The Theatre Bubble
Theatre is the truest mixing pot in the entire world. Women, Men, Fluid, Nonconforming. Young, old, gay, straight and everything in between. Theatre is not just for "nerds" but a whole array of different people with different backgrounds and interests who all share one love. I have met football players who can belt out a solid hit. I have met the shy kids who light up on stage. The stage is home to almost any type of person you can imagine.
So why is it so exclusive?
There is a bubble that surrounds theatre. Every person who auditions for shows and is involved knows of this bubble. Before you get "in" you have to go through the experience of watching from the outside. You must watch the cliques that form among the ignorantly blissful people that have made it. The same cliques that you lose awareness of once you make it. The bubble that can sometimes destroy motivation and love for the art. If holds the feeling of standing on the outside of the glass, watching the same people in the same parts over and over again, knowing you could be apart of that. This is nothing against those actors, as every one of them has also put in the work. Nonetheless, it can be hard.
This is not to say that theater's shouldn't keep their standards high. Audience attendance is central to the survival of theatre, bad casting can destroy reviews and therefore, shows. Yet, there is something even deadlier than a bad review that is often overlooked: boredom. Theatergoers are evolving nowadays with hits such as "Hamilton" and "Dear Evan Hansen". So many shows are catering to a new generation of people who are sick of the same old, same old. The world today is so many colors and shapes and sizes, and slowly, big name producers, directors, and writers are realizing this. Nobody wants to see the same thing done hundreds of times (Unless its Phantom of the Opera or Les Mis, which I personally know has people who see it literally dozens of times *cough* Grandpa *cough*).
But that bubble still lingers.
People hold nostalgic things near and dear to them. They hold their own opinions deep within their hearts. Sometimes its hard to change that. It can seem as though you must cater to those, and stick with what you know. However, I promise you, that new audiences, the ones that will carry theatre on, want change. They want to see men and women of color. They want to see their favorite parts re-imagined in new ways. They want to see theatre that looks like them. That feels like them. That is them.
Change does not kill. Everything at one point or another must change to keep with the times. Nothing can remain the same and expect to live. As the times change, so must the arts. Sure you can keep the classics and keep doing them, but keep in mind that their relevancy is only what you make of it. You would be shocked at what opening up your hearts and minds can do to an older story, and the audience it can pull. So cast that new person you are unsure of. Allow that non-conforming individual into a typically male part. Take that character and shape them to be what the world looks like now. Shaking things up saves people from boredom. Controversy gets a bigger headline than average. Realize what people want, and more importantly, ask for what they need. You can't cater to everybody, but you can change the world in the smallest of ways. Inspire with the new, and learn from the old.
Much love,
Sam
So why is it so exclusive?
There is a bubble that surrounds theatre. Every person who auditions for shows and is involved knows of this bubble. Before you get "in" you have to go through the experience of watching from the outside. You must watch the cliques that form among the ignorantly blissful people that have made it. The same cliques that you lose awareness of once you make it. The bubble that can sometimes destroy motivation and love for the art. If holds the feeling of standing on the outside of the glass, watching the same people in the same parts over and over again, knowing you could be apart of that. This is nothing against those actors, as every one of them has also put in the work. Nonetheless, it can be hard.This is not to say that theater's shouldn't keep their standards high. Audience attendance is central to the survival of theatre, bad casting can destroy reviews and therefore, shows. Yet, there is something even deadlier than a bad review that is often overlooked: boredom. Theatergoers are evolving nowadays with hits such as "Hamilton" and "Dear Evan Hansen". So many shows are catering to a new generation of people who are sick of the same old, same old. The world today is so many colors and shapes and sizes, and slowly, big name producers, directors, and writers are realizing this. Nobody wants to see the same thing done hundreds of times (Unless its Phantom of the Opera or Les Mis, which I personally know has people who see it literally dozens of times *cough* Grandpa *cough*).
But that bubble still lingers.
People hold nostalgic things near and dear to them. They hold their own opinions deep within their hearts. Sometimes its hard to change that. It can seem as though you must cater to those, and stick with what you know. However, I promise you, that new audiences, the ones that will carry theatre on, want change. They want to see men and women of color. They want to see their favorite parts re-imagined in new ways. They want to see theatre that looks like them. That feels like them. That is them.
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| Photo Credit: Bader Abdulmajeed (go check out his pictures) |
Change does not kill. Everything at one point or another must change to keep with the times. Nothing can remain the same and expect to live. As the times change, so must the arts. Sure you can keep the classics and keep doing them, but keep in mind that their relevancy is only what you make of it. You would be shocked at what opening up your hearts and minds can do to an older story, and the audience it can pull. So cast that new person you are unsure of. Allow that non-conforming individual into a typically male part. Take that character and shape them to be what the world looks like now. Shaking things up saves people from boredom. Controversy gets a bigger headline than average. Realize what people want, and more importantly, ask for what they need. You can't cater to everybody, but you can change the world in the smallest of ways. Inspire with the new, and learn from the old.
Much love,
Sam
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