Ridiculous demands from theatre group

[nameyname]

Name changed as I think this might me identifiable! DDs are in a theatre group which does a show with adults and kids each year (Oliver type of thing). Middle dd has been doing it for four years, youngest started this year and older dd auditioned every year but not been in it before this year as she has never been offered a main part before.

They are expected to rehearse for two hours every week but older dd has a role that means she is not in a group with the other children but in different scenes so she has to go to extra rehearsals on a different night and attend the main rehearsal where she is often hanging about for ages to do her but as they insist on running it in order rather than letting her do her bits and go home. She doesn't really mind but is really irritated by the fact that the adults who aren't involved with a scene are often invited by the director to comment on what they've just seen but she is never allowed to offer an opinion.

She came back last night from rehearsal really fuming because director told her off for not having learnt all her lines yet and made her feel bad because she couldn't do it off by heart yet, I know they need to learn lines but the show is still a month away so she's got ages to prepare.

The other thing that is really annoying me is that they are expected to provide costumes which are going to cost me a fortune for three kids, this is supposed to be a free activity but in reality it's going to cost me over £100 by the time I've bought costumes and tickets.

So the question is wibu to have a word with the director to point out that this sort of thing is supposed to be fun but her attitude is sucking all the joy out of it for my family, specially dd1?

Great thread. Reminds me of supersoaker....

In the waiting around bit she should be taking herself off and practising, going over lines with people in her scenes, or filling in for others to practice.

Being in a chorus in a non school production would give her more experience of the whole process, and she should listen to the discussions of actors and actresses who have years more experience of watching and participating and studying theatre and acting.

You are setting her up for a fall and if she is serious about this then she should be putting her all in to it - not hanging around and butting in to conversations. She needs to learn patience, social etiquette and how to actively learn and push herself - a bit of discipline is required in acting, it has to come from her like any activity be it art, sport or academic pursuits the whole process at school is to teach you how to actively learn - by the time you go to uni it is you that drives your participation in your education.

I am stunned. My DD is desparate to make theatre her career in particular musical theatre so a 'triple threat' actor. Currently she takes over 8 hours of rehearsals and singing/dancing lessons a week.
She has grafted her way in the chorus, spent many hours watching patiently in politely while others perform and learnt so much.
She try's to learn her lines as fast as possible so she can concentrate on her performance.
She has recently be rewarded for all of this with starring roles, I may just cry when I see her as baby Simba in the Lion King.

As for the cost £33 per child is nothing.

Waiting, line learning and shutting the fuck up about your opinions are the prices you pay for acting. Like sports people have to get up early and train even when they really don't want to. Like business people have to sit in meetings. Like cooks have to deal with heat.

A friend of mine was a professional child actor and managed a flurry of A*s alongside it. She used to come back to school ahead of us in the books. How do you think she managed that?

OP you are the problem by all the sounds of it. Annoyed about attending rehearsals and contributing a very small amount to stage costumes and then shocked that the Director is not pleased that your eldest not learning her lines yet and tells her so??
Get a life and get you and your family a new hobby, no?

they insist on running it in order

Tsk tsk. Next am-dram I go to, I expect to see all the youngest / frailest / actors-with-weak-bladders / actors-who-have-to-catch-the-last-bus will be on first, working up to those who had a day job to do first / who have perfect health / a high boredom threshold / who are allowed to stay up past 8 o'clock / who have their own transport to go on last.

You'd think the Director would have arranged the whole show to suit the actors, surely?? What is he/she thinking???

YABU, in case you weren't sure.

I would imagine your daughter is wasting everybody's time at rehearsal, not knowing her lines.

Maybe it would be less challenging for her if she had bothered learning her lines?

I was on TV when I was 8, op. All I remember about it now was the waiting around.
You do understand that the waiting around isn't just for the heck of it don't you? Whenever you are waiting someone is working like stink to get something up and running or finished etc.

I was involved in Am Dram (mostly musicals) between the ages of 8 and 16. Everybody had to wait around a lot. We used the time learning lines, and practicing our scenes together singing, and learning the dance moves.

I work professionally in stage management, and YY to all previous posters re learning lines and waiting around. In the rehearsal room, when the Director/the Asst Dir and I are putting together the daily schedule, we do try to avoid waiting around, but if you're on for 2 minutes at the beginning of a 20 minute scene and 2 minutes at the end of it , there's absolutely nothing we can do about that. I've had actors called for a full day, and then a Director has trouble with the intention or shape of a scene, and they don't get used til 4pm.

Then in tech, I might be sitting around for lengthy chunks of time while Sound or LX work with the Director to get a scene sounding or looking right, so I spend the time running over what's coming up next, is everything ready to go, have I planned how I'm going to run the next scene change.

I don't think the OP is being U in not knowing that this is how theatre (amdram or pro) works. I don't think that they would be U to speak to the Director and say, "DD didn't realise that there would be a lot of waiting around between her scenes being rehearsed, can you suggest good ways for her to run lines ?". I do think OP would be massively U to demand changes because of the way the group works.

Oh, and getting opinions from a 13 year old who has been in a few school plays ? No ta.

Anyone else thinking of Bonnie Langford in Bugsy Malone...

Hilarious. I think you need to set your DD's expectations more realistically otherwise you're in danger of creating a diva.

Hey I've got a idea - why doesn't she use some of that waiting around time to (a) learn her lines and (b) observe the work of all the other people in the production and see if she can learn something.

The reason there is lots of waiting around is that the primary purpose of this activity is not focused on keeping your DD entertained. Everybody else is focused on making the production the best it can be, and the production will benefit if everyone involved, even those who have 2 lines, have a really thorough understanding and knowledge of the whole story which they are part of. If I'm putting on a show and there's a part with 2 lines, I want those 2 lines to be delivered by someone who was there at every rehearsal and who is dedicated to the production. Not by some semi-outsider who wants to turn up, deliver the lines and bog off without caring about the wider context of those lines. I also wouldn't dream of casting someone in a part with 10 or 20 lines if they behaved with such ill grace when they only have 2.