Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: A big ole can 'o worms

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tdsands
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Joined: 5/30/07
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Posted: 8/22/08 at 10:16am

tdsands @ NRT

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tdsands
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Posted: 8/22/08 at 10:33am

Don't know what happened but I'll try again!! In my opinion, I can't see where any High school production is going to take away from any CT production unless they are performing the same night.

Our audiences in general come to be entertained. That happens with dedication, hard work, and quality people. (As we all know).

I think it's great that these kids get to experience large budget, large cast productions. It's something they will always remember.

As for the money, if they don't hurt the school budget and can break even, I don't see a problem.

tdsands @ NRT

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Aimee
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Joined: 8/31/04
Location: United States
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Posts: 156

Posted: 8/23/08 at 1:31pm

As I work at a high school, those dollar amounts to me are unreal. I am basically given no money and told to work miracles with it. While in some ways it woudl be nice to have that type of budget, I like the way we do things. Most of the kids I get have never picked up a hammer or a screw driver, granted by the time they leave, they are teaching the younger ones the ropes and ca handle the tools with confidence. My job ends is to (most of the time) introduce theater to them. college, possible community and professional theater are where the big busgets are.

We did just get a new auditorium so it has changed alot of things. In the past most of our sets were facade type, now we are lookingat doing "Noises Off" which is quite a different type of set all together....wonder how much money they wil give me to build it....I'd be thrilled with $2,000.

With bigger schools comes more money, if they are able to do it, I guess, more power to them!

Any interst in theater is a plus!

Aimee

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whitebat
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Joined: 8/05/07
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Posts: 137

Posted: 8/23/08 at 9:27pm

I'll say our CT is having a hard time competing with the HS in production values. I've no idea what HS has for budget, not very high I'd guess. Our CT maybe has total assets of $10K. Maybe. I think a comparison of recent shows might say something...

HS: Beauty & the Beast, Oklahoma, Les Mis, Our Town, Curious Savage, Little Shop, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, etc.

CT: Something's Afoot, Christmas Carol, (no-name locally written drama), (no name Interactive Murder Mystery)

But now we have NO stage as they are building a new Middle School/Junior High, and there will be classrooms on that stage (which we had been using) and the HS stage is always busy (2 shows a year, plus band, assemblies, community concerts, etc.)

Our HS lets HS kids in free with school ID, so they want to get into our CT shows at half price, even though they can afford the tickets ($5, usually), and they do not reciprocate by giving CT members any discount at HS shows.

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Aimee
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Joined: 8/31/04
Location: United States
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Posts: 156

Posted: 8/24/08 at 11:07am

The choir director at our school is in the process of organizing a CT, whichwe had years and years ago. He asked me if he'd be able to use the stage during the summer for a show and posibly in the winter (January) when there is not as much going on, might be worth asking about summer usage for you, just a thought.

Aimee

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75director
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Joined: 8/19/05
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Posts: 122

Posted: 8/25/08 at 1:26pm

It is wonderful if school districts can support the arts to such an extent that they pour nearly professional levels of money into producing high quality shows. It also gives young people and their parents a taste of how good live theatre can be. Because for many people the first and often last taste of live theatre they have comes at the school level.

On the downside of that is it is saddly setting many of these students up for disappointment in the future. When they leave their well funded high school and go to college will they have the same resources? In many cases they will not. Or if they don't do college theatre, or after college when they go out and do CT, or even a lot of professional theatre, will they be disappointed and discouraged by an organization whose total annual budget was less than what their high school spent to costume a show?

Like I said, I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have the resources to dedicate to big budget high school shows, but I for one am concerned that these students will turn their noses up to CT or pretty much anything after their high school experience because of it.

On a similar thought I know many of these schools employ staffs that would be envy of most CTs. What kind of educational experience are the students receiving if they're not having to learn how to do every aspect of production? I learned so much from my small high school and later college experience because we were all expected to know how to do everything involved with mounting a show and running a theatre. Thanks to those experiences I was able to relatively easily step into my first job running a CT.

I guess my point is that high school theatre is meant to educate students and prepare them for the future. By being too big and glitzy the students may be missing out on learning the ropes and how to do a lot with a little.

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Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Other Topics

Topic: A big ole can 'o worms( Topic Closed)
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Author	Message
tdsands Walk-On Joined: 5/30/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Posted: 8/22/08 at 10:16am
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	tdsands @ NRT
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tdsands Walk-On Joined: 5/30/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Posted: 8/22/08 at 10:33am
	Don't know what happened but I'll try again!! In my opinion, I can't see where any High school production is going to take away from any CT production unless they are performing the same night. Our audiences in general come to be entertained. That happens with dedication, hard work, and quality people. (As we all know). I think it's great that these kids get to experience large budget, large cast productions. It's something they will always remember. As for the money, if they don't hurt the school budget and can break even, I don't see a problem.
	tdsands @ NRT
	IP Logged

Aimee Celebrity Joined: 8/31/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 156	Posted: 8/23/08 at 1:31pm
	As I work at a high school, those dollar amounts to me are unreal. I am basically given no money and told to work miracles with it. While in some ways it woudl be nice to have that type of budget, I like the way we do things. Most of the kids I get have never picked up a hammer or a screw driver, granted by the time they leave, they are teaching the younger ones the ropes and ca handle the tools with confidence. My job ends is to (most of the time) introduce theater to them. college, possible community and professional theater are where the big busgets are. We did just get a new auditorium so it has changed alot of things. In the past most of our sets were facade type, now we are lookingat doing "Noises Off" which is quite a different type of set all together....wonder how much money they wil give me to build it....I'd be thrilled with $2,000. With bigger schools comes more money, if they are able to do it, I guess, more power to them! Any interst in theater is a plus!
	Aimee
	IP Logged

whitebat Celebrity Joined: 8/05/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 137	Posted: 8/23/08 at 9:27pm
	I'll say our CT is having a hard time competing with the HS in production values. I've no idea what HS has for budget, not very high I'd guess. Our CT maybe has total assets of $10K. Maybe. I think a comparison of recent shows might say something... HS: Beauty & the Beast, Oklahoma, Les Mis, Our Town, Curious Savage, Little Shop, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, etc. CT: Something's Afoot, Christmas Carol, (no-name locally written drama), (no name Interactive Murder Mystery) But now we have NO stage as they are building a new Middle School/Junior High, and there will be classrooms on that stage (which we had been using) and the HS stage is always busy (2 shows a year, plus band, assemblies, community concerts, etc.) Our HS lets HS kids in free with school ID, so they want to get into our CT shows at half price, even though they can afford the tickets ($5, usually), and they do not reciprocate by giving CT members any discount at HS shows.
	IP Logged

Aimee Celebrity Joined: 8/31/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 156	Posted: 8/24/08 at 11:07am
	The choir director at our school is in the process of organizing a CT, whichwe had years and years ago. He asked me if he'd be able to use the stage during the summer for a show and posibly in the winter (January) when there is not as much going on, might be worth asking about summer usage for you, just a thought.
	Aimee
	IP Logged

75director Celebrity Joined: 8/19/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 122	Posted: 8/25/08 at 1:26pm
	It is wonderful if school districts can support the arts to such an extent that they pour nearly professional levels of money into producing high quality shows. It also gives young people and their parents a taste of how good live theatre can be. Because for many people the first and often last taste of live theatre they have comes at the school level. On the downside of that is it is saddly setting many of these students up for disappointment in the future. When they leave their well funded high school and go to college will they have the same resources? In many cases they will not. Or if they don't do college theatre, or after college when they go out and do CT, or even a lot of professional theatre, will they be disappointed and discouraged by an organization whose total annual budget was less than what their high school spent to costume a show? Like I said, I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have the resources to dedicate to big budget high school shows, but I for one am concerned that these students will turn their noses up to CT or pretty much anything after their high school experience because of it. On a similar thought I know many of these schools employ staffs that would be envy of most CTs. What kind of educational experience are the students receiving if they're not having to learn how to do every aspect of production? I learned so much from my small high school and later college experience because we were all expected to know how to do everything involved with mounting a show and running a theatre. Thanks to those experiences I was able to relatively easily step into my first job running a CT. I guess my point is that high school theatre is meant to educate students and prepare them for the future. By being too big and glitzy the students may be missing out on learning the ropes and how to do a lot with a little.
	IP Logged