My back is KILLING me.
I’ve never watched something on stage before that literally HURT to watch.. until last night. And I only stayed 45 minutes. And my back is STILL killing me. I even felt the warning signs and stretched when I got home. I laid backwards over my exercise ball, I pulled my knees into my chest, I did everything I knew to do to prevent the back pain I’m in today.
So here’s my quandry: why do people not realize that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?
I went and watched the dress rehearsal of a dance recital last night. And was appalled. There were many and sundry reasons I was appalled, but mainly, it was the attitude of the dancers that I abhored the most.
First and foremost.. it was their dress rehearsal. They had an audience, a presumably paying audience (God love them), the next night. And yet, they marked their numbers. If they even went that far. I saw no dancer ever put forth much more effort than to walk their routine. Most of them didn’t even do that conscientiously. They laughed on stage, cut up on stage, basically.. it was like a freakin slumber party down there.
The reason I was there? Because the Tek Cru was there, so I went to support them. I had heard the bitching and moaning for the past two days about how horrid the experience was, and I simply didn’t believe them. Wooooo, was I wrong.
So while cutting up on stage, the music would play. And the lighting designer would make a guess as to what dance MIGHT possibly be happening. And then, when the music stopped, they’d look up at the sound board and say, “We’d like to run it again.”
Cue Sarah exploding in the booth. WHY?! Why in God’s name do you want to steal another three minutes of our lives so you can NOT dance?!
And the stage manager would say, “Okay. We’ll run it again if you dance.”
Because.. let’s face it.. that’s what EVERYONE was there for. Or so I thought. Apparently, they let us know fairly quickly, the Tek Cru was the only people there for an actual dress rehearsal.
“You don’t give the musicals lip like that!” and “How dare you speak to us like that?” and “Oh, I know you didn’t” and “I know the theatre department gets whatever they want” and “Some little stage monkey telling us how to act”..
And their director? Sitting idly by. Letting this happen. In fact, encouraging it with her silence.
Here’s what I guess they missed in theatre etiquette.
When you’re in the privacy of your own classroom, your own rehearsal space, your own home.. how you choose to run rehearsals is your own affair. It only affects you and yours. But when you hit stage, you take up SO many more people’s time. So you need to have your shit together. Don’t laugh, don’t cut up, and don’t come on stage to choreograph your damn recital.
Yes, the musical gets more time on stage. Why? Because they have a finished product when they hit stage. Sure, they may have to reblock a little due to set constraints.. but you’re a dance recital. You have a flat stage. And, might I add, it’s the same size as your room.
Also, if ANY actor in ANY musical or play EVER spoke to a stage manager, lighting designer, or even just the flyrail guy on Tek Cru in such a fashion, they would have their ass chewed. We learned to say “Thank you”, no matter what. Jesus.. where has all the respect gone?
I guess it comes down to pride. Sure, those guys have put up with a few nights of hell from ungrateful dancers, but they’ll be rewarded with a couple of hours of complete and utter torture tonight for those same dancers.. when they realize that an audience is judging them. They weren’t proud enough to work; they’ll have any pride left stripped of them when they hit stage.
Catching flies with honey. Look into it.
