[rocky] Professionalism killed the Rocky star

[jrising]

There was a fantastic discussion at the Rocky party about the state of the cast. The vocal consensus was this:

There's an undercurrent of over-professionalism at the show. In small but definite ways, the drive for professionalism stifles some of the fun of the show and makes working at it a chore. Because the show isn't as much fun, it isn't as good, and the audience has noticed. Both directors, theater 3, and Acid's absence were blamed for these problems.

It's so tough to disentangle real harmful effects from nostalgia. So, tell me: do you agree? Have we gained the world and lost our soul (or raised the bar and broken our backs)? The drive for screen accuracy can push us to do better, but if it drives out jokes and connecting with the audience-- if our performance just duplicates the film-- do we want it? The cast members used to work up the audience waiting outside before the show. Does anyone do that now? We have such a great group, and we can fix these problems, but maybe not without big changes.

Feel free to post anonymously or email me separately.

Comments

[overstim.livejournal.com]

Its really amusing and facinating how the same arguments get brought up year after year, but in hindsight, it really has never been as bad as people always made it out to be.

I dont see the issue being screen accuracy vs non screen accuracy at all. the issue is profesisonalism and desire. People who are professional and who really want to be there and who rehearse and have a passion will, almost always, be more screen accurate as a result, AND inhabit their charcater, which is what it takes to break from the blocking and still be funny and in character.

Some actors have been very ridgid about screen accuracy and had NO personality, and they sucked. SOme people have been very funny and outgoing and wild but had no professionalism, and they sucked and caused others around them to suck. When things get TOO away from screen accuray and people stop staying on their tes, things snowball and decline downhill VERY rapidly. ive been to some TERRIBLE shows. Shows that made me want to walk out.

Others have been able to take things seriously but not too seriously, and accurate but not TOO accurately, and they have really shined.

I really havent noticed a problem with the audience, or when I have, it was never because of the show. Audiences always ebb and flow. Even the worst shows have great audiences sometimes, and the best shows and awful audiences.

now, the preshows on the other hand, and kinf of sucked for a LONG time. I havent seen a preshow that looked finished and solid other than halloween, other than the big crazy dance numbers, but those because theyve been done over and over and over. Simple and funny and easy to undestand seems to have gone extinct.

An audience's perspective.

[falcongirl.livejournal.com]

To the OP: You probably don't know me. Unless you were around 10 years ago when I was hanging out at Rocky every weekend, you probably would not recognize me if you saw me, but to give you the background: I was a member of the audience - never staff - for over four years, from 1995 - 2000. I went every Saturday and then Sunday when they started doing back to backs.

I have to agree with Alex K. It's the vibe from the actors that makes the show. For me, watching a bunch of people fuck around doing things that are not on screen, that are possibly references to other movies I haven't watched or jokes that, not being on cast, I'm not part of, was a big turnoff. When the live show deviated too much from the one on screen, I wound up bored out of my mind and taking a nap in row 5. I don't go to Rocky to see the movie - I've seen the movie so many times I can recite the lines and callbacks in my sleep. I go to watch a bunch of non-professional actors do their best to look like pro. When that happens, it's magic, and would catch my attention and keep me awake and participating. I don't mind the mistakes or the humor used to smooth over a mistake, because I realize that you're not pro and shit happens, and I'd rather see someone patch it and go on than burst into tears and go dramaqueen themselves offstage.

When the actors are letter perfect but wooden, it makes me want to slap them and the director - Rocky changes cast frequently, trust me - the audience will put up with mistakes, but wooden, bored-looking acting makes me wonder why that person is up there. If you don't want to be there, if you can't put aside whatever your personal angst is for the night and do your best to make the show fun for the audience, get the fuck off the stage and have your understudy/backup/alternate do it. When the actors pay no attention to the script and want to primadonna and ham it up, that actually pisses me off because it distracts me from watching everyone.

You're entertainers - your job is to entertain. It's a job you don't get paid to do, so being volunteers, one would assume that you signed up to do it because you want to. The show's goal is to put on a really good live version of the movie. That's the goal you're supposed to be working toward. If that isn't your personal goal, you're in the wrong show, because that's what FBC has been about for many, many years and in general, they're damn good at it.

TW in the aisle, leaders in the audience to help get the callbacks going, bags of shit to throw, water being pitched on those in the front few rows - that's all fun and entertaining and engaging for the audience, but that's not what people go there to see. We go to see the show. Too much lately, people have been whining about how "the show" is declining, audiences are dropping off, etc. "The show" is declining because a bigger effort isn't being made to work as a group to make it better. Actors are bitching about directors - honestly, they've bitched about every director, EVER, and whining that they can't do their own thing without realizing that's why there's a director at all. People are bitching and becoming mulish and stupid over changed aspects of the show instead of working as a group to make that aspect work with the show. Everyone has a different idea of what a pre-show should be, and people vote with their feet about the ideas they don't like instead of sharing the toys on that particular playground. Too many people are whining about how good "it used to be" instead of even looking at how far it's come or how good it is now. Everyone wants to go backward, nobody wants to go forward.

My $.02.
-Tara

[jrising.livejournal.com]

Well said.

I sometimes wonder if not having the preshow meetings at people's houses is bringing down the quality, because people don't want to stick around and work on the preshow until its done.

[overstim.livejournal.com]

That was a constant issue with preshow meetings. I always wanted a stock of simple, funny preshows that most people kenw by heart that could be put up at any time. I also felt MOST preshows should be taht way- never more than one big piece a month. big elaborate preshows should be agreed upon by a group of people taht will perform them the entire month, and reheared on their own time. if its not polished and ready to go by saturday night- it doesnt run, simple as that. one of the aforementioned simple preshows goes up instead. better tha an elaborate, long, hard to follow preshow done poorly. or, horror, TWO.