December 20, 2010 at 1:03pm
WHAT I LOOK FOR, PART II >>>
Here are more ways for you, the theater director, to impress the hopeful critic-me, and your paying customers.
There's so much amazing live and recorded entertainment in the South Sound that it's wasteful to pass up any possible method of connecting with your audience...which brings us to your pre-show experience. So many theaters squander the impact of imaginative lobby and program designs. Why waste that opportunity? Spray a fragrance that'll ease your patrons into the world of the show. Choose music that conveys a mood or thematic idea.
The first thing I do when I enter a theater proper is look at the set. I watch how it's revealed. Is it visible immediately, or have you saved it as a surprise? Do I feel comfortable in the theater? If not, is it because you decided to disorient me in some way to amplify location or theme? Bertolt Brecht, for example, would rather audience members were thinking than relaxing. Of course, I'd rather not be shivering, but I suppose it might serve some artistic purpose. Just make sure you had out cocoa at the intermission. There's not a critic (or audience member) alive who isn't mollified by free food and drink.
I read the entire program, starting with the Director's Note. I want to know what you, the director, think your show is about, and I watch to see how well you convey that idea.
Ah, the dreaded curtain speech. Man, I hate 'em. I'll just tell you that up front. You've done all this work to seduce me into the world of your show, then you yank off your carefully-chosen music and panhandle in contemporary clothing. I know theaters need money, now more than ever, but couldn't you at least devise a more creative way of asking for it? I love it when a director integrates curtain speeches into the environment of the show itself. Is there some reason your curtain speech couldn't be rephrased in, say, iambic pentameter? Could it be sung? Included in onstage graffiti? I'm just spitballing here, but if you haven't noticed by now, two of the chief things I look for in a show are focused creativity and consistency of setting and tone-what theater snobs call "unity." Y'know how some movies put the opening studio titles in a graphic style that resonates with the rest of the film? Yeah, I'm a sucker for that. Open your show in a way that lures me in, and you stand an exceptional chance of keeping me right where you want me...in the world you've helped create for two hours.
LINK: Script is king
News and entertainment from Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s most awesome weekly newspapers - The Ranger, Northwest Airlifter and Weekly Volcano.
Thanks for posting! But I want say that Walkie Talkies are really required while organizing fun...
Really nice album. I have already purchased Vedder's Album. Listening to the song of this album,...
about Eddie Vedder’s "Ukulele Songs" available today - and I don’t hold a candle to that shit
Your post contains very beneficial content. Kindly keep sharing such post.
Vedder's album is really nice. I have heard attentively
about Eddie Vedder’s "Ukulele Songs" available today - and I don’t hold a candle to that shit
amazing information for getting the new ideas thanks for sharing a post
about 5 Things To Do Today: Art Chantry, DIY home improvement, "A Shot In The Dark" ...
446th Airlift Wing, 5 Things To Do, 62nd Airlift Wing, 7th Infantry Division, Air Force, All Ages, Army, Arts, Awards, Benefits, Best of Olympia, Best of TAcoma, Bobble Tiki, Books, Business, Camp Murray, Ceremony, Chainsuck, Classical Music, Comedy, Comment The The Day, Community, Concerts, Condemn or Allow?, Contest, Day Tripper, Deals, Defense Department, Deployment, DJ/Electronica, Events, Facebook, Fashion, Federal Way, Fife, Fircrest, Food & Drink, Future Things Are Coming, Games, Gay Rights, Genius, Gig Harbor, Green Crush, Happy Hour Hug, Health, History, Holidays, Honors, I Corps, In Their Words, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Judging by the Trailer, Keeping Up With The Coffeehouses, Kids, Lacey, Lakewood, Legislature, Madigan Army Medical Center, Marines, McChord Field, Media, Memorial, Military, Milton, Morning Joe, Music, National Guard, Navy, Nerd Alert!, New Beer Column, News To Us, Night Moves, Not Cool, Olympia, Outdoor Addict, outdoors, Photo Hot Spot, Podcast, Pop Culture, Poster of the Day, Puyallup, Radio, Rangers, Retail, Rocket Science, ROTC, Ruston, Schools, Screens, Sex, Shout Out, South Sound Sidekick, Spanaway, Special Forces, Sports, Steilacoom, Strykers, Summer Tip, Sumner, Tacoma, Talking Shop, The Mouth, Theater, Tightwad, Tournament of Burgers, Tournament of Mac and Cheese, Training, Travel, Twitter, University Place, USO, Veterans, Video Hot Spot, Volunteer, Web/Tech, Word, Wounded Warrior
Read Comments