[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

[jrising.livejournal.com]

Very good points. Screen accuracy is the base from which we deviate, and it's important for auditions that we stick to that base, so everyone can show off their abilities. But outside of that, a powerful goal is to be the character, as intensely and audience-drawing-in-ly as possible.

I think the problem has come from a goal like that being posed in negatively. Instead of "being in character" being taken as a goal, "being out of character" is presented as a problem. Screen accuracy is a good thing, but perhaps its a means to an end. If people censor out the other stuff (or aren't motivated to develop them because of other ways they're pushed to do), what's left with isn't really what we want for ourselves or the audience.