Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/04 00:22For all of my fellow Teen Performers here this Forum is most likely a very recent memory for you and as for the more experienced older crowd please remembor back to your High School drama club days for in this blog I discuss the horrificly awkward intorduction of the Stage Kiss.
Yes the Stage Kiss is essential in many shows and almost every serious performer will have to stage kiss in at least a handful of shows. For many the stage Kiss is simply acting and can seperate there mind and body, how ever for some the experience is like 5th grade health class learning about puberty for the first time with the school nurse who had more facial hair than most boys would ever be able to grow. Awkward stage kissers( or AWK's for short) are a danger to themselves, those they are partnered with, and they also cause tremendous entertainment for the rest of the cast. However If your are ever paired with a AWK it is important to know how to identify them with the help of my classification of the AWK's.
1. Stone lips- this AWK tightens her lips together so tight that might just bust a lip open if you go in too fast, beware and always plant one gently
2. The Laugher- Just as you start your motions this AWK will giggle, ruining the kiss and then will appologize 6 billion times
3. Deer in the Headlights- If their eyes got any wider you might end up kissing a cornia
4. Sir Sweats-Alot- you can actually see the pit stains spontaniously appear
5. The Vomiter- although very rare I have heard stories of someone actually vomiting right before performing a stage kiss
and my personal Favorite 6. the Sass Master- This is usually a girl who makes sure that everyone knows that she would never kiss you if she didn't have too, of course what she doesn't know is that you probably die a little inside when you have to kiss her
So There you have it, The Awkward Stage Kisser, please post any funny stage kiss moments you have been involved in or that you have seenJ Chris
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broadwaybaby09
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/04 23:02The last show I was in was the first show that I had to do a stage kiss in. It was going fine, we had been running the show with scripts which made it a little awkward but not to bad. Then during our first rehearsal off book, he decides to grab me by the hips and pull me in, practically lifting me off the ground. I, who was used to the way we had been doing it, don't know what's going on and my head hasn't moved but my hips have been thrust forward and I'm in this sort awkward backbend pose while he's kissing me. Meanwhile, I nearly drop the wine glass I'm holding. Somehow his giant feet have gotten behind me during this craziness and so as I turn away from him, I trip and nearly fall on my butt. Good thing my character is supposed to a little tipsy. Actually, my retelling of this story is one of my friends' favorite stories I tell. My friend's mom saw the show and when we talked about the kiss, she said "you too need to get a room!" That was more awkward than anything!
Then there is the production of Music Man my middle school did a few years back. I wasn't in it but I saw it and it has left a lasting impression on me. Since it was just a middle school show and we have a super conservative director and administration, they didn't have anyone really kiss. So during the footbridge scene, they used one of those over the top dip kisses where no one really touches. The problem was, Marian was a good head taller than Harold so she had to dip him or else it wouldn't have worked. To add to this, I don't know what happened but they kept moving around while "kissing". It was hilarious!
When our director had to teach our Sky and Sarah in Guys and Dolls how to do this same type of kiss, it looked like a 50 year old woman was making out with a 14 year old boy. I still have that picture in the back off my mind whenever I think of Guys and Dolls.-Georgia
Current Show: West Side Story - Clarice Recent Shows: Carousel - Principal Dancer, Ensemble, A Christmas Carol - Lily, Charwoman, Charitable Gentleman, Principal Dancer, Ensemble; Rootabaga Stories-multiple roles; Joseph... Dreamcoat -Wives Chorus
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Shannon
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/05 00:50I HATE the dip-kisses. My high school had all 14 main characters in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers do that at the end of the show, and everyone could tell the kisses were completely faked. A few of their faces didn't even come close to each other; they kissed the air in front of them quite obviously.
I've had to kiss on stage three times now (once for one show and twice in another). I requested not to fake it - the guys certainly didn't have a problem with that! But I felt that fake stage kisses always look like exactly what they are - not reality.
That's not to say mine weren't awkward at first. I think it's always hard to kiss someone for the first time - but after that, I grew comfortable with it.
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Annie
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/05 00:54The first show I did with my husband was right after we got married and he had to kiss another girl so people were kind of worried about how I'd react. Well, it turns out I wasn't the one to worry about. The girl kept making excuses as to why she couldn't do it clear up until Tuesday of tech week. Sunday- It's the holy day, Monday- I can't remember what she said, she tried to get out of it on Tuesday, but the director made her. So they kiss (the first of many in the scene) and she pulls away like she's just kissed a lemon and then she couldn't remember her line. My husband was so proud of himself that he did the whole Yes! thing from Home Alone. She was so embarrased! Then during the next kiss the sound guy turned on a hand mic and started making kissing noises which had us laughing our butts off, which annoyed my husband who couldn't hear the kissing sounds and thought we were laughing at them.
In my last show, Jekyll & Hyde, the girl playing Lucy had to kiss my husband and she kept making it a really quick, and awkward peck. I figured having me around was probably making her feel weird, so I made jokes to put her at ease one day and finally it started to look more realistic.
I've only had to kiss my husband, on the mouth anyway, so I've had it pretty easy. My onstage relationships with other men have been really boring: hey, here we are staring into each other's eyes again.~Annie Recently: Pick-A-Little-Lady (The Music Man), Miss Thorn (Ruthless! the Musical), Emma Carew (Jekyll & Hyde)
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Curly Blonde Hair
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/05 03:11My first actual onstage kiss was probably during "Into the Woods, Jr." this summer as the Baker's Wife. (I've done kisses before in workshops, competitions, etc., but this was my first one actually in a show.) Since I've done them in smaller things before, it wasn't that awkward for me, but the Baker seemed to be having a hard time with it. For one thing, he was a year younger than me, so he was an eighth grader kissing a high schooler at the time. (Stupid, I know...) It was his first as well. The first time, he would fall under "Stone lips" I'd say. He got better as we continued to rehearse, but it was awkward for awhile. He would always get really flushed afterwards, and it took awhile before he would make eye contact after the first time. It was kind of funny actually.
I'd say that my worst stage kiss experience was for an original one-act that I did for a workshop. I was fourteen at the time, he was seventeen. I was supposed to be the nerdy freshman, and he was the all-star senior. (You know, the captain of every sports' team who always dates the head cheerleader...) The show was really cliche, where the nerdy freshman goes through this transformation thing and suddenly he notices her or something like that. At the end, he had to kiss me. He went in for the kiss, and when I leaned to kiss him, he opened his mouth and started licking my lips. (He later yelled at me, saying that I was cramping his style!) Worse still, he had just had something really garlicky (is that a word?) for lunch and washed it down with a Root Beer. It was disgusting. Especially for a shrimpy 14 year old. Thankfully, we didn't rehearse that kiss too much.This isn't a golf tournament, being loud is more than acceptable!
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Shannon
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/05 14:45Lol! That second story of yours is hilarious...who DOES that? It's not like people in the audience are going to think the kiss is more realistic if he's licking your lips, because they can't see it in that much detail anyway. That may have been his "style" for dates, but on stage? He's just trying to get some action
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broadwaybaby09
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/05 20:36I love whenever you do a kiss and you're wearing a mic and the mic picks up every little sound of the kiss. For some reason, the sound guy had mine and my husbands turned up as loud as possible (cuz he loves to annoy me), and since it was a rather "passionate" kiss you heard every single noise we made. Plus, we both kissed Scrooge on the cheek at several different points and the audience actually laughed because the kissy sounds were so bad.-Georgia
Current Show: West Side Story - Clarice Recent Shows: Carousel - Principal Dancer, Ensemble, A Christmas Carol - Lily, Charwoman, Charitable Gentleman, Principal Dancer, Ensemble; Rootabaga Stories-multiple roles; Joseph... Dreamcoat -Wives Chorus
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carrot cait
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/06 00:07Stage kisses at my school don't tend to be very awkward, luckily. I can think of one that was kind of hilarious, though...
We did Oklahoma! when I was a freshman (although I try very hard to forget it). Will (I think? I really don't remember the names. Whoever Gertie ends up with) was played by this kid who's goofy and fun to be around and who is also insanely attractive. Gertie was played by a friend of mine who was extremely... um... unique. Let's just say that when she did her Gertie laugh, she wasn't really acing.
Anyhow, Will was supposed to pick her up and twirl her around and kiss her, and the first time they rehearsed it, Gertie went in for the kiss as well as Will, and smacked her face into his nose (I think he actually had a bloody nose after that) and smashed her teeth into his lip. Being the kind of guy he was, Will (and all his friends) made fun of her for pretty much the rest of the year (good-humour-dly, of course). It was hilarious.
I haven't had any of my own stage kisses, but I have 2 this year for BatB... So hopefully they don't end up being too awkward. I mean, I don't see how the Gaston one could be (except for the guy playing Gaston is flamboyantly gay... But really, I couldn't mess it up).
And since I can't figure out how the transformation works, and everyone I asks tells me something different, I don't know which Beast I'm going to have to kiss..- Caitlin / Cait -
Favorites Belle in Beauty and the Beast (2008), Jupiter in Cymbeline (2006), Narrator in Joseph... (2005) Present (possibly) YAGMCB...
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jameala
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/06 01:37Just don't break your nose! Love (even Love on Stage) is not supposed to "hurt"
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Starlet_Actress21
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/06 09:12JChris wrote: 5. The Vomiter- although very rare I have heard stories of someone actually vomiting right before performing a stage kiss
Before I was in high school, they did The Music Man, and though I didn't get to see th show, some of my friends did. During intermission, my friends witnessed the director running backstage with a thing of Pepto Bismol. Our director is pretty mean and one who will say "deal with it" when your brains are falling out, so they knew that it must've been one of the leads that was sick. Sure enough, it was the guy playing Harold Hill. They usually did a real kiss, but that time they did the whole putting your thumb on theirlips and kissing your thumb.
I think I have my first stage kiss in the show I'm currently in. I'm pretty sure they'll have me just kiss him on the cheek, because a) my character's only fourteen, b) we're in 1925 and c) she's not the type to kiss every guy she sees on the lips. Hopefully, should they not change it, I won't succumb to any of those symptoms- the guy would definitely tease me for the rest of my life if I did (he plays the class clown, and there's not much acting involved.) I also have a near-kiss in this one with a guy who's, like, two feet taller than me. Auditioning for: Brigadoon, theatre season, American Music Theatre, Into the Woods, Sound of Music, and AMDA.
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Addicted2Driftwood
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/07 10:53When I was in Grease this summer, the guy who played Danny liked the girl who played Sandy, and the feeling was not mutual. So during their stage kiss he tried to just keep going and she had to push him off her,
And then Kenickie and Rizzo had their kiss next and they'd been wanting to hook up for a while. So they kiss and we all do the "oooo" thing like we're supposed to...and it just keeps going. so that was an awkward last scene for us and the audience.
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mslexy403
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/07 10:59I love all of these stories. I'm so glad someone started a topic about this because I truthfully think it's such a big part of performing. We did a show last year called A 1940's Radio Hour. It's a great little show so go research it if you'd like. Anyway.. My good guy friend and I were the "young couple" and had a totally AWK stage kiss. I've known this guy forever and we'd been singing and doing shows since sixth grade. He'd been in a relationship with a girl who didn't know me very well for about two years. I was very apprehensive about this because our characters were supposed to be very conservative (it was in the 1940s) the whole show and at one point while he's in the middle of a song, we just can't take it anymore and we kiss. Ideally, for a minute (so says my director. I quote "I want everyone in the audience to feel awkward in their seats because this kiss goes on so long"). So I didn't want to make his overly protective girlfriend mad and of course we didn't kiss until two days before the show. Those first few practices were awkward but we talked about how during the show, we were just going to let loose and make it look real. That was hilarous. So the kiss came and he totally did the backward bend to me. I was supposed to pop my leg and it only got about a foot off the ground because my back was so arched. Still more awkward, the kiss is about 45 seconds long and comes RIGHT in the change of the chapter 1 to chapter 2 part of the DVD. So if you click Chapter 2 of the DVD, it's just us kissing. STILL MORE. He tried to get so into and I guess kinda got lost that he moved his hand down towards my butt and then I guess realized what he was doing and quickly snapped it back up to my waist. My Dad wasn't too happy with that. SO that was my first stage kiss experience. He also compltely had the locked lips. They were tight and thin and I felt like I was just kissing his chin. Man, memories. I love ya'll stories, so keep them coming"If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten. And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing"
Currently: Nothing! So sad..
Favorite Roles: Cosette in Les Miserables
Dream Roles: Lady of the Lake (Spamalot), Val (A Chorus Line), Millie Dillmount (Thoroughly Modern Mille)
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aliauthor
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/07 20:37Our director for 'It's A Wonderful Life' wanted to do something different for the 'I'm glad I know you George Bailey' part, where Violet kisses George on the cheek, so I kissed my hand, put it on his cheek and went in for a kiss on the lips. This has two stories:
1) The first rehearsal for that scene, the immature guy in the cast started being immature and he'd been ticking me off the entire rehearsal. So I kiss my hand, almost have it on his cheek, and he starts making kissy noises and laughing. I wheel on him to give him the evil eye and accidentally slap George in the process! oops!
2) During the run of the show I had to wear bright pink lipstick, thickly coated, so the kiss-marks on George's cheek would show from the audience. So I go on and do my scene, walk meekly offstage, and look behind me- as the stage manager whispered to me, THAT IS ONE HUGE SMUDGE OF PINKNESS! It was very bright, I can tell you.
I hoped he'd be able to get it off when Tilly wiped his face for him, because we were only halfway through the show, but there was still pink on his cheek for the whole show. The next show, Tilly brought a baby wipe onstage. I still think my lips are permanently dyed from that lipstick, though.
For the last performance of 'A Midsummer Nights Dream', Demetrius decided that he'd kiss Helena at one point in the show where he 'felt like there should be a kiss anyway'. Problem is, he didn't tell Helena, so there was this awkward 'uuhhhhh' moment before she closed her eyes and kissed him back. Apparently no one knew the difference.
Gosh, I have a lot of stories!
For my first show, '101 Dalmatians', Roger and Anita are supposed to kiss on the cheek, but Anita was still going through the 'ack! cooties!' thing, so the scene went:
Anita: (clasps Roger's hand, staying faaaar away) That was wonderful, darling!
Roger: (leans in)
Anita: (kisses the AIR about ten inches behind Roger's cheek)
Me, offstage: Oh, for the love of pete.
Post edited by: aliauthor, at: 2008/01/07 20:37
Post edited by: aliauthor, at: 2008/01/07 20:41-Ali
Currently: -Sheila; Boys Next Door (postshow depression mode) -acceptance to acting ensemble -Bye Bye Birdie (audition- didn't get a callback)
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StrikeALight
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/08 15:50aliauthor wrote: Anita: (kisses the AIR about ten inches behind Roger's cheek)
Me, offstage: Oh, for the love of pete.
Your reaction sounds exactly like me!Sophs
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BrigantineMagnolia
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Re:Awkward Stage Kissers - 2008/01/22 17:45Well, I think I'm usually the awkward one. I've had to do stage kisses in three shows- The Music Man, The Will Rogers Follies, and Show Boat. In the first two, the men were old enough to be my father. My Harold was really really nice and the director gave us lots of time to talk and connect and get to know each other. I think that' helped our chemistry on stage, but hindered the kiss. Now, not only am I kissing an older man, I'm kissing my married friend whose wife is in the show!! Will Rogers was... interesting. The director seemed to fall back on kissing as blocking. We joked "when in doubt, kiss!" I think we kissed 5-6 times in that show. Haha, I had the kind of lipstick on that wasn't supposed to rub off, has the separate color and gloss ends... before one scene where we had to kiss a few times I'd always refresh the gloss... make it nice and sticky!!! He'd always give me a funny look after those, knowing what I did. For Show Boat.. ugh... bad breath, bad times. the first kiss Magnolia and Ravenal have is at the end of a scene and so we had to sort of 'freeze" kissing... and the orchestra was playing Soooo.... slllooowwww.... we had our lips locked for ages and ages."...If you want to clip your- Ear lobes- You may want to dye your- Hangnails- Dab a little on your- Husband's Face- Won't he be surprised?..." "Sounds While Selling", She Loves Me
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But I felt that fake stage kisses always look like exactly what they are - not reality.
