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Message Icon Topic: A Cast Party, by any other name...(Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post Reply Post New Topic
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falstaff29
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bullet Posted: 4/01/07 at 8:41pm

You know, the tech crew aren't the only ones who can feel left out and unrespected.  I've acted in plenty of shows where this designer and that are absolute jerks to us during tech week and the pusillanimous director doesn't do anything to stop them.  That can also discourage people from cast parties.

And as far as the policy of directors needing to work other jobs first, I disagree.  Theater persons are good at and enjoy what they do just because that's the way they're built.  Certain jobs get one person going and not another.  Directors having to prove themselves by... not directing probably wears down and weeds out some of the most creatively-original and energetic and audacious directors.

I'd rather bring in directors based solely on their prior experience even if there's a chance they might ruffle a few feathers as long as they'll give us a great show.  I'm reminded of a comment Citizen Kane's cinematographer made to Welles that he learned so much from Welles simply because he didn't know what he couldn't do.
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Kibitzer
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bullet Posted: 4/04/07 at 1:48pm

A response to falstaff29's comment:  “I'd rather bring in directors based solely on their prior experience even if there's a chance they might ruffle a few feathers as long as they'll give us a great show.” (Italics mine)

I’m probably starting a bit of an imbroglio, here, but I must tell you that I passionately disagree with this statement in regard to community theatre, in particular, the part that I italicized, above.  Although I risk taking it out of context because most of the principles are interdependent, the leading principle in my "Unalterable Principles of Community Theatre in the 21st Century (Revised)" (if you like, you can retrieve that document on my website at www.concepttoexecution.com) is that in community theatre the process is as important as the product.  I can't tell you how many "good" directors have run roughshod over a community theatre under the guise of creating a “good” show.  Quite frankly, I have yet to see a significantly better community theatre show where a supposedly “qualified” director (especially directors who come out of educational – particularly college – or professional settings) came in and had a process inappropriate to community theatre.  The exceptions to this are those directors who come out of educational or professional settings and who also have had experience and background in community theatre. 


But this goes beyond issues of quality.  Being reliant on volunteer talent, community theatre must provide “value” to its participants; after all, this is their discretionary time and they expect a positive return on their investment of that time.  You keep “ruffling feathers” and those feathers aren’t going to come back, they aren’t going to support you, they aren’t going to buy tickets to your shows, and they aren’t going to encourage others to buy them, either.  A positive process creates a positive product that leads to greater ticket sales thereby resulting in a positive double bottom line:  an economically and artistically viable organization.

So it all starts with a positive process, and that needs a definition: 

In community theatre, a positive process is one in which participants experience a mutually supportive, enjoyable, and stimulating environment that provides the opportunity to move them beyond mediocrity to ever higher levels of artistic achievement. 

From the novice to the most experienced participant, this applies to every aspect of a community theatre:  technical artists, actors, designers, directors, ushers, box office, etc, etc, etc.  Indeed, falstaff29, you are quite right to note that the negative impact on cast parties doesn’t just come from actors.  I know of lead techies who have been so abrasive, no one wanted to work with them, let alone party with them.  Same goes for abrasive and uncompromising directors. 
"Security is a kind of death." - Tennessee Williams
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neilfortin
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bullet Posted: 4/11/07 at 10:10am
Usually our "cast includes members of every aspect of the show...especially since the full commitment of acting can't be taken on by everyone who would like to...so even if they have acted with us before they help out in any way they can...therefore being included in the "cast party" grouping!
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bullet Posted: 4/12/07 at 3:21pm
We call ours a 'closing night' party.   We don't do matinees.
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Mr. Lowell
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bullet Posted: 7/30/07 at 3:41pm

Update:

Well, if we use the Broadway industry to set the example, then we should use the term "After Party" as a the proper alternative to "Cast Party".  
 
I just returned from a drama fieldtrip to New York this weekend to see three broadway shows.   And we were fortunate to see the very last performance of "110 in the Shade" with Audra McDonald at Studio 54.   (The cast cried during the extended curtain call).  Afterwards, the gossip I kept overhearing from the crew and cast was "after party"..."after party"....
 
So, taking inspiration from the Broadway pros, I guess we could start using this particular term here in our little corner of the theatre world as well.
 
(By the way, Beauty and the Beast closed too...so I bet Manhattan was rockin' with LOTS of "after parties" last night!)
 
 
Mr. Lowell,
Lighting/Set Designer & Tech Director,
for the Linda Sloan Theatre,
in the Davison Center for the Arts,
at Greensboro Day School
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