How much time do you spend watching actors? How much time do you spend listening to music? How do you feel when you watch any kind of dancing? Hearing lyrics or lines that hit you in the heart?
Our favorite musicians, singers, artists, shows, and movies all come from one thing: performing arts. You probably look up to your favorite singers and actors with unmatched admiration. You might even go so far as to watch interviews that discuss their process and work ethic.
And yet, music and theatre programs get cut from schools. Arts programs are valued less and less when we live in a world that depends on it. Instead of embracing it, we negate it. We toss it in the dump with the way we talk about it.
Where would you be without a certain musician? Who would you be?
Do you think music, theatre, and dance are easy? Do you think you could get in front of people and perform? Do you think you could go through years of rigorous training that not only physically prepares you, but mentally and emotionally challenges you? Do you think you could dedicate your life to it?
I’ve only scratched the surface. There’s way more work put into the performing arts. With theatre especially, many non-theatre people don’t recognize the psychological work behind it and the energy it takes (Heath Ledger is a prime example).
This is something I put forward in my acting coaching. Acting takes an abundant amount of mental and emotional effort. Physical effort as well. Reach out to me if you’re curious about it.
Thanks for reading the #1 Misconception that makes my blood boil. This isn’t to say that theatre or dance are the hardest things on the earth. It is not my intention to remotely invalidate any other activity or profession. It’s to say, hey, we’re here too. For more blog posts like this one, subscribe here.