Theatre Is Magic
I wrote this early yesterday morning (so it was really still "Thursday night" for me) because it was on my heart. I couldn't go to bed without writing it. I posted it on Facebook, but I feel like it belongs here, too.
For some reason, this is just on my heart right now.
Why go to live theatre when so much entertainment is available in the home?
Live theatre (from now on "theatre") provides so much more than entertainment that can be found in movie theatres or in the home. There's a whole different aspect. It pulls you into the show and keeps you there.
While you may become invested in some characters or situations within a TV show or a movie, theatre brings you in even more. Of course, if there are actors, they are real in both filmed and live versions. However, you don't get to interact with a filmed version of actors.
Even when theatre doesn't have audience participation, the audience is interacting with the people on stage.
I've had the priveledge to be on stage, backstage, and in the audience. I've experienced all kinds of roles in the theatre.
As an audience member, the way you react impacts the way the actors act on the stage. They can tell when an audience is truly watching and paying attention to the action. If you attend performances of the same show with the same people more than once, you can tell subtle difference in the performances due to audience reactions.
As somebody backstage, we are trying our best to make theatre magic happen with whatever we need for props, lighting, sounds, costume changes, and whatever else is needed in order to make theatre more believable.
As an actor, I know I have definitely tried to elicit certain reactions from the audience. I was the sales girl in "Legally Blonde: The Musical" at a local theatre and I know that one night, we had a great audience reaction to when Elle has given Emmett his makeover. We barely had to do anything. However, the next night, the audience didn't respond and it didn't feel right. "Elle" and I motioned more at "Emmett" and we moved our hands and tried to get people to react to his new look.
This does't happen in movies or television shows. Take after take is taken to get the reaction wanted. Even if the actors know their lines, there is usually more than one take. They can mess up lines and laugh.
In the theatre, actors have to know their lines. If they don't, they have to be able to adlib on the spot and keep the play going in the direction it is supposed to go.
Go to theatre because every time you go, you are getting a new experience. Go to theatre because it will give you an amazing thrill. If you don't like sad stories or difficult ones, that is okay. Go to see live comedies. See the shows you like. Support actors that you like. However, go see live theatre. It is there that you will breathe in creativity and there that you will truly experience the words jumping off the pages of a script.
Enjoy the theatre.
It is hard to describe, but theatre is magic.
For some reason, this is just on my heart right now.
Why go to live theatre when so much entertainment is available in the home?
Live theatre (from now on "theatre") provides so much more than entertainment that can be found in movie theatres or in the home. There's a whole different aspect. It pulls you into the show and keeps you there.
While you may become invested in some characters or situations within a TV show or a movie, theatre brings you in even more. Of course, if there are actors, they are real in both filmed and live versions. However, you don't get to interact with a filmed version of actors.
Even when theatre doesn't have audience participation, the audience is interacting with the people on stage.
I've had the priveledge to be on stage, backstage, and in the audience. I've experienced all kinds of roles in the theatre.
As an audience member, the way you react impacts the way the actors act on the stage. They can tell when an audience is truly watching and paying attention to the action. If you attend performances of the same show with the same people more than once, you can tell subtle difference in the performances due to audience reactions.
As somebody backstage, we are trying our best to make theatre magic happen with whatever we need for props, lighting, sounds, costume changes, and whatever else is needed in order to make theatre more believable.
As an actor, I know I have definitely tried to elicit certain reactions from the audience. I was the sales girl in "Legally Blonde: The Musical" at a local theatre and I know that one night, we had a great audience reaction to when Elle has given Emmett his makeover. We barely had to do anything. However, the next night, the audience didn't respond and it didn't feel right. "Elle" and I motioned more at "Emmett" and we moved our hands and tried to get people to react to his new look.
This does't happen in movies or television shows. Take after take is taken to get the reaction wanted. Even if the actors know their lines, there is usually more than one take. They can mess up lines and laugh.
In the theatre, actors have to know their lines. If they don't, they have to be able to adlib on the spot and keep the play going in the direction it is supposed to go.
Go to theatre because every time you go, you are getting a new experience. Go to theatre because it will give you an amazing thrill. If you don't like sad stories or difficult ones, that is okay. Go to see live comedies. See the shows you like. Support actors that you like. However, go see live theatre. It is there that you will breathe in creativity and there that you will truly experience the words jumping off the pages of a script.
Enjoy the theatre.
It is hard to describe, but theatre is magic.