Thursday, November 02, 2006
Life Lessons I Learned From Theatre
1. Do It Full Out - Don't hold back. When you hear the music reach deep within your gut and give it your all. Yes, it will prove to be slightly more exhausting, but you will train yourself into being that person that everybody watches and wants to be around. If you wait, there may not be a next time. Do It Full Out.
2. Attitude Gets You Even Farther Than Talent - You don't gotta be the very best. Yes, having a certain amount of talent or skill is necessary, but if you want to be asked back - have a good attitude. People - directors, potential mates, friends - want to surround themselves with people who work hard, come early and act is if they are grateful to be where ever it is they are.
3. Be Vulnerable - Strong is good, but there are times when what will capture the world and let you hold it in the palm of your hand is a display of vulnerability. Show the pain. Show the joy. Admit that there is something that you are needing and wanting and fight for it with unmasked honesty.
4. If You're Gonna Make a Mistake, Commit to It - There is no way to fix something if you hide away and try to keep from everyone the fact that it isn't working. Belt the wrong harmony at the top of your lungs so that you can eventually belt the correct one. It is better to do a commited arm up on the wrong beat, then a half-assed arm up on the right beat. Wrong big means that likely it will be the last time you flub up that badly. Wrong small and secret means that you will likely just keep repeating the same crap over and over again.
5. If It's Not Fun, Then Stop Doing It - You chose theatre - or anything else for that matter - because it was fun and you loved it. Fun gets a bad wrap. Like it isn't an important, signifigant ingredient in a good life. I say screw that. When stuff stops being fun, you need a break or to go on a hiatus or get an attitude adjustment (see number 2). Have fun. Whatever you're doing. Have fun.
6. Look 'Em Straight In The Eye - Be proud and confident in who you are and in what you are doing and the audience aka everyone around you will buy it. Seriously. People can smell fear. It will make them doubt you which will add to you doubting yourself. Stand up straight, smile, boobs out, look 'em straight in the eye and say "I am hot stuff. Now, get outta my way!" Say it enough and soon you'll start to hear the truth in it.
7. There Is Always Something You Can Be Working On - A sign of a really stellar actor is when they take any spare second given to work on lines or research more about their character or stretch or review choreography. This is true for anyone in any industry. We are on this planet to keep learning. Stuff your brain full, improve and mold and hone. Work hard so then you can really play hard. And remember that that is just a saying - learning and improving doesn't have to be HARD, instead make it FUN (see number 5).
8. Rest, Rest, Rest - Know when to stop. Rest gives our brains a chance to process all the stuff we have learned and to rejuvinate all the energy we have put out. You can keep running a number over and over again, but eventually you will cease to see progress. If you go away and rest, talk about fluffy mindless junk, take a nap, eat some good food, have a couple laughs and then come back and run the number you will see a signifigant improvement. Rest is good. After all, we are human be-ings not human do-ings.
9. Just Because They Aren't Vocal, Doesn't Mean They Don't Love You - Sometimes the quietiest audiences are the most appreciative. Sure, It feels better to give out all that energy to a crowd (or friend or spouse or employer) who is giving you lots of energy and love back, but don't assume that just because they aren't boisterous or roaring with laughter at your every joke that you aren't, in some small way, bringing them joy. Your job is just to perform and not worry about what you get back. Your job is to just love and not worry about what you get back.
10. Everything Changes - In theatre, the show opens and eventually the show closes. You say goodbye and you move on. You get good at knowing that everything must run its course and the show must end at some point. It can be hard, a cast is like a family, and in a year you might be asked to meet, love and then leave several families. But everything changes, as it must, as it must. Curtains shut and house lights go up and what is important is that you had fun, went full out and looked 'em all straight in the eye.
2. Attitude Gets You Even Farther Than Talent - You don't gotta be the very best. Yes, having a certain amount of talent or skill is necessary, but if you want to be asked back - have a good attitude. People - directors, potential mates, friends - want to surround themselves with people who work hard, come early and act is if they are grateful to be where ever it is they are.
3. Be Vulnerable - Strong is good, but there are times when what will capture the world and let you hold it in the palm of your hand is a display of vulnerability. Show the pain. Show the joy. Admit that there is something that you are needing and wanting and fight for it with unmasked honesty.
4. If You're Gonna Make a Mistake, Commit to It - There is no way to fix something if you hide away and try to keep from everyone the fact that it isn't working. Belt the wrong harmony at the top of your lungs so that you can eventually belt the correct one. It is better to do a commited arm up on the wrong beat, then a half-assed arm up on the right beat. Wrong big means that likely it will be the last time you flub up that badly. Wrong small and secret means that you will likely just keep repeating the same crap over and over again.
5. If It's Not Fun, Then Stop Doing It - You chose theatre - or anything else for that matter - because it was fun and you loved it. Fun gets a bad wrap. Like it isn't an important, signifigant ingredient in a good life. I say screw that. When stuff stops being fun, you need a break or to go on a hiatus or get an attitude adjustment (see number 2). Have fun. Whatever you're doing. Have fun.
6. Look 'Em Straight In The Eye - Be proud and confident in who you are and in what you are doing and the audience aka everyone around you will buy it. Seriously. People can smell fear. It will make them doubt you which will add to you doubting yourself. Stand up straight, smile, boobs out, look 'em straight in the eye and say "I am hot stuff. Now, get outta my way!" Say it enough and soon you'll start to hear the truth in it.
7. There Is Always Something You Can Be Working On - A sign of a really stellar actor is when they take any spare second given to work on lines or research more about their character or stretch or review choreography. This is true for anyone in any industry. We are on this planet to keep learning. Stuff your brain full, improve and mold and hone. Work hard so then you can really play hard. And remember that that is just a saying - learning and improving doesn't have to be HARD, instead make it FUN (see number 5).
8. Rest, Rest, Rest - Know when to stop. Rest gives our brains a chance to process all the stuff we have learned and to rejuvinate all the energy we have put out. You can keep running a number over and over again, but eventually you will cease to see progress. If you go away and rest, talk about fluffy mindless junk, take a nap, eat some good food, have a couple laughs and then come back and run the number you will see a signifigant improvement. Rest is good. After all, we are human be-ings not human do-ings.
9. Just Because They Aren't Vocal, Doesn't Mean They Don't Love You - Sometimes the quietiest audiences are the most appreciative. Sure, It feels better to give out all that energy to a crowd (or friend or spouse or employer) who is giving you lots of energy and love back, but don't assume that just because they aren't boisterous or roaring with laughter at your every joke that you aren't, in some small way, bringing them joy. Your job is just to perform and not worry about what you get back. Your job is to just love and not worry about what you get back.
10. Everything Changes - In theatre, the show opens and eventually the show closes. You say goodbye and you move on. You get good at knowing that everything must run its course and the show must end at some point. It can be hard, a cast is like a family, and in a year you might be asked to meet, love and then leave several families. But everything changes, as it must, as it must. Curtains shut and house lights go up and what is important is that you had fun, went full out and looked 'em all straight in the eye.
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