" I just happen to understand that performers are not robots who are programmed to do everything spectacularly well 8 shows a week for a couple years."
Just because it happens doesn't mean it should or that it's "right" for it to. For the record, there are plenty of artists who perform in long-running shows who still give first-rate performances years later. As with any career, there great actors and consummate professionals, and there are not.
No one is debating that or saying that performers should be incapable of degrees of quality.
But there is a minimum to that degree, and they need to be meeting it and preferably surpassing it. It is what they are trained to do. It is their career.
When I go to a professional theatrical production, I expect to see performers at the top of their game. Why should I expect less?
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
And so are doctors and lawyers and bus drivers and teachers and hunters and parents. (I 'understand' when a parent loses their cool with their kid -- doesn't make it right.)
The consequences to be made are: the loss of a fan, a bad review, a disappointed audience.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
Next time anyone screws up at work, just say "What do you expect? I'm a human, not a robot. Do you really expect me to perform perfectly every day of the week?"
Let's see how that works for you.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
More or less, yes. Being a doctor or lawyer is more challenging, but Broadway performer is right up there. And it's not just playing the role, but enduring the auditioning process.
"Being a doctor or lawyer is more challenging, but Broadway performer is right up there."
Um, sorry, not it isn't. Raised in a family of theatre professionals and medical professionals. Having somebody's life in your hands and performing, say, an organ transplant as my father has, is MUCH more difficult than being a Broadway performer. To even compare them is an insult. Expecting someone to hit their turns is a lot less pressure than expecting someone to save a life.
I stand by what I said that most people wont know what level a performer is at if they are a pro. They will ebb and flow with energy and such but they will deliver the performance.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
>> "I also think it's unfair to say that an actor is horrible as a certain character just because they had an off day. Having an off day should not overshadow all of their previous amazing performances."
That statement implies that it's OK to have inconsistent performances from an actor. That on some days (even if that's *most* days), their performance will be "amazing", yet on another, (it may be only one) it may be noticeably "off".
That should never happen. Never.
Professionals warm up vocally, physically and mentally before a show so that there are NO off days. If they're under the weather, professionals do extra warm-ups, use *all kinds* of remedies (steam, lozenges, teas, sour patch candies...) to make sure their performances are consistent.
You can't cut an actor slack (or say it's "unfair") for having an off day. You should never be able to notice. If you *did* notice, they haven't done their job.
Are you really saying that being a Broadway performer is anywhere close to the rigor and difficulty of being a doctor? Now I know you're trolling. I'm also willing to bet that you're neither a Broadway performer nor a doctor, because no one in either profession would say such an idiotic thing.