Are you a good little arts viewer, or could you not think of anything worse than seeing a show?

Do you like the ballet? The opera?

Is there something showing in your town right now that you've got to tell everyone to see?

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2000

Answers

I'm a horrible viewer of theatre, as not only do I love it with a passion, but I also get INSANELY jealous of the performers and I end up having bitchy conversations with my companions about how I "could have done it better". I am a mean-spirited, nasty person.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2000

I'm like someone's grandma. When my friends are in shows, I have the tendency to cry. Uncomfortably. I've done this too many times.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2000

I love opera but opera is EXPENSIVE in DC. I see shows occasionally. I'm a poor student but I've seen MacBeth, Chicago, and Rent while I've been here so it can't be all bad.

Louis Black is appearing at the Improv and I'm excited about that.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2000

I loathe watching shows. I love to be IN them, but I hate to watch them. I think maybe I just feel that the experience is best enjoyed from the inside rather than from the outside looking in.

Of course, what I hate most of all happens far too frequently where I live. At least one show out of the five my university does each year is the "designated disaster." If you have experience, you can see it coming from a mile away and you know to avoid it.

But some people I know aren't that perceptive, and I hate having to go backstage to say "Hi" to a friend that I know is talented and that I just saw give one of the worst performances in the history of theatre in one of the worst plays I've ever seen. I mean, what do you say? Something like "I just can't begin to tell you what I thought of your performance," I suppose. It makes me very uncomfortable.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2000

I don't usually go to any plays or shows. not since high school..haha. there used to be a time where the theatre/drama people would do these short half hour plays for a whole week for some sort of publicity. I'm not sure. they were all pretty interesting and it used to get us out of class.

I tried to go and see Rent in the theatre district of houston, but they sold out right before we could get tickets!!! I knew we should have paid in advance. still haven't seen it.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2000

I go to the theatre whenever I get the freaking chance. And I like to usher, for the free ticket ;) I ushed a show on my campus earlier tonight actually. I've never been to the opera or the ballet, but I'd like to. We get some pretty cool national tours in or near my city, I've seen Phantom of the Opera, Man of La Mancha, Stomp, Tap Dogs, Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I, Mark Twain Tonight, and Smokey Joe's Cafe. Also Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2000

It's the whole actor's jealousy thing. Sure, I can enjoy a show, especially if one of my very talented friends is in it. Yet somewhere back there is always the thought, "I could do that. In fact, I could do it better." Sometimes even deeper is the thought, "Damn, that's better than anything I could do. I suck." That's the one you have to be wary of.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2000

well i absolutely LOVE live theatre. I go see everything my friends are in or teching, or at least i try to. as a performer though, i must say i am pretty critical. i see the person in the part that "should be mine" and make internal comments about how i would have done such a better job. and since i have been on the crew end of things, sometimes i am extremely greatul for the person sitting next to me who is keeping me from jumping out of my seat and running to the booth to take over the follow spot. oh and bad sound! ugh. thats the worst. body mics placed in the wrong spot so that the clothes or wigs or whatever are brusing against the mic. ahk. it sends chills up my spine.
but if i see a brilliant show, i make sure that everyone i know knows about it and i take friends so i can go see it again.
caitlyn

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2000

Love, love, love theatre, ballet, opera, and most of the art forms. I was blessed to be raised by a father who thought it was very important that his children fufilled their potential in all ways, so the trips to those types of things were the norm. I am also a huge fan of one person shows like any of Sandra Bernhard. Especially love musicals, those new Gaps paying homage to one of my faves are the b

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2000

Hmmm, as horrible as this is, i rarely see any theatre. I'd like to be a theatre/arts geek, but i don't often have the time or money.

I'm also a bitch in that i much prefer to be in the plays than the audience. Sometimes i miss acting. Dammit.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2000

Eek. I'm in a show right now in Dallas that opens May 5 and runs through the weekend with 5 performances at SMU.

It is not even close to being ready.

I am an arts patron 'til the day I die. At 27, I can't really justify the expense of all the season tickets I hold - Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Opera, etc. - but I do it nonetheless.

It's not a bad town in which to be a classical musician, either. Always a good audience down at The Meyerson (our incredible symphony hall).

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2000

I've directed a couple of kids' productions in the past year and learned something about myself.

I can't watch it. I stand backstage, herd them out when they need to go, and turn my back. I listen carefully, but I simply cannot watch. It's not that they're bad, but it's a bit like staring at the sun. Too intense. Has anyone else felt that way who's directed?

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2000

Working for a large arts organization kind of takes the fun out of attending any live event period. When I do go to the theatre, the ballet, the opera or even a Broadway show, I always wonder what's going on backstage, which unlucky staff people got stuck working the Saturday night performance (like I always do), how the box office is faring with the long line of people outside, etc. I'm also developed irrational pet peeves, such as people who can't find their seats or try to displace people who are in the right seats simply because they can't read a ticket. I know not everybody frequents the arts and sometime theatre seating can be confusing, but come on, people. How hard is it to sit in the right seat in the right row?

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2000

I used to act, in fact as a teenager theater was my life and all I wanted to do. I got sick of it by 19 or so, especially the competition and pretensiousness involved.

The few times I have gone to see live theater I have gotten a bit of the "I could do that better" or "I miss my old acting days" thought, mixed in with the occasional "this is lame, i am so glad I don't do that anymore."

Most of my friends are not into live theater at all, and I *hate* musicals, so it's not come up much. I briefly dated a woman who took me to some shows at Trinity Rep here in Providence and I spent too much time squinting at the program in the dark trying to see if I knew anyone in the show or backstage. Sure enough Craig Handel was the fight coreographer. I should have guessed by the style of the fights. Almost any physical theater in this state is going to have some connection to the old Cumberland Company.

Film is more my thing. I go see the Rhode Island School of Design film projects every year, and whenever I see something really good it makes me want to drop everything and go to film school.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2000