MaryMag
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adding new/extra charactersMaryMag's just full of random theater issues today.
Just started a show that was written to have a female chorus of only 5 but the director has expanded it to 12 and created a few more characters. He's splitting up their dialogue and solos and dispensing them between the rest of us new/extra girls. At first I was like, yay I'll get a few lines! But seeing it in practice, it seems to make real character development impossible for all 12 of us. The original ensemble of 5 had limited dialogue and it was gonna be tough for them to turn their characters into distinguishable people, but now we seem to be just one big cluster feck of 12 girls with only 3 or 4 lines, some of those lines being only 3 words long like, "Hold on, you!"
Yes I believe I've developed a full, distinguishable character without even a SINGLE line before. So I guess I shouldn't say it's impossible. However, I don't think just splitting up the lines and dividing them between all of us guarantees that the audience will see our distinct personalities. There's nothing wrong with giving tons of dialogue to the leads, some to the supporting players, and none to the ensemble, I think. I actually think it's overkill to give the same pathetic amount to the supporting players and the ensemble.
What do yall think?
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what_the_heck013
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This was a problem that I noticed when our school did Little Shop and they doubled the number of urchins/doo-wop girls. It was really hard to not only distinguish which was which, but to see seperate personalities. It seemed more like six girls were playing one character, rather than three actresses playing three characters.
What you could try doing is fitting your lines that you received into your own, distinct character. This is where the creativity in acting comes in! I really doubt any of the other girls will do this because it seems (from your other post) that they're rather... lazy (for lack of a better word).
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PappyCat
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well, I guess people really really like lines, and it's nice of your director to spread the love. I think that someone can do a lot with very little, like you said, so I don't think it'll be THAT big of a problem. I have a hard time making the destinction over one ensemble member to the other unless they have something different about their appearance.
I was interviewing the cast of Wiz of Oz at our local high school for a newspaper article and one of the guys said his favorite part in the ENTIRE SHOW is when he gets to say "Oh, what happened then was rich" in a song. Because it's his only line.
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MaryMag
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What_the_heck, I wouldn't call them lazy at all! I would just call them lyric sopranos and not belters, lol! 
Yeah I do think it can be done - creating a distinguishable character with only 3 lines (or even no lines!) But I think it's gonna be hard for all 12 of us.
I'm already thinking about what I'm gonna turn my character into.. the director said she's the mean one... so I think she's gonna be a dominatrix and wear a dog collar and maybe be a British punk a la Nancy (y'know, from Sid and Nancy?) We're hookers in this play, by the way.
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Matthew
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My best friend was added as the...Bernadette...Peterrrrrs Silly Girl.
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what_the_heck013
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| MaryMag wrote: | | I'm already thinking about what I'm gonna turn my character into.. the director said she's the mean one... so I think she's gonna be a dominatrix and wear a dog collar and maybe be a British punk a la Nancy (y'know, from Sid and Nancy?) We're hookers in this play, by the way. |
See? You're pretty much almost there.  Now all you need is a name.
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Jordan
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I dislike this practice. I already spoke about it in another thread I created here about 'created' characters. I just object to throwing cast at the stage to see how many stick in order to get bums on seats.
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broadwayxdoll
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i dunno i guess this is just normal for me. ive been in an acting program that has had as mucha s 100 people onstage at a time. we never divide up lines though. like for suessical we had about 14 bird girls. we just have a lot more of things than usual.
like this past time for YAGMCB we had about 6 extras and we gave them each a name and found lines for them from ral comic strips and put them in.
i dunno. now that you mention it it sounds weird but it never did before
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sopranoopianoo
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Hmm, I guess it depends what you're adding... in Grease one of the girls in our choir was the only one not to get casted as a main part and she threw a fit so she got to be a made up character named "Shelley". Honestly it was a rather pathetic character considering she got some of mine & Jan's lines... the Jan lines were fine I guess, no telling she was taking her lines, but I was frenchy and her having lines about testing makeup and such? Everyone knew right off the bat who's lines they had given her. I hate to be rude but it really pissed a lot of us off because she had no acting skills whatsoever, and the few lines she had of mine were acted out horribly. We would all snicker backstage as she would say one of my lines and my fellow cast mates would go 'uh oh Brittany, there goes your line!' Hah... what can you do though?!
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Robinflamingo
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| GayBoy wrote: | | I dislike this practice. I already spoke about it in another thread I created here about 'created' characters. I just object to throwing cast at the stage to see how many stick in order to get bums on seats. |
When you have NO funding from your school, butts in the seats IS your funding...yet I don't like to do this. I'll cast everybody and their brother in the chorus, and yes, I've added characters (YAGMCB and a chorus in Godspell) but I don't generally give them lines or add new lines (the adding of new lines, especially, is frowned upon and is in direct violation of the performance contract). What I do ask them to do is develop a name and a character, and then act according to those developments in the chorus scenes.
This is why we've never done Two by Two yet. No matter how you look at the story, there's only 8 folks in the Ark. No room for a chorus. It's been suggested I could dress them as animals... 
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Hortonhearsawho
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I am going through this right now. I am in OUAM where we've split the jesters role.... it's working ok for us... I am playing it like I'm his son... but im not much of a fan. also I was once in the chorus for yagmcb and it worked great we had no lines ... and it was fantastic there was a chorus of 6 people plus 4 central dancers
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NoOneMournsTheWicked
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We made up like two extra Sharks and two extra Jet and Shark girls. They have no lines and are only around for the big group scenes (Dance at the Gym, America, etc.) We just gave them names because otherwise they would be the only characters without names. And no one will tell that Juanita and Annie weren't in the original.
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LisaKitty
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| NoOneMournsTheWicked wrote: | | We made up like two extra Sharks and two extra Jet and Shark girls. They have no lines and are only around for the big group scenes (Dance at the Gym, America, etc.) We just gave them names because otherwise they would be the only characters without names. And no one will tell that Juanita and Annie weren't in the original. |
I don't see that so much as adding characters as simply expanding the chorus. I think a chorus can be as large as the venue, director, and musical director will allow for. Just because these chorus members have character names in a program doesn't make them any less additional chorus members.
Actually adding characters, and giving them other people's lines, well, that's a different story. I can't say I agree with that. Seems to me if the writer had wanted another character in the show, he/she would have written one. Not to say I haven't been in several productions where they do that, but I still don't think it's a very good practice.
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phantomphan85
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I agree, it never looks very good.
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metaphor17
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| broadwayxdoll wrote: | | like for suessical we had about 14 bird girls |
... 
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opheliarose
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| metaphor17 wrote: | | broadwayxdoll wrote: | | like for suessical we had about 14 bird girls |
... |
Aren't 3 about 3 too many?
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