adolph@ssc-vax.UUCP (Mark Adolph) (11/27/84)
*** YOUR MESSAGE *** This is another unsubtle attempt to get a net.theatre started. I'd like to hear from all of you theater people your most amusing theatrical anecdote. Now I know that anyone who has spent any time in a theater has at least one good story to tell. I will start the ball rolling with one of my own. This occurred during a community thater production that I designed (and hung and focused and ran and...) lights for recently in Tacoma, Washington. It was a four-act play set in England in 1910. Part of the fourth act featured four characters: Hobson (the main character), Henry (his good friend), Tubby (a servant) and a doctor. The doctor only appeared in the fourth act, but conveyed information crucial to the climax of the show. As of 30 minutes before curtain, the doctor was several hundred miles away, where his plane was having its brake pads changed. We started the show 10 nminutes late and extended intermission by 5 minutes in the hopes that he would arrive on time. By intermission, he wasn't there, and we started to plan how to cover for him. The director was going to play the part but, lacking a costume, he would have been hard-pressed to play a it convincingly, so we planned to cut the doctor's part and have Henry and Tubby (who opened the act) ad lib the information. By the end of Act III, the doctor had still not arrived, so we went ahead with the cuts as planned. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men. With all of the uncertainty, Hobson missed his cue to enter. Now Tubby and Henry were onstage, trying to figure out what to do next. Tubby started in ad libbing about the how the doctor had been by earlier to examine Hobson, and what he had said, when the stage left door flew open and the doctor, his hair wet from rain, only partially costumed and not at all made up, poked his head in and said in a perfect Scottish accent, "Am I early?" Both actors stared at him, then Tubby replied, "Yes, but I'll get the master right away", at which point he exited right, the doctor exited left, and Henry was left sitting in the middle of the stage by himself, smoking a pipe, with absolutely nothing to say or do. Somehow, we made it through the rest of that opening night performance, and I'm convinced that the audience never realized quite what was going on. Nothing like depending on the "magic of theater." -- Mark A. ...uw-beaver!ssc-vax!adolph "Computers are like preppies: they just boil around in their own way and you have to do things their way or they blow you off." "Everything that was different was a different thing..."
adolph@ssc-vax.UUCP (Mark Adolph) (11/27/84)
*** YOUR MESSAGE *** Please post any anectdotes to net.misc, so that they'll all be in one place. -- Mark A. ...uw-beaver!ssc-vax!adolph "Computers are like preppies: they just boil around in their own way and you have to do things their way or they blow you off." "Everything that was different was a different thing..."
rjw@ptsfc.UUCP (Rod Williams) (11/28/84)
> This is another unsubtle attempt to get a net.theatre started. I'd like to > hear from all of you theater people your most amusing theatrical anecdote. Okay...my first appearance on the boards was in a college production of Federico Garcia Lorca's "Bodas de Sangre" (Blood Wedding) - in Spanish, though that doesn't concern this anecdote. I played a friend of the Bridegroom and at the wedding was required to gesture excitedly stage right and shout "Here comes the Bridegroom!" (Aqui esta el novio!). Yes, folks, on opening night, the Bridegroom got confused backstage and made his triumphal entrance stage left. -- Rod Williams dual!ptsfa!ptsfc!rjw "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so"
rcook@uiucuxc.UUCP (11/29/84)
I was once in a play ( it was Calamity Jane ) and we had quite a
little mix-up.
It was in the 2nd act, a friend and I played Servicemen in the Calvary
and were to walk into a saloon carrying a wounded Soldier ( one of the
main characters).
To start it out, we could not find the Soldier to carry him in, and
while we were looking for him, we missed our cue, well, it turns out
that he was on the other wing. So here's what happened.
First one of the onstage characters came running in saying,
" did you hear 'joe ( or whatever) has been shot"
In walks Joe carried by 4 other stage crew members with calvary hats
on.
Then in walks me and my buddy all decked out in Calvary attire.
So what do we do? We tell those stage crew people to get back
to their posts, so they walk out.
Now let me tell you , that these people were wearing the black
stage crew shirts with "stage crew" written on them and everything.
well the funny thing is after the show, nobody in the audience never
said a thing about it as if it were never seen.
I have another one in the next note.rcook@uiucuxc.UUCP (11/29/84)
Hi its me again, I have another one from "South Pacific"
( this is opening night by the way)
Well, it turns out that the lead had a elaborate costume on in the
previous scene and had to change to an Army uniform. Well, he of
course , wasn't ready to come on stage when the time came, so the
actors on stage started making small talk which sounded really
corny in the eyes of the theatre people working on the show.
Then in runs the Lead with his pants barly on and his shirt
completely undone. This really made the audience laugh.
Then he says: "I thought the Japanese had invaded our fort when I
heard the radio - oh well i guess i was wrong, what were you guys
talking about before i came in?"
As he finished dressing, the dialogue continued and nobody was the
wiser!
Fascinating how the Audience can be so Niave!srm@nsc.UUCP (Richard Mateosian) (12/01/84)
In article <225@ssc-vax.UUCP> adolph@ssc-vax.UUCP (Mark Adolph) writes: > >This is another unsubtle attempt to get a net.theatre started. Alas, they've started net.theater instead. >I'd like to >hear from all of you theater people your most amusing theatrical anecdote. I have a lot of candidates. Like the time Joe Spano was playing Duke Mantee in "The Petrified Forest" at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre". At a certain point he slammed his fist on the table and the table fell off the edge of the stage into the audience. It was someone else's turn to speak, and somehow they managed to pull it off. By the way, that show was the first thing Joe Spano did that was any good. Now he's a big TV star. Last night I attended a performance of Harold Pinter's "Old Times" at San Francisco's ACT. After the show, the cast spent about a half hour discussing the play with the audience. Barbara Dirickson (Kate) told an amusing story about some of the things they hear the audience say during the exceptionally long pauses that Pinter writes into the script. At one point she is lying on the floor, stage front, no one is speaking, and someone in the front row turns to her companion and says "I don't know how much more of this shit I can listen to." Or, during another pause, someone in the balcony remarked "Do you think they've forgotten their lines?" Last week I attended a performance of Simon Gray's "Otherwise Engaged" at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. There are some extrememly funny lines in that play, especially in the first act, before it gets "heavy". The principal character, named Simon, is discussing with his brother the brother's recent interview for assistant headmaster of his school. The brother describes an excruciatingly embarrassing moment. "I did something I haven't done since I was twelve. (Long discussion of details of the interview) As I bent forward to hear what he said, I farted." Pregnant pause. Simon: "You haven't farted since you were twelve?" Or, earlier, when Simon tells his brother that he's expecting a certain visitor -- a critic. The brother recalls one of Simon's dinner parties fourteen years earlier when he had an encounter with this critic. The critic had been drunk and had made comments to the effect that school teachers of a certain category (to which the brother belonged) were all latent pederasts. The brother had confronted the critic later, as they were leaving, and had almost threatened violence. The brother has kept this incident alive in his memory, constantly dwelling on it. Then, before the brother can leave, the critic arrives. Of course, he doesn't remember the brother or the incident. He learns that the brother is a teacher of the given category and begins to make remarks. The brother tries to confront him with the former incident and at one point says dramatically, "I'm the latent pederast!" Pregnant pause. The critic replies "Oh, then you're in the right job!" Oh, well. It's very funny on stage. -- Richard Mateosian {cbosgd,decwrl,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!srm nsc!srm@decwrl.ARPA
srm@nsc.UUCP (Richard Mateosian) (12/02/84)
In article <36200015@uiucuxc.UUCP> rcook@uiucuxc.UUCP writes: > Then in runs the Lead with his pants barly on and his shirt > completely undone. This really made the audience laugh. > Then he says: "I thought the Japanese had invaded our fort when I > heard the radio - oh well i guess i was wrong, what were you guys > talking about before i came in?" > As he finished dressing, the dialogue continued and nobody was the > wiser! > > Fascinating how the Audience can be so Niave! Audiences are so used to seeing garbage that it's hard to tell impromptu garbage from rehearsed garbage. -- Richard Mateosian {cbosgd,decwrl,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!srm nsc!srm@decwrl.ARPA
andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (12/05/84)
[]
"Fascinating how the Audience can be so Naive!"
What were they supposed to do, jump up and insist that you back up and
do it by the script?
Damn uppity theater people! It's just this sort of attitude that gives
them their reputation.
-- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew) [UUCP]
(orca!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay) [ARPA]co20waz@sdcc3.UUCP (Bruce Jones) (12/05/84)
> In article <225@ssc-vax.UUCP> adolph@ssc-vax.UUCP (Mark Adolph) writes: > > > >This is another unsubtle attempt to get a net.theatre started. > > Alas, they've started net.theater instead. > > >I'd like to > >hear from all of you theater people your most amusing theatrical anecdote. > > I have a lot of candidates. Like the time Joe Spano was playing Duke Mantee > in "The Petrified Forest" at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre". At a certain > point he slammed his fist on the table and the table fell off the edge of the > stage into the audience. It was someone else's turn to speak, and somehow they > managed to pull it off. By the way, that show was the first thing Joe Spano > did that was any good. Now he's a big TV star. > > Last night I attended a performance of Harold Pinter's "Old Times" at > San Francisco's ACT. After the show, the cast spent about a half hour > discussing the play with the audience. Barbara Dirickson (Kate) told an > amusing story about some of the things they hear the audience say during the > exceptionally long pauses that Pinter writes into the script. At one point > she is lying on the floor, stage front, no one is speaking, and someone in > the front row turns to her companion and says "I don't know how much more > of this shit I can listen to." Or, during another pause, someone in the > balcony remarked "Do you think they've forgotten their lines?" > > Last week I attended a performance of Simon Gray's "Otherwise Engaged" at > the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. There are some extrememly funny lines in > that play, especially in the first act, before it gets "heavy". The principal > character, named Simon, is discussing with his brother the brother's recent > interview for assistant headmaster of his school. The brother describes > an excruciatingly embarrassing moment. "I did something I haven't done since > I was twelve. (Long discussion of details of the interview) As I bent forward > to hear what he said, I farted." Pregnant pause. Simon: "You haven't farted > since you were twelve?" Or, earlier, when Simon tells his brother that he's > expecting a certain visitor -- a critic. The brother recalls one of Simon's > dinner parties fourteen years earlier when he had an encounter with this > critic. The critic had been drunk and had made comments to the effect that > school teachers of a certain category (to which the brother belonged) were > all latent pederasts. The brother had confronted the critic later, as they > were leaving, and had almost threatened violence. The brother has kept this > incident alive in his memory, constantly dwelling on it. Then, before the > brother can leave, the critic arrives. Of course, he doesn't remember the > brother or the incident. He learns that the brother is a teacher of the > given category and begins to make remarks. The brother tries to confront > him with the former incident and at one point says dramatically, "I'm the > latent pederast!" Pregnant pause. The critic replies "Oh, then you're in > the right job!" Oh, well. It's very funny on stage. > -- > Richard Mateosian > {cbosgd,decwrl,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!srm nsc!srm@decwrl.ARPA *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** More Anecdotes A friend of mine, who is a stage hand in San Diego, told me about a Passion Play staged in Old Town some years ago. It seems that the actor who was to stab Christ with a spear had failed to notice that the spear he was holding didn't have a rubber point, instead it was tipped in steel (not sharp). When jabbbed, the guy on the cross hollered "Jesus Christ, I've been stabbed!"
spaf@gatech.UUCP (Gene Spafford) (12/06/84)
Look folks, we created the "net.theater" group so you'd have a place to
post your anecdotes and commentary about the theater (and the "theatre"
for those who wish to spell it that way).
Please STOP posting to net.misc!! Move it to net.theater where it belongs.
--
Gene "8 months and counting" Spafford
The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332
CSNet: Spaf @ GATech ARPA: Spaf%GATech.CSNet @ CSNet-Relay.ARPA
uucp: ...!{akgua,allegra,hplabs,ihnp4,linus,seismo,ulysses}!gatech!spaf