[jcstar]

For anyone who has been in the show, why is there always bad vibes around it?

I mean, I grew to hate "Canaan Days" and all the Narrator tunes. Plus, the orchestrations we used were horrid (I expected a lot more from "orchestrations by ALW")

Aaaarrrrrgh!

I really don't want to hate the show. It just happened.

Andy.

[convict24601]

Well.... I wouldnt say bad vibes....I would just say, a somewhat curse? Like I've mentionned in my previous post, Our narrator got laryngitis and we HAD to recast. This made some people angry and some people who are not happy with the replacement are thinking of quitting. Plus, some people are thinking of quittting just because they think this is boring.

Seriously if you think somthing is boring, then why do you choose to complain about it three weeks before our first show, when you had three months to do so. PLus, quitting just because you dont like a perticular replacement is a lame excuse.

I hope this team stays strong and just pulls through, cause we had somthing really good going for us.

[Aimee]

That's so annoying. I hate it when there is a bad vibe about a show. It almost makes you want to say to the moaners.. 'Go on then, leave and we'll put ion a great show without you'. But of course that never happens cos they are needed once everything is set etc.

Andy, I know not everyone ends up hating the show Beagle for instance, LOVES it and had a fab time doing it recently.

[jcstar]

The director of our show was a moron when it came to directing. He had no idea what he was doing. He took suggestions from the entire Soprano section and said "Great idea! Glad I thought of it!" and smiled. UGH! We ended up having seven Narrators, and 27 directors.

Anytime I made a suggestion, he shot my ideas down... in front of the cast! Once, when I was not where I was supposed to be standing in a certain place, he jumped up onto the stage and shoved me into the chorus and said "That's where I asked you to be! Stay THERE!"

The children were between the ages of 7 and 12. He made them stay up until after 10:00 during rehearslas, so that he could get stuff right. I even asked if that was wise of him to make them stay up past their bedtimes. He shot me a look that said "Shut up!"

He also deprived the children of going out for Halloween. Rehearsal was more important, he said. The show was three weeks away, and the children knew their stuff.
So, that night, I bought the children Halloween candy and came dressed as Paul Stanley of KISS. The director asked me "Who are you supposed to be?"

The adult chorus grew to hate the children. These people were making unrealistic demands for them. At one point, one of the Wives made a sarcastic comment about the children... right in front of them.
The Assistant Director /Choreographer stormed at her and said "Look, they've given up their Halloween, and are putting in very late nights during the week. They have never, ever complained about anything! They know their stuff..." she paused, then said "...which is more than I can say for you!" For the rest of the rehearsal, the children were very upset and scared.

That's what I had to observe and deal with.

Andy.

[kittengoespop]

Christ, you people have had some sick experiences with this show!

I was in it two years ago, my high school did it, and I was the Butler and in the Ensemble, and even though many of the cast bitched and complained about it not being that great of a show, or the casting being a bit biased, we still had a fun time, and we had competent direction and excellent choreography. Sometimes microphones went horribly awry, but those were about the only problems we had.

It was a fun experience, and our show the next year ("West Side Story") seemed to me, in the way of experience, a bit of a step down (save my amazing friends in my "gang", but that's a story for another day.)

So, I didn't necessarily have "bad vibes" about this show.

[jcstar]

I forgot to mention that:

Joseph was played by a Donny Osmond sound-alike. Which was okay, but he kept flubbing his lines during rehearsal. He kept looking at me because I'd know EXACTLY what he was supposed to sing, and I'd mouth the words to him. He did this constantly... while I was onstage. During opening night, I decided to ignore him altogther, and he flubbed most of his lines.

That same performance, the director changed blocking for "Potifar" minutes before curtain. I blasted him for being a poor director. To which he responded "Let's see you do it better!" I said "I'll be wining Tony Awards while you're sucking up your own snot when you're in an old age home watching me on TV!"

I went onstage furious. I missed most of my cues and ignored the blocking for the "Potifar" number, and stuck to what was rehearsed.

In short, I mutinied (sp?). Surprisingly, he allowed me to come back to work for the rest of the run. He even left me a note saying Stick to the original blocking. Nothing more will be changed."

Andy.

[norayouadora]

Wow, with experiences like that, I can understand why you might loathe this show now!

But I was in this show a few years ago, and I absolutely loved it. The cast was pretty good (though there was some obvious nepotism), and the director was amaaazing--I'm not bragging, as I had nothing to do with her, but she was great!--and it was probably one of the better productions I've ever done... Fond memories.

So, no bad vibes from me. Perfectly understandable from you guys, though.

[jcstar]

I just remembered one more thing...

After opening night, I went out into the lobby (dressed in my Lively Lad/Egypt costume) to meet people and see my family members.

My family had already gone home from the theatre, but I talked to a lot of people anyway.

One memory still hurts me to this day. I was talking to a nice lady and she was telling me that she enjoyed the "concert."

Me: Thank you, I'll pass that on to the director.
Lady: I had a lot of fun. You all sounded wondeful!
Me: Thanks. So, who was your favourite character in the show?
Lady: Characters? What characters? There were characters?
Me: (very hurt and close to tears) Thank you for coming out.

It showed me that we weren't doing a good job.

Andy.

[convict24601]

I don't know if I posted this before. But anyways.

The whole quitting issue turned out to be a rumor spread by the bitter narrator with laryngitis. It really wasn't as full blown as she made it out to be.

But what an experience it was! We had the broadway treatment for three days, and performing on that stage, to that show, was the highlight of my year, if not, my entire Elementary school experience. Thinking about how far we've came from our first rehersal (It was my first time singing in front of an audience ever - other than the auditions -) We had our funny times backstage, but when whe got onstage we clicked. It was awesome really, and everyone just fed off of eachother. We got a standing ovation on our second last performance and that is always gonna be a major highlight of my performing career. And we didn't let a few mic problems get in our way.

My dad was telling me the other day he can't tell me how amazing our production was. He said to see us all up there, performing like professionals, and having fun at the same time, was somthing. Many people were still talking months after. We (cast/crew members) joked around that we made St. Alfred history with our production.

If anybody wants, I could post a journal i wrote of our performances? Just say the word and I will.

[Beagle On Stage]

I've outlined in the "Best Joseph" thread what it is that I think leads to a bad name for the show. The problem is that too many productions go for too much jokery and glitz, and it just becomes tacky and devoid of meaning.