Stage Vs. Film

Being an actor is a tough job; whether it's stage or film. But I've always thought that acting on stage was a more difficult job. In film, you get to do a scene many, many times, while on stage during a performance you have one shot to make a scene work. If you drop something, that thing is dropped and you can't undo it.

Now I'm bringing this up because today I saw a production of "Wait Until Dark" at a theater in Fresno and I'm sure it was a very difficult show for them to put together. One of the actresses had to play a blind woman, which if you are not blind, is a very hard thing to do. She had to run into pointy furniture, trip over things, touch sharp objects. She had to do dangerous things and there was never a guarantee that it wouldn't actually hurt her. With film, you have stunt doubles, cushioned objects, soft things to land on. There is way less of a chance you will get injured on film than on stage. I can attest to this because there were many times that I have been injured on stage, whether it was falling or running into things.

How many bruises have you got from being on stage?

Community Theater

It is hard when you live in a small town to find a way to fuel your creativity once you are done with high school. You don't have the high school productions to be involved with every year and you don't have a mellow choir class to attend every day. But there is something out there for you.

Community theater is a great creative outlet. You don't have to join a union, it's easy to get cast, and the people are there to have fun. A lot of small towns have a community theater and if not, there are usually some in a nearby town. I have had a lot of fun doing community theater productions in my tiny, boring town and I recommend it to everyone.

There is not all fun and games when it comes to community theater though. I have had many difficult moments with it and I have known many other people in theater world who had the same problems. And this problem is, that everyone in community theater is cliquey.

Now when I say everyone, I don't mean everyone. But the majority of the people in it, are in a shut-off from the world, won't let anyone else in-clique. I have done many productions in community theater and I still do not feel completely welcome. Everyone knows each other and no one talks to me. I have been performing outside of high school in community theater productions since my junior year of high school and I still do not feel welcome. The shows are fun and I love being on that stage, but I feel like an outsider.

I suggest you try community theater because you will have a blast. But maybe bring a friend or two to the audition so you can have some people to interact with during rehearsals.

(I want to make a note that not every community theater in the world is like this. This is just my experience and also, the experience of some of my theater-world friends.)