Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/01/18 18:56^Ugh, I hear that. Our Madame Thenardier in Les Mis says she's a soprano, but there are some notes that she can't hit. I just find that really annoying.Auditioning for: Brigadoon, theatre season, American Music Theatre, Into the Woods, Sound of Music, and AMDA.
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MaryMag
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/04 01:46Starlet_Actress21 wrote: ^Ugh, I hear that. Our Madame Thenardier in Les Mis says she's a soprano, but there are some notes that she can't hit. I just find that really annoying.
Conversely, I feel bad for girls who call themselves mezzos/altos just cuz they haven't had a teacher that's shown them how to access their head voice!
I second that I hate people who complain when they don't get the lead. I useed to be that girl though, so please have patience with those stupid girls. They may grow up one day and learn from their mistakes!
I also get generally irritated with people who only want a role because it's THE LEAD. That's kind of a giveaway that that actor doesn't care about the art of acting, just the attention and the ego boost. Soprano engenues and noble tenors can get very boring...
My final pet peeve is when people other than my voice teacher, dance instructor, or acting coach tells me how to sing, dance, or act. Today I got really irritated when my piano accompanist and I were rehearsing together and she was trying to tell me how to speed up my vibrato, and then she told me I should come see her instead of my current teacher!MM
Currently in: Cy Coleman's "The Life" Next: Anita in "West Side Story" Next auditions: fiddler on the roof, lieutenant of inishmore, pursuit of happiness
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i hate divas. i love lead actors who jump in there and pull their fair share (building sets, showing up to all required rehearsals, being open to changing staging or songs that aren't working). i think virtually every show where i've been an ensemble member or smaller role, there have been leads who refuse to associate with chorus members, never take constructive criticism, etc....and THIS IS COMMUNITY THEATER. so leads aren't exactly the best of the best singers out there, not that that excuses anyone's behavior. i think it's been extremely beneficial for me to be in the ensemble, because now whenever i get a large part, i'm always trying to be friendly and pull my own weight...cause i KNOW how annoying divas are.
roles (the significant ones): laurey in "oklahoma!", grace farrell in "annie", the mistress in "evita", cha-cha in "grease", marion thayer in "titanic"
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secretbroccoli
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/05 00:37my pet peeve is just community theatre itself...not to sound snobby or say anything bad about community theatre(b/c i still continue to do it), but to me its just the embodiment of every pet-peeve listed on this board
you get the people that only get cast b/c they are the favorites or due to some other political scandal (eg Beauty & the Beast, Belle was sleeping with the director) then there are the people who are so green that they know absolutly nothing about stage direction, blocking, voice parts, you name it...yet they think they know everything and act like some huge diva maybe its just community theatre in my town that is this bad tho?? we're a border town and our main industry is autoplants and bars, so we're not exactly overflowing with anything even resembling the arts or culture
or maybe im just bitter from my last experience where i was told by the two directors and dance instructor that i had the part of mary magdalene, but then the music directors threatened to cut her support of the show if her choice wasnt cast...her choice never came to rehearsals untill 3 weeks before dress week, had never acted on stage before, wouldnt listen to direction and knew nothing about anything stage related. luckily i still got to understudy the role (1 show out of 8), but its just wrong to let anything influence casting decisions like that, not only are you hurting your show but its really not fair to the other actorsNikki!! currently rehearsing: Lady Viola/Cesario (Twelfth Night), Joan of Arc (a raisin in the sun)
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triplethreat
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/05 01:02There are some really great community theatres out there... and there are some really awful ones too. I think that is true in anything.
We have a person in our community who runs a theatre school for kids. She totes "highly trained professionals" on her website but the reality is that her instructors are highschool kids. When I first moved here I applied to work with her and was told I would have to "prove myself" by volunteering for a full session first. Sorry? Work for free? When my resume is longer than yours? And my qualifications more extensive? That doesn't seem fair to me. (I've also heard that frequently highschool kids volunteer for her in order to get work, and then she doesn't hire them.)
Recently she also started a community theatre company. Their most recent production was "Evita". She produced and directed the show herself. Then cast herself and her boyfriend in the lead roles.
People asked me if I was going to audition, and I was staring at them saying, Umm, NOOO, I don't work with people like that. I just couldn't understand how easily some people accepted it.
My point is, (and I think some of you have probably heard my rant before) that if we want high quality theatre management (whether community or pro) we have to demand it. We can't let our desperation to perform put us in the position of supporting people who don't deserve our support. I have certain standards that I hold for myself and I expect the same from others. If I know that a certain company doesn't run things in a professional way, then I will not audition for them._____________ Kris MTA Admin
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secretbroccoli
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/05 06:35triplethreat wrote: There are some really great community theatres out there... and there are some really awful ones too. I think that is true in anything.
My point is, (and I think some of you have probably heard my rant before) that if we want high quality theatre management (whether community or pro) we have to demand it. We can't let our desperation to perform put us in the position of supporting people who don't deserve our support. I have certain standards that I hold for myself and I expect the same from others. If I know that a certain company doesn't run things in a professional way, then I will not audition for them.
i totally agree with all of that, but in my case if i dont work with these people, i wont get to perform, thats how limited theatre in my area is. we've got 3 companies 3 respected musical companies, 1 not so respected and 2 unknown strictly-acting companies - all of which draw from the same pool of actors and always cast the same leads...and this is why im desperatly trying to raise enough money to be able to go to school in toronto where there are more companies, and hopefully more oppourtunities, b/c as much as i hate having to work with some of these people here, i dont think i could survive not performing at allNikki!! currently rehearsing: Lady Viola/Cesario (Twelfth Night), Joan of Arc (a raisin in the sun)
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freakofdamonth
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/13 22:47I guess mine has to be when actors/actresses are always late. I know its kind of generic, but i just got doing "A funny thing happened on the way to the forum" and the first time we performed with the whole cast was opening night, yeah that wasnt too fun
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AmandaC
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/14 20:48My school's choir director(who is also the musical director for the musicals) wears this head set and a hat with speakers all the time. During classes and rehearsals. The classes have less than 30 students and she says she "doesn't want to ruin her voice like Julie Andrews" although isn't her voice fine now? Anyway that just annoys me. It probably is for good reason but it seems unnecessary.The opposite of Rent is Oklahoma!!! Why didn't I think of that?
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BroadwayPrincess
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/15 16:24i also hate peole that talk when other are on stage and poele that talk when they are on stageDream Roles Galinda Wicked Maureen Rent Belle Beauty and the Beast Day by Dy solo Godspell Admeries Adia Sally YAGM Wendy PeterPan
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kristine415
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/15 16:43i've just obtained this pet peeve since i was cast in once upon a mattress. so i have the part of lady rowena, which is one of three ladies that have small peaking and singing parts. during the swamps of home we sing the three part harmony as fred's back up. anyway my sister is the sop 1, i'm the sop 2 and the other girl is the alto but she ALWAYS sings the melody! *eye twitches* then when the music director tells her to actually sing her part she sings unreasonably low and the wrong notes, like she's trying to sing an exaggerated bass or something and the music director just laughs because she thinks the girl is trying to be funny and doesn't address the fact that every note that somes out of her mouth is wrong.
but that was just for this particular show that i'm in now...as for all-the-time pet peeves i'd have to say favoritism, because that was a BIG problem at my high school. just because someone loves theatre and DOES actually try hard doesn't mean they they are actually GOOD. i would actually ask "why did ____ get that part?" answer: "well...she wanted it sooo badly"....EVERYone wanted that part, that's why they auditioned.
another thing is that there are ppl that know a lot about theatre that tend to think they're better than everyone else just becuase they know who was the first lighting dirctor of the first american musical, or whatever....that information is NOT relivant to their audition OR their performance and i'd wish they'd stop acting like it makes them better than everyone else
*sigh*...that felt good getting off my chest!
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leland22
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/15 20:54I agree with favoritism! I know its just a part of theatre but it gets me so frusterated. I agree with kristine415 about people singing the wrong part. I always sing alto or sop 2 in shows cause i love singing harmony, but there are alot of other girls who willingly place themselves in the harmony parts that never sing the right parts! They just sing the melody and I end up being the only one on the harmony! I also hate it when people make an excuse for their not-so-great singing voices by saying that they have never had vocal training. Its like they think that taking voice lessons will turn them from tone-deaf to this incredible singer. Even though proper vocal lessons will help improve someone who already has talent, if you can't sing, you can't sing.
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triplethreat
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/15 21:14leland22 wrote: I also hate it when people make an excuse for their not-so-great singing voices by saying that they have never had vocal training. Its like they think that taking voice lessons will turn them from tone-deaf to this incredible singer. Even though proper vocal lessons will help improve someone who already has talent, if you can't sing, you can't sing.
Actually, I have to disagree with you on that. I've been teaching general music classes for several years, and I have only taught a very small handful of people who were "beyond hope".
My experience has been that most people ARE capable of a pleasant sound - but in most cases it comes down to how much music stimulation you received as a child. If you give me a class of 6 year olds, I am confident that I can teach 95% of them to sing pleasantly (not star quality, but nice to listen to). But the older you get the harder it is to improve - it's a habit forming issue, I think.
I'll end by saying that there are many famous singers who I believe to have no "natural" talent - but they have been expertly groomed. I'll leave all of you to speculate who I might be speaking of.
* climbs down from her "music education" soapbox *_____________ Kris MTA Admin
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BroadwaySomeday37
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/16 17:55Ohhh theatre pet peeves... This might take a while... 1. Favorites. I can't stand it when a person is cast because A. Her mom works for the director or B. Her family gives the director lots of money. 2. People who don't appreciate their part. There was a guy in a show i did one time, and when he found out that he had a lead, but not the lead lead, he went and cried in the bathroom. 3. People that talk. It makes me mad when someone just won't shut up. Even when they are in the middle of a scene. 4. Directors that won't tell people to be quiet. See pet peeve number 3. 5. Tone deaf people that get singing parts. It's happened before, it will happen again. 6. People that try to sing a certain part but can't. 7. When someone takes your makeup kit and uses it without asking. That's just rude. 8. When people show up to rehearsals late with no reasonable excuse. It makes it harder for everyone else to get in good rehearsal time. 9. When a lead drops out the week before the show. That's just mean to the other actors *coughjohnpeterpancough* 10. And finally, when people talk about you and call you names for no good reason. That's malicious and hurts everyone. Just because they're not as tone deaf as you doesn't mean you get to call them names.
*Deep breath* Wow, that feels goodHey yo! Let's go to the mo-fro (Melody Freeze), To get a fro yo (frozen yogurt), then we'll stop by the scho-sho (Scholorshop), on our way to WYSO (World Youth Symphony Orchestra)!
Just a little saying from Interlochen, possibly one of the greatest places on the globe!
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broadwaybaby09
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/16 21:00Ok, I know it really sucks that "john" dropped out so close to the show but he sorta did have a reason. Sure he's a little effeminate but those guys had no reason to call him gay. He was really upset! Although I do think Mrs. Carlson should have kicked those guys out of the show, but I still don't know if that would have made "john" any more comfortable. As for the rest of your pet peeves, totally agree. #1-Our school's theatre is so run by who donates the most to/runs FTA (otherwise a certain girl with the initials MM wouldn't get cast nearly as often). And I swear you and Claire were the only singers in the entire cast. And the other "John" just needs to get over himself. I wosh he had been the one who quit.-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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secretbroccoli
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Re:DQ: 12/14/06 - Pet Peeves - 2007/02/16 21:55uh-oh! i feel the need to confess here im a talker i just cant help it, when i have friends in a show (and i always make it a point to make at least one good friend in every cast im in) i cant help but talk whenever were together
i fall upon the hands of your mercy and ask for forgiveness for being a bad theatre talker...although i do always try to be very quiet, and if it looks like an innapropriate time i know when to shut upNikki!! currently rehearsing: Lady Viola/Cesario (Twelfth Night), Joan of Arc (a raisin in the sun)
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