Thespians in the playground.

[V for Victory]

I was just wondering if we had any actors in the playground? Not famous actors but school theater or community theater. However if your famous that's cool too.

Personally I have been in as few plays:
Willy Wonka - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Spender - Martian Chronicles
Flavio- Gap in Generations
Roger- Thunder On Sycamore Street

[GrlumpTheElder]

I am an actor.

I do a lot, both in school and in amature dramatic societies and really enjoy it. Mainly I'm in musicals but I do plays as well. At school I do Theatre Studies and am currently working on a devised piece based on the influences of Bertolt Brecht (which we are performing next friday). Acting is only a hobby, I don't want to go into it proffesionally.

Roles have included:
Tobias - Sweeney Todd
Dr. Stone - A Few Good Men
Malvolio - Twelfth Night
Ali Hakim - Oklahoma
Nicely Nicely Johnson - Guys and Dolls
Fagin - Oliver
Samuel - The Pirates of Penzance
Sir Percy Shorter - Habeas Corpus
Roderick Usher - The Fall of the House of Usher
The Wizard - The Wizard of Oz
Grandpa Potts - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Montague - Romeo and Juliet
and many others...

Yeah, I's all great fun. What I do love, though, is Gilbert and Sullivan; shame I've only been in Pirates and Trial...

[V for Victory]

Now do you prefer musicals or is that just the director's choice?

[GrlumpTheElder]

Now do you prefer musicals or is that just the director's choice?

It's mainly the director's choice, although in some respects I do prefer musicals to plays.

[Thufir]

I was in the orchestra for a couple of my school productions before getting up onto the stage in my final year. Now I'm at university, I'm in the Gilbert & Sullivan Society. So, in chronological order:

Indio - West Side Story
Chorus - The Mikado
Chorus - Sherlock Holmes and the House of Almost Certain Death*
Chorus - Patience
Rupert Strangeways - How to Marry an Aristocrat*

And coming up in 3 weeks time...

Ralph Rackstraw - HMS Pinafore
:biggrin:

*G&S summer shows, written by our director.

[V for Victory]

It's mainly the director's choice, although in some respects I do prefer musicals to plays.

Thats interesting because I can barley stand musicals and it looks like I may be roped into doing Annie as my next production because I am personal freinds with my director and can't just not audition

[V for Victory]

I was in the orchestra for a couple of my school productions before getting up onto the stage in my final year. Now I'm at university, I'm in the Gilbert & Sullivan Society. So, in chronological order:

Indio - West Side Story
Chorus - The Mikado
Chorus - Sherlock Holmes and the House of Almost Certain Death*
Chorus - Patience
Rupert Strangeways - How to Marry an Aristocrat*

And coming up in 3 weeks time...

Ralph Rackstraw - HMS Pinafore
:biggrin:

*G&S summer shows, written by our director.

is the G&S society at alot of colleges?

[GrlumpTheElder]

Now I'm at university, I'm in the Gilbert & Sullivan Society. So, in chronological order:


And coming up in 3 weeks time...

Ralph Rackstraw - HMS Pinafore
:biggrin:

*G&S summer shows, written by our director.

I LOVE G&S!!!!!! It's Brilliant. Unfortunately I've only been in Pirates :(


is the G&S society at alot of colleges?


All the Unis I'm applying to have G&S societies and I think most do (in England that is, sorry I don't know about elsewhere, although I expect that some of the larger American ones do).

[The Duke]

I've done a fair bit of theater.

Currently: Guys and Dolls (Not cast yet however I will get a role in the chorus no matter what as I made it past primary auditions but main roles haven't been cast)

Previously:

Puck: midsummers night's dream
Mercutio: Romeo and Juliet
Reporter: Willy Wonka the Musical
Director(As that's what the part was called, not the actual director): Brothers Grimm Mixed up

As a technician:

Assistant Stage manager: Into the woods
Stage manager: Chocolate Pudding
Lighting Technician: Joy

There have been a few others but that's all I can remember off the top of my head.

[Yarram]

I've done few I guess... From latest to earliest!

Nankipoo - The Mikado (This was made considerably harder, due to me being a Baritone, not a Tenor. A's are fun.)
Chorus - Phantom of the Music Hall
Eugene - Greece
Mr Pounce - The Flying Pieman
The Chicken - The Little Red Hen
Chorus - Puff The Magic Dragon

[Rattine]

I've been in school musicals since 5th grade! I've also done some stuff in the community. I'm in One Act at my school, too! :D

[Temotei]

I've been in school musicals since 5th grade! I've also done some stuff in the community. I'm in One Act at my school, too! :D

Dark green!

I imitate other people uncannily--a lot of actors have been on the end of my voice. :smallamused:

Sean Connery, Arnold Schwartzeneger, Danny Devito, Joe Peschi...:smallbiggrin:

[Kneenibble]

Hey Grlump, how old are you, out of curiosity? Is your devised piece from a script, or entirely collective creation? I love devised theatre! I worked on a production of The Gas Heart by Tristan Tzara this past summer, it was a juicy artistic challenge.

I do acting when I can. I'd like to do it for a living, but I won't quit my dayjob yet. I do theatre though, not film, not musicals. *dodges barrage of vegetables* Which has still involved a strange proportion of singing and dancing.

I'm in the midst of the run of a play by Carol Churchill right now -- every year in January, my city has a playwright festival, this year it was Churchill, our first featured female playwright after what, eight years? She's amazing. My next actorly work will be in the summer for the Fringe Festival.

[Remmirath]

I do a fair amount of theatre, both acting and behind-the-scenes stuff. All so far at the same theatre I've been doing things with since I was six, as I tend to be an extremely shy person, and I have a hard time making myself go to new places.
I haven't been able to audition there since I turned nineteen, but I've stuck around to help out and I'm currently co-directing a production of Dragonsong, and I directed Stuart Little last year.

I've been sort of lurking around for the past year waiting for one of the other local theatres to have auditions for something that isn't a musical (I can't sing at all and they have an unfortunate tendency to have nothing but musicals), and then I plan to audition.

Roles I've had fairly recently (within the past five years) ...

Eeyore: Winnie-the-Pooh
Fenris Ulf: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Morgan Le Fay: Young King Arthur
The Captain: Beauty and the Beast
Hippolyta: A Midsummer Night's Dream

I was cast in about ten shows before that, and I was part of the two touring troupes the theatre has for three years (which was fun, but I prefer to be on an actual stage).

I've done rather a lot of tech work (for twenty-eight shows, if my mental count is anything like accurate), and I often end up doing make-up or lighting.

[Renegade Paladin]

Yes. I've been in pit orchestras more than on stage, but I've done my fair share under the spotlight, including:

Judge Turpin - Sweeney Todd
The Rabbi - Fiddler on the Roof
MacDuff - The Play That Shall Not Be Named. :smalltongue:

I've been in the pit for Beauty and the Beast, The Music Man (twice), Cinderella, The Secret Garden, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Pajama Game.

[GrlumpTheElder]

Hey Grlump, how old are you, out of curiosity? Is your devised piece from a script, or entirely collective creation? I love devised theatre! I worked on a production of The Gas Heart by Tristan Tzara this past summer, it was a juicy artistic challenge.

I'm 18, so am in the last year of school here in England.

Our devised piece is entirely our own work and has a political theme (as many of Brecht's works were based on political themes). There are only two of us in the group so we've both put alot into the piece. It should be good... Hopefully :smallbiggrin:[

[V for Victory]

I've never been in a musical before but my school is doing a production of anne so do you guys have any advice for how the auditions would be different and how to prepare?

[Renegade Paladin]

I've never been in a musical before but my school is doing a production of anne so do you guys have any advice for how the auditions would be different and how to prepare?
You need to know how to sing. The auditions will include more of you doing the show tunes than reading lines.

[V for Victory]

argh. curses. I am no singer

[Rattine]

My school is doing a spring play, and we just got a new director for it, so she was thinking of doing a more serious play. I look forward to the change. ^^

[V for Victory]

I LOVE serious plays, my favorite role of all time was spender in maritan chronicles :) he was an archeologist who killed people who didn't preserve the planet

[Mercenary Pen]

I've done a little bit of acting myself. The theatre company I work with tends to write our own stuff these days and, therefore, only puts on one three night production run per year, but I've been in the following:

Zombies: The musical (an hilarious musical comedy set in pseudo-1980's america, featuring the undead)
Thrupenny Standup (set in victorian London during the 1880's, this was a more serious production and concerned Jack the Ripper)
The Gadfly (also a serious piece, combining excerpts from Antigone, Oedipus and the Oresteia with accounts of the trial of Socrates- and pulling the whole thing forward into a modern public school setting)
Dracula versus the Boy Band (Movie monsters face off against a clone boy band created by Van Helsing in a comedic battle of the bands).

Most of these are not really done justice by my brief descriptions of them, but all were good in their own ways.

[GrlumpTheElder]

I've never been in a musical before but my school is doing a production of anne so do you guys have any advice for how the auditions would be different and how to prepare?

Aah, Annie.

I've been in that. I didn't like it, it's abit wet in my opinion.

[V for Victory]

What do you mean by wet? Is there a dolphin in the show?

[GrlumpTheElder]

What do you mean by wet? Is there a dolphin in the show?

It's too soppy for my liking

[Kneenibble]

How did your Brechtian creation go down, Grlumpy?

[GrlumpTheElder]

How did your Brechtian creation go down, Grlumpy?

It's this Friday, so we haven't performed it yet. But the rehearsals are going well and we should be looking at high marks (If we're lucky)

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

Hmmm...Well, I've done a little bit with high school and community theater. Let's see what what plays I've been in thus far...

"Mame" - Young Patrick Dennis (Pay attention to that role.)
"Fiddler on the Roof" - The Rabbi's Son (I could to better than that, and did!)
"Applause" - Chorus
"Once Upon a Mattress" - Chorus (*sigh* Danged directors and their "favorites!")
"Fiddler on the Roof" - Perchik (Got me a "solo" this time, with my love interest singing a small part. Earned me a standing ovation at the end of my song, it did. :smallredface: )
"The Pajama Game" - Charlie (Small part, but lots of fun.)
"Mame" - Older Patrick Dennis (I told the group that the next time they did this show, I wanted to be Mame. :smalltongue: )

Okay...as long as we're chatting about acting, some tales of doing the shows should come into play...pun intended! :smallwink:

With the community theater group, our shows usually encompassed two weekends. In between, we'd have a rehearsal to refresh ourselves, but it was more of a "how much can we goof off?" kind of thing.

That said, "The Pajama Game" doesn't end the first act with a big musical number. Instead, the male lead, Syd, pauses to sing/lament the fact that his romance isn't working out. As per directions, I would be in the background, the lights would dim, a spot would be on Syd, he'd sing his tune, and then the curtain would fall...

...but the lighting crew wasn't on hand the day of the goofy rehearsal, so we had the lights all the way up, and I could easily be seen in the background. As Syd began to sing, I started miming a breakdown. In absolute silence, I sobbed, pounded on the scenery, and as his song came to a close, I leapt up, threw myself at my fellow thespian, and cried, "Oh Syd!" As I pretended to weep into his shoulder, he picked me up and carried me off stage. :smallbiggrin:

[Kallisti]

I'm an actor. I do a LOT of Shakespeare. I get leads sometimes, though not always. Done too many shows to give you a play-by-play without the list getting so long nobody would read it, which would rather defeat the purpose.

[megabyter5]

I've only had a few roles in my time, but I've been proud of them all. Especially the time I played Eli Whitney in Anything Goes. Best part of high school, no question.

[V for Victory]

For me my favorite part was Spender, it was a large role that really helped me refine my craft

[Rattine]

One of my favorite memories from being in theatre was in 8th grade, we did a musical called "Fussin' an' a Feudin' ". I was the role of Sherri Gordon, and one significant aspect of my character was that she was bald, and wore a wig, which, in one scene, accidently got pulled off, revealing my "baldness". At the first read through of the script, I saw that, and the whole cast burst out laughing! I ended up wearing a skin-colored swimming cap as my "bald head", and had a wig on over it. :smallbiggrin:

[Pocketa]

I'm not a thespian, but Boxxy is, and this thread title made me think of her. Thanks.

[GAThraawn]

I act as much as I can, including some Shakespeare and Felix in the Odd Couple, which was more a nightmare than anything else. Came down seriously ill the week of the performance (no voice, in bed all day, and intermittently breathing oxygen from a mask), and the other lead didn't know any of his lines, so I had to memorize the entire play and manually drag us back and forth between the scenes as he got lost and jumped around in the dialogue like a March Hare. It did really challenge my improvisational talent, and might be what got me into serious improv theatre, so I suppose that was a plus. Will be performing Othello in a week and a half, with some serious stage-fight choreography that I'm really looking forward to (Fist-fighting, knife-fighting, sword-fighting and bottle-fighting, along with a really interesting space to work with, since it's basically the floor of a dance club, rather than a traditional stage). Should be a lot of fun.

[llamamushroom]

I'm a drama tragic at my school, but due to the department's... unpopularity with the staff, we don't put on many shows. Thankfully, we got a new teacher who was able to campaign the Music department into helping us put on Les Mis this year. There goes year 12.

My roles, in reverse chronological order, are:

Javert - Les Mis (still in production)
Costume Manager - Charlie's Aunt (I auditioned, but wouldn't have been able to make any rehearsals, which is also why I pulled out of...)
Lord Vetinari - The Truth (I was replaced after about one week, when the director handed out some "times you're available" forms. Stupid compulsory sport)
Chorus - The Pirates of Penzance (Community production. I like to think I could've at least gotten Sam at school)
Pancrazio - The Venetian Twins (So fun. I was the Shakesperean-speaking villain in an '80s farce.)
Last, but most certainly not least,
2nd Fieldmouse - Toad of Toad Hall

Other than those, I occasionally do little skits at church, and I'm in my school's Theatre Sports team. It's improv, and awesome.

In terms of Drama as a subject, I've done a lot of Brecht and Meyerholdt stuff, a bit of Suzuki, and now some Indigenous Australian theatre.

[Kneenibble]

How many actors does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Eight... one to screw it in, and seven to stand around and say they would have done it better.

[GiantNewDoctor]

I was King Claudius once...

[Krahe]

Been working in the field since I was 5. 25 now, and no slowing down. Just got my first paying gig (stick with it, it happens) and working mainly in independent film at the moment.

Couple choice roles include

Ralph - Awake and Sing
Eggar - King Lear
Florizel - Winter's Tale

I really like Shakespeare, but I have been wanting to try my hand at a musical. If only someone would give me a chance...

[Rattine]

How many actors does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Eight... one to screw it in, and seven to stand around and say they would have done it better.

I've heard that same joke, only with trumpet players instead of actors. :P