Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,563 Location: Paris, France
Your stage career! « Thread Started on Feb 5, 2010, 7:41am »
Okay, we've all been in school plays, talent shows or whatever.
I was really shy and never had a speaking part, although I was center stage once for a few moments in my important role as a letter of the alphabet. I remember also being a shepherd in a Nativity play once . And I was a tree in the forest, too.
And there was one summer where my brother and I sang a song in French at a talent show in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It must have been super exotic to the crowd.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 3,997 Location: South-West France
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #1 on Feb 5, 2010, 9:29am »
We never had school plays or talent shows or anything like that. But my sister was in a drama club while we were high school and during the big performance I was the prompter! I would have been awful at speaking in public.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 4,271 Location: USA
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #2 on Feb 5, 2010, 5:16pm »
I loved HS Drama Club, but am a natural backstage type and just loved helping with sets and costumes, then being there for the excitement. The one part I got was in a courtroom drama, and I later learned I didn't project well enough to be heard.
When my older daughter was 9 I formed a drama club for their group, and have kept it up until now, my younger's senior year. Originally we intended to be backstage help, costumes, scenery for the Shakespeare plays others put on. We started with short plays adapted to their ages and abilities, and I was able to use my literature background to find works, and develop into a director.
Over the years we got more ambitious. We have done (in English, of course) commedia dell'arte plays, Tartuffe, She Stoops to Conquer, The Imaginary Invalid, Comedy of Errors, Macbeth (samurai style), the Odyssey, Antigone, bits of modern and original plays, others. Our goals: 1. Have fun 2. Get to know each other better 3. Learn a little something (and lastly, if possible, put on something worth watching, and never bore our audience.) It has been very gratifying getting to know the kids and watching them develop into some real talents, and I will miss doing it.
Joined: May 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 5,379 Location: Winnipeg
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #3 on Feb 5, 2010, 5:33pm »
Don't remember being in school plays and such BUT, when I was 13/14 I played guitar in a band. We played several parties, the annual school concert, a school dance and a free stage at a community festival. We only knew about 10 songs so we only played for 30-40 minutes at a time. I also accompanied a young school choir with my guitar on a kids local TV show once - "Archie and his Friends" (Archie was one of those ventriloquist's dummies - his "friends were several hand puppets including Petite who was a Dalmation puppy, Marvin Mouse, a grumpy mouse that lived in a grandfather clock) - and save your comments, that's Archie with his Uncle Bob - neither is me.
(edited to add - was also dragged on stage at a fundraiser last fall and made to sing Brown Eyed Girl with a really good band - not too hard to look good when accompanied by great musicians and gorgeous back up singers covering up your mistakes).
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #5 on Feb 5, 2010, 7:13pm »
imec, shame that's not on utube, would love to see it 'live'!
I did several years of 'Drama and theatre craft' in high school. (yes, I've always been an attention seeker!). I received an 'O' level in it, one of seven, and this one was the easier ones to pass. Although how I managed to get so many when I hardly studied I'll never know. (I worked weekends and evenings during those final High school years, which left little time for studying).
It was interesting and fun and later on, it was a bonus to work in the West End of London, around the kind of atmosphere that I liked so much. One of my best friends from school went on to Hollywood to make a movie. It was the only one she did though. I would forever hear about how she talked to Silvester Stallone and other actors that she admired.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,563 Location: Paris, France
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #6 on Feb 5, 2010, 9:27pm »
I regret not having done more of that stuff in high school. I am pretty sure that I would have been pretty good.
When I finally got to university and became a political firebrand, I even appeared on national television, and even though it made me nervous, I believed in what I was doing and plunged forward.
I would have preferred to "perform" rather than debate...
Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 373 Location: NOLA,USA
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #7 on Feb 8, 2010, 11:02am »
I loved doing theater in high school and was very involved(acting) in several productions. In many ways it was my saving grace as I was pretty much of a loner and did not engage in too many extracurricular activities although, did play flute in the school band for years. In my senior year I auditioned and got for the part of Laura in Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie"at a theater two towns away. I loved it and it was one of the best high school memories I have. The cast being so small,(4),it was a great learning experience. I still have the playbill from it somewhere and on the final night, the director gave me the broken glass unicorn which I also have somewhere. After high school I was involved in some other Community theater,Dylan Thomas'"Under Milkwood" was one of the more memorable.
Too funny Imec! How does one "make"someone get up and sing? What a "ham"!
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,344 Location: Mexico
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #8 on Feb 14, 2010, 4:55pm »
Hmmmm. I have a dim memory of being in a grade-school production of something called (maybe) Mr. & Mrs. Vinegar. I only remember the one-dimensional house made of cellophane or plastic, which impressed me. I was a pansy in a ballet recital @ age nine. I was an old Swedish lady witness (with sprayed-on gray hair) in a high-school courtroom drama. And finally, I had a fairly large part in Loyola Univ. production of "Miss Lonelyhearts" when I was in my twenties. I don't remember anything about it, except deciding that acting made me weirdly uncomfortable.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 4,271 Location: USA
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #9 on Feb 14, 2010, 6:17pm »
Your courtroom drama wasn't The People vs. Maxine Lowe by any wild chance, bixa? My one part was a policewoman in that, and we got to stage it in the county courthouse, in a courtroom. Though no one could hear what I said, my body language was nervous and guilty enough to make one friend think that I done the criminal deed, whatever it was.
The only time I used grey hair I was maybe nineteen, and used baby powder to add artistic punch to the found ID -- stated age 30 or something -- I was using to buy beer for some pals. It worked, but unluckily one of my father's friends was in the liquor store at the time and later peached on me.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,344 Location: Mexico
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #10 on Feb 14, 2010, 6:34pm »
We got to do ours in the courtroom, too! I only remember that the defendant's name was Bjorn Bork. Why that is still lying around in my brain, I know not.
Was the body language a result of your acting skills, or of stage fright?
"peached on me" ~~ there's one for the mysterious word thread. I never heard that before!
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,344 Location: Mexico
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #12 on Oct 5, 2011, 7:13pm »
As time goes on and more people come to the Port, they should have a chance to bare their stunning triumphs or humiliating flops when smeared with greasepaint.
So, how about it -- any budding Barrymores or erstwhile Aaron Eckharts out there?
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #13 on Oct 5, 2011, 9:04pm »
I was in three school plays in my middle school years. I played a Centurion, a Sheriff (of Nottingham) and a sea captain. I think I was typecast a little.
Joined: Oct 2010 Gender: Female Posts: 1,659 Location: England
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #16 on Oct 6, 2011, 2:19pm »
um.....
I was a member of the Chorus in 'Trojan Women' when I was 13.....and played 'Grusha' in 'The Caucasian Chalk Circle' when I was 16.
At 17 I was in a folk band with the music teacher and the school technician...THEY were good...I was pretty mediocre...just there cos I was young, female, had long hair and didn't wear a bra under my tee shirt...(well it was 1974...)
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #17 on Oct 6, 2011, 6:39pm »
Well... I was cast as Lucy in the 6th grade Christmas Concert, I was absolutely terrified but got through it.
In high school I took theatre arts for 2 years and although I did enjoy the class, I would only audition for extra parts. I liked the enviournment and being involved but preferred to be in behind the cast.
However, I would compete in competitions for my dancing and gymnastics.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,563 Location: Paris, France
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #20 on Oct 6, 2011, 8:21pm »
Actually, I was an extra in 3 movies:
I was a starving rioter in Soylent Green. (I can be seen 5 times.)
I was a casino client in Havana. (I ended up on the cutting room floor, in spite of scenes both standing at the bar and strolling past the slot machines with my Jackie Kennedyish wife.)
I was a boxing match spectator in the French film La Clé sur la Porte. (just a blur in the background)
I turned down an offer to be an extra in Titanic because I didn't want to go to Mexico! (stupid!)
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #21 on Oct 7, 2011, 6:48am »
i wasn't in school plays but i played in our church's nativity plays each year from when i was 6 to when i was 13 or 14. first year i only could be part of the angel-choir and remember being very annoyed at some old man who kept trying to look past us at the people behind rearranging the stage - i thought if we only get to sing a bit, at least people should spend attention to only us at that time...
later i played a variety of roles, i do have a loud voice and didn't have any problems remembering my text and speaking clearly, so i did get the more important parts when i was older - but i always asked the woman organizing the plays if i could be mary next year - and she always said yes, but then forgot about it and promised the role to someone else later on. so i only got to play mary once, and that was the old mary, remembering the days of her youth, so in my mind that didn't really count...
I was a member of the Chorus in 'Trojan Women' when I was 13.....and played 'Grusha' in 'The Caucasian Chalk Circle' when I was 16.
At 17 I was in a folk band with the music teacher and the school technician...THEY were good...I was pretty mediocre...just there cos I was young, female, had long hair and didn't wear a bra under my tee shirt...(well it was 1974...)
Joined: Aug 2010 Gender: Male Posts: 1,801 Location: Herts, UK
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #24 on Oct 17, 2011, 2:08pm »
I did quite a lot of stuff at school and really enjoyed it. My school was very strong on Drama. Often vaguely though of doing local Am-Dram but probably won't...
Son was an extra in "Damage" when he worked at Sothebys. Got a pretty good shot too.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,344 Location: Mexico
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #25 on Oct 18, 2011, 8:17pm »
It's a shame that when we were young, every parent wasn't equipped with video the way they are now. Who wouldn't just kill to see and hear the early efforts listed in this thread?
Re: the joke pictures of Mark-as-dog above -- I was in a video store an hour or so ago & as I browsed, suddenly stopped short, thinking "is that a dog in uniform?!"
Tell me this doesn't look like a Fido: [spoiler=spoiler][/spoiler]
I was a member of the Chorus in 'Trojan Women' when I was 13.....and played 'Grusha' in 'The Caucasian Chalk Circle' when I was 16.
At 17 I was in a folk band with the music teacher and the school technician...THEY were good...I was pretty mediocre...just there cos I was young, female, had long hair and didn't wear a bra under my tee shirt...(well it was 1974...)
Cheery!
Whatever would Doreen say......
I didn't NEED a Doreen in those days Mick....sigh...it's probably bacause I didn't use a Doreen back then that I now need major scaffolding just to keep them off the floor.....
Re: Your stage career! « Reply #29 on Oct 22, 2011, 9:04am »
a singing part for me... great, that will make people's christmas (when their wish is granted and i finally stop singing)... hehe... so, when will we do the play, so i can buy the tickets to mexico?
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