262
« on: May 19, 2012, 09:38 pm »
No, this was not a union show, and the performance the critic saw was the second performance in the run. Which means there was an opening night performance which the audience sat through with the actor on-book.
Here is Director & Artistic Director O'Neill's response to the FB comments under the article link. IMO in his defensiveness he makes some far-reaching statements, and I can't help but wonder, if the tables were turned and he watched an actor in another local company perform with script in hand, would he be as supportive as he insists others should be.:
So, Perry didn’t like M4M, no surprise, I knew it… I could feel it coming. Yes, I had an actor on book. Yes, it was disappointing. There was no one on the planet as frustrated as I was. I was left with few options. Throughout rehearsals, the actor in question was working off book. Having trouble with the last big scene, to be sure, but working off book. Now, I have been in the same position, certain lines and scenes have kicked my a**, like I am sure many of you have experienced at least once in your careers. The actor in question has been in quite a few of my productions and no matter how shaky in rehearsals and always pulled through in performance, I wasn’t that worried, to be honest. To my chagrin, he informed me the afternoon of Opening Night, that he could not do the scene without the book. I was left with few options…. NONE OF WHICH WAS CANCEL THE SHOW. We picked what seemed like the best option at the time and hid it as best we could, knowing full well we weren’t really hiding anything. Let me repeat, there was no way in Hell, I was going to flush the hard work and efforts of the other fourteen members of the cast, down the toilet. So there, that’s the story… If you don’t like it tough, but that’s the truth.
Now, to all of the vultures out there, just giggling your perfect little theatre a**es off, really? Blowing off steam from your pompous points of view. Did you see the show, did you not read the entire review? Perry does not condemn every aspect of the show, but a whole lot of you, who couldn’t be bothered to see it do. You have all just illustrated what is wrong with the so-called theatre community in Charlotte. I have always suspected it, but you all have proven it. Ok, not all of you, but all you snipers and it is easy to tell who you are, just scroll up. Not one of you showed any concern for the actor in question, as in “Wow, man, are you ok? Is something wrong?” . Not an ounce of sympathy, just unadulterated glee at someone else’s failing. Wow, we are all in this together, supposedly, yet you people couldn’t wait to stick the knife in and twist it. It reminds me of “Shark Week” on Animal Planet, A swarm of sharks, circling, waiting for the thinnest sniff of blood and then attacking the injured prey. You are the ones who should be ashamed. You condemn what you do not know, or understand, or have no firsthand experience of. I bet there isn’t a one of you hasn’t faltered, on stage, or in life, yet you hide behind your righteous indignation and sneer at our attempt to overcome a difficult situation. You cheapen the efforts of the rest of the cast and crew of M4M, which you couldn’t be bothered to see. You use misfortune to try and hawk your wares. Charlotte has no theatre community, no sense of camaraderie, no mutual support network for one another. Folks do not leave a show and gather afterwards to discuss what they saw, how to help each other, support each other, no, to the contrary, they run back to their separate camps to dissect and criticize and gossip and bad mouth whatever it is they just saw.
Shakespeare Carolina has always been about taking risks. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. But for us, it has always been about the journey, not the destination. Perfection is great, but it is often boring. We choose to not be boring. We choose to enjoy the trip.
Show Posts
