Author Topic: Should it be curtains for "Curtains!" actress?  (Read 4504 times)

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jkjiricek

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Should it be curtains for "Curtains!" actress?
« on: Feb 06, 2011, 10:54 pm »
     A girl in my cast, one with a crucial role, has been sick and missed a full two weeks of rehearsal. She didn't contact the director or I at all in that time, nor did she coordinate with anyone else to get her blocking. Her lines aren't memorized, she doesn't know the music or the choreography.
     She came back Monday and the director and I gave her an ultimatum; work with me over lunch and after rehearsals to get caught up and never miss another rehearsal, or be dropped from the show. It's been a week, she's missed two regular rehearsals and I've yet to see her for the makeup rehearsals either. We've got three weeks until opening night.

I know all of this screams "replace her", but here's where it gets a little sticky...

     One, we're a small school and understudies are very hard to come by. We can't guarantee that we can even find someone to replace her, or if we do, that they can learn everything in time. Is this a "better the devil you know"-type situation?
     Two, she's been missing rehearsals for legitimate reasons. The past two rehearsals she skipped so she could finish up graduation requirements and audition for college; there was no other way around it. Is it okay to punish her for being sick and a student?
     Lastly, and this one is sentimental, as a senior this is her final show with us. She's been a part of the theatre department all four years and is a great individual, very talented, fairly dedicated. Ninety-nine percent of the time she is fabulous to work with. Should she lose her last show as a result of things outside her control?

Since it's my time that will be sacrificed working with her or the understudy, my director left it up to me to decide. I'd really appreciate an unbiased, outside opinion, if you could spare it. I don't want to be unfair to my cast member, but there's a point where, like it or not, allowing them to perform would be bad for the show.

Thank you so much,
Jorey
In short, a Stage Manager is an artist, parent, friend, confidant, nurse, drill sergeant and cheerleader.

On_Headset

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Re: Should it be curtains for "Curtains!" actress?
« Reply #1 on: Feb 06, 2011, 11:31 pm »
One, you'd be surprised who crawls out of the woodwork when word gets around that you desperately need to replace a lead role. It's true that it's a bit of a crapshoot, but it's been my experience that, in community theatre (for which school theatre is a rough analogue), almost invariably someone has a friend, or someone goes to church with someone, or someone's cousin knows someone, and things have a way of working themselves out in that fashion.

Two, when you accept a role in a show, you make a commitment to invest enough time to do a good job. She hasn't been able to follow through on that commitment. It sounds as though she has good reasons, but that's kind of immaterial: while community and student theatre often have the personal development and fulfillment of performers as high priorities, this needs to be balanced against the need to... you know, do theatre. The rest of your company has been doing theatre, without fail, for several weeks now. You've told us it feels like "punshing" her to replace her at this stage--but what about the rest of the company? Isn't it "punishing" them by letting her go on under-rehearsed and under-prepared even though they've spent weeks on this project?

PSMKay

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Re: Should it be curtains for "Curtains!" actress?
« Reply #2 on: Feb 06, 2011, 11:36 pm »
Embarrassingly enough, I can provide first-hand experience on this one from the bad side.

For assorted reasons - in retrospect most of it was half senioritis and half mental illness - I was dropped from the cast of my senior show in high school with about 3 weeks left before tech. It was a secondary role, but it was still a swap out with about the same amount of time.  In prior years I had won acting awards, I had coached sub-groups, I had started my own theatre company and directed, I was even interning at a local LORT on independent study. It didn't matter - I was not helping the show, so I was booted.

They had a sub lined up before they called me in to discuss the matter. I basically did not have a choice.  Yes, I was extremely upset and no, I did not speak to most of those people again. However, the true close friends who I valued above the massive ego-bruising were still friends throughout the process. By staying on the show in my mental state of the time I would likely have caused greater damage to those remaining friendships - not to mention the show. With 18 years of retrospect it was probably for the best. I wound up directing again on non-school-sponsored projects twice before I left for college, and those directing gigs were what eventually propelled me into stage management.

Of course, I did not see the show - was too busy sulking - but it managed to win quite a few awards at state that year, so I assume it all came out just fine.

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Re: Should it be curtains for "Curtains!" actress?
« Reply #3 on: Feb 07, 2011, 12:46 am »
We replaced an actor the day before tech on a show where she, after consistent resistance, attitude and issues, stormed off in a fit of pique saying "that's it I'm out". We decided to take that as her notice to quit, pushed back opening and worked (a lot) with someone who ended up being a far better fit for the role - and who learned it all in abt 3 days.

Now, that is not quite the same, but if this is her senior show, you'd think she'd place the same kind of priority you do. Fact is, she doesn't have her lines, blocking, music - despite many offers to help her catch up. So clrealy this is far more important to you than to her. And if she has to learn this the hard way, so be it. Am I evil? I just have a low tolerance for entitled folks = which (nice tho she may be and legit reasons all) is at the base.

Do what you need, but as mentioned, you might be surprised who already knows all the lines, blocking, dances, music etc - and (esp in school) it is a great opportunity to give SOMEONE ELSE a shot.

BLee

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Re: Should it be curtains for "Curtains!" actress?
« Reply #4 on: Feb 07, 2011, 12:55 am »
Here is my take:

Option 1: Keep her on. Obviously this wouldn't be necessary if she has an understudy, but bringing in someone fresh this late in the game (unless they are amazing and have a lot of free time) is not likely to improve the situation and in fact dropping her is likely to create a horrible vibe around the production. Unless her staying on is making the rest of the cast unhappy and disgruntled it could be your best bet to stick it through.

Also, I can see why the ultimatum didn't work. They rarely do in high school settings, especially when academics and health interfere. Priorities need to be kept in order, and on this level both of those are legitimate excuses. This play will end soon, her college career is just beginning. If you decide to keep her on, my recommendation is to ask her when she is available rather than telling her when she has to make herself available. If you can't be there when she has time, perhaps another student could work with her.

Option 2: Bring a new face on. Again, I don't recommend this option unless you have an actress who has proven herself to be a quick learner, awesome with lines and blocking, and just happens to have no projects going on until the production closes.

Option 3: Promote from within. This option I have seen be successful in the past on the high school level. Are there other actresses in the cast in smaller roles? That actress would already know the show and was probably at most of the rehearsals, therefore familiar with the role of the problem actress. She would likely be thrilled with the promotion to a larger role. Bring in another actress to fill the smaller (and likely easier role) and voila you have a workable solution.

If there is concern of dropping this girl from her final production, you may try offering her this smaller role. If her ego isn't too bruised (some personalities take these situations harder than others) she might be grateful to stay with the production. Or she may get pissed and pout the rest of her senior year. Her choice, not your responsibility, and at least you tried (which is more than most people would do for her in this situation). Remember, this isn't meant to be punishment, you are just doing what needs to be done to keep this show running.

Conclusion: No matter what you choose, it is a lot of time you will be dedicating to this. Option 1 will require you being extremely flexible coming in whenever the actress is available, even if it means early morning, lunch meetings, study hour sessions or post-rehearsal work. Option 2 may work easier into your schedule, but will require 2-3x the time and effort to catch someone up on 2+ weeks of missed rehearsal. Option 3 may be easier on the production, but now you have 2 people who will likely need your help to learn their roles.

My advice is to recruit an assistant or two (perhaps your drama teacher could offer extra credit to her classes) who can work with whichever option you choose to get everyone caught up and performance ready. Your time will be less demanded (all you need to do is catch them up on blocking, then have your assistant(s) run lines and rehearse blocking) and they can do their job mid-rehearsal while your are working with the rest of the cast.
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Re: Should it be curtains for "Curtains!" actress?
« Reply #5 on: Feb 07, 2011, 03:05 am »
I did a show in college with an actor that would not learn his lines. We replaced him two days before opening because he was so unwilling to address the problem. The understudy we put in knew the lines fairly well, but this was a student run production, so he wasn't expected to be 100% off book. He ended up actually carrying his script onstage bound in another book, but the change in attitude and sense of camaraderie among the 4 person cast was so improved by removing the element that was fighting against them. And the show was actually excellent because of it. The student director and I had to do a lot recon to figure out how the rest of the cast felt before we took that action, but in the end the reluctance to commit was a bigger issue than knowing lines. It's important to figure out how other people are reacting to the issues with this actor; if the resentment is at a level that it's impacting the show, I think it's on her.

hbelden

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Re: Should it be curtains for "Curtains!" actress?
« Reply #6 on: Feb 07, 2011, 02:44 pm »
Also, I can see why the ultimatum didn't work. They rarely do in high school settings, especially when academics and health interfere.

I don't disagree with BLee's post, I just wanted to expand on this remark;  I think the ultimatum would have worked had it been an actual ultimatum.  If you're not prepared to do x if student does y, you shouldn't tell student you will.  Bluffs never work in situations where the student doesn't experientially understand what the consequences will mean.

But I think by "work" BLee meant something like "actor re-commits to the show."  By "work" I mean the role is filled with a willing participant - either this actor, if she turns around, or by someone else who really wants to do it.  That's the outcome the show needs.  The show doesn't care about the personal difficulties and priorities of your problem actor.  The school might; that's a different question.  How important is the quality of the show?
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missliz

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Re: Should it be curtains for "Curtains!" actress?
« Reply #7 on: Feb 07, 2011, 07:54 pm »
I had a similar experience on a show...an actress would consistently call last-minute and bail, and then she stopped coming entirely. She was dealing with health issues, so it was a tough situation. Ultimately, the director and I spoke with her and said it sounded like she had a lot of personal things that needed to take focus (much like your actress with her credits!) and we thought it was best for everyone if she left the production.

After that, we found someone to replace her for the run...our assistant director! She'd been in all the rehearsals and knew the blocking and choreography. She was also much more reliable. I'm sure if you look around, you'll be able to find someone who could step in, even temporarily until you can find a solid replacement.
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stgmngr

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Re: Should it be curtains for "Curtains!" actress?
« Reply #8 on: Feb 07, 2011, 11:56 pm »
Just closed curtains at school here, there are quite a few chorus roles that could probably step it up--if given the challenge.

 

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