To Award, or Not to Award...

For the record, I do believe that the people in community theatre by and far realize that the “awards” that are given out at the end of the season could be compared more accurately to those high school nominations that people are given in their senior year: “Most likely to succeed,” or “Best Smile,” or “Cutest Couple.” Nobody wants to be given the title “Most likely to end up as Jail Bait,” “Best Mullet on a Chick,” or “Best Party Host when the Parents are Away” – (okay, maybe that one would be kinda cool if you’re 17 or 18), but those titles come out anyway – unofficially.

And that’s if you’re a senior in high school, or in theatre, it seems.

By many standards, I’m a baby to the theatre experience in Lansing. I’ve been involved for almost ten years, however, and I think I have some observations of actors and “theatre types” in general that are relevant, real, and revealing. There have been a lot of shows that are done because of the parties that go along with them. There are shows that are more business-like and the actors go home after and treat the show more like a job…professionally, even. There is often a mix of these kinds of people in shows; party people can be professional sometimes, and sometimes professional people can party. Usually, though, the cliques tend to stick to themselves.

There’s a bit of incest in the theatre world as well – directors tend to have their favorite actors and techies, and actors have their favorite directors and actors to work with; aside from all of the sexual intrigues, of course. Theatre-folk tend to be high maintenance, needy, drama-loving, vulnerable, emotional and attention-craving creatures; this isn’t a put-down, it’s an observation of many of the people I’ve met over the years (and some insights into myself). They tend to stick closer to the people they know, but once they accept an outsider it is with one open arm and another with a knife in hand to plunge at an opportune moment. The backstabbing and gossip alone makes teenage girls look like amateurs. However, they accept everybody into their fold, unlike most other organizations. You don’t have to be super smart, like a MENSA dude, or be a doctor, or farm land, or do anything special in particular except show up, show interest, and you’re in. Theatre also tends to draw to it misfits of all shapes and sizes…I have to believe that everyone in theatre has a little bit of a twist to them that pulls them to the sawdust, paint, and lights…

And for all of their vain, cock-crowing flaws, thespians can also be some of the most compassionate, gentle, loyal and driven people you will ever meet. Many take their craft intensely seriously, and the payoff for their hard work is the thrill of performing in front of a live audience, or working backstage to make the show a success. It’s a high – an adrenaline rush. Even from a backstage perspective, when I’ve said “PLACES!” – my own heart will skip a bit faster and I look forward to not knowing exactly – EXACTLY – what lies ahead. Costumes rip, sound effects fail, wigs fall, furniture breaks, actors walk into walls or fall in blackouts, lines are sometimes simply lost – figuring out how to fix the problems as they happened was my personal “high.”

And I too have been involved in backbiting, being harsh on performances when a lot of my view was skewed by a dislike of a person, and wanting to be in on the latest gossip. I know of various awards ceremonies that were rigged by people who were obsessed to obtain one for themselves (doesn’t it defeat the point of recognition by your peers if you finagle an award to give to yourself?), and I know that the categories, over many years, have been tampered with by judges in many ways. Their intentions may have been good – maybe to spread the awards over a larger pool of shows, let’s say – but if you want a fair assessment then you have to take the sheets turned in by the judges and go strictly by the numbers. And you have to keep the shows in the categories in which they were submitted, along with the actors. There hasn’t been a year yet in which I haven’t seen something hinky with all of the awards shows that happen in Lansing, and it bothers me that so many people put so much stock into a piece of plastic with their name on it, or a mention in the paper. And putting all that aside, what about the personal prejudices of the judges themselves? Or their knowledge of theatre, or lack thereof?

What about the audiences? What about feeling that the award you’ve earned is a connection with the audience, a great show, and something to be proud of?
I’ve won awards. I was thankful that I was thought of, but my heart wasn’t broken when I was nominated and then lost. I directed a show nominated in just about every category – including best show – and won most of them, but not Best Director. Did I care? No. I’ve been nominated quite a few times and I have been told by other people that I was “robbed” or I deserved the award more than someone else – but it doesn’t matter. Have there been instances where I believed someone didn’t deserve an award he or she won? Yes – but that’s my opinion. I’ve voiced those opinions to close friends before, but never in a public forum like this.

I believe that people should be rewarded for the efforts they make, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be by an outside group of people who likely don’t understand all of the inner workings of what they do. How many judges have a well-rounded background and know what to look for in direction? Or how a set is painted or constructed? Or to pay attention to blocking, and if it’s clever, boring, complicated and witty or looks like the actors are making it up as they go? How many people understand lights, and sound, and what to look for in the scene changes and how they are done, if there are any?

I understand the concept of drawing in people who have no outside experience with theatre and letting them judge because they really don’t have preconceived notions. However they also don’t have the knowledge to properly judge – in my opinion – the full extent of a show. I understand having experience veterans judge, but they too can be too harsh or too forgiving if they are intimate with the personalities they are judging or have been in shows with the people they are assigning numbers to. I also think it’s also a conflict of interest if a judge is also directing a show at all during the season. Any judge should remove him or herself entirely from the process of judging for that season if he or she chooses to direct.

As for judges then – and no disrespect meant – I have little confidence in their abilities. I’ve seen some amazing shows get tanked, and some truly horrible ones get applauded (again, my opinion, with my lens, my tastes in style and genre of theatre). I understand you can’t recognize everyone and every show in the Lansing Theatre scene – however, I think it would be awesome to offer up some scenes, to replay some songs, and to make a night of remembrance for the past season instead of setting people up to compete against each other, and for mostly hurt feelings to walk out of the door at the end of the night.

I don’t think all people take these awards seriously – but there are a lot who do. I just want to emphasize that, like a review, they reflect the opinion of a very small group of people and don’t necessarily reflect the feelings of the audiences.
And to keep it real – we all know there are better shows than others. But isn’t the point that we try? And that we accomplish and pull them all off? The season goes on…the years go on…and the shows will keep coming.

Enjoy the moment, man. Don’t rush through the rehearsal process – that’s the most fun, in my opinion; to experiment, to connect with the other people around you, and to feel the rush of the weeks flying by to performance time. I know that there are cliques of people who tend to act in the same circles – but sometimes circles overlap and I love to see that. I enjoy seeing new blood in the theatre – people who are enthused and willing to work into the wee hours of the morning to make sure the final details are made to the set, alongside veteran actors and crew. The connections that are made, to me, are the most significant aspect of the theatre process, and then watching the connections reach an audience. To meet people and get to know them in so many ways, and sometimes so incredibly intimately. It takes courage for an actor, in my opinion, to go on stage and weep unabashedly, to scream, to express any range of the emotions of the characters they are cast in – and attempt to simple be.

This is sappy to admit, but I remember during “Flipaswitch” I would often weep softly at the very end of the show – and it’s the only show that I’ve seen every single performance of unless I was directly in the crew. This knot in my throat would catch me off guard and this overwhelming feeling of love I felt for the theatre, and the unity of the people on stage singing flummoxed me. There were so many people I knew and cared about singing together – it was beautiful. The show was personal to me – I couldn’t have judged it fairly. I only know that is one of the most intense times I’ve felt sawdust in my veins, and witnessed the amazing capacity theatre has to bring people together and showcase their talents to a rousing audience. I state this only to say that I'm not saying I'd be a better judge than anyone else; I know I'm too close.

I am an emotionally passionate person, and I love watching the actors work through the process of becoming …and even those who don’t quite make it – they try. The techies try. The crew tries. We do our best to work together to bring something on paper, something an author has thought up and written down, to be real.

And all the plays are real – some just look and feel real better than others. But all the people are real, and all their efforts are too. We don't get paid, we don't have the resources that Broadway has, and we accept anyone who wants to be a part of the process...it's a community effort by people who devote their free time and their talents to produce community theatre.

Let’s celebrate doing what we love, and not be divisive about who’s better at it.