I see several shows a month. My minimum is two shows per month, but I often exceed that. I absolutely love live theatre, not just because I'm an actor, but because of the stakes involved in each performance. There is no "take two". It's all about NOW, what's happening in the moment. All of us are in the same room, part of the same shared experience, but I might walk out loving the show and the guy next to me might leave at intermission because he hates it so much. There's subjectivity. It's personal, even though there may be hundreds of people in the audience.
I'll see just about anything. I tend to lean toward Shakespeare or other classical plays because it's so useful to me to see what choices are being made in performance. I'll see the same play by different companies over and over and over, because no two productions are ever the same. It's great to see different interpretations of these stories. Last night, I went to see something more experimental: a rap/hip-hop version of a Shakespeare play, and it was a lot of fun!
Let's be real, the hundreds of plays I've seen over the years haven't all been successful (though most of them were). I've seen some shows that really fell flat on their faces, but these shows taught me just as much if not more than the shows I enjoyed. In seeing shows that I didn't ultimately enjoy, I also got to consider what about it wasn't working for me, and why, which can inform my future work as an actor.
A few years ago, I was preparing for my first production of Much Ado About Nothing, And while I knew the show inside out, I hunted down videos on YouTube, re-watched the Branagh film, saw the Joss Whedon film the day it came out, as well as the BBC TV version and every live production I could catch in NYC, all before rehearsals started! Knowing what others had tried helped inform my choices, so that I could have even more tools in my toolbox as I went on to find how I would put my stamp on the character. For example, I learned that I didn't like Beatrice if she didn't smile in the first scene. The lines are a sharp and witty, but I found that if Beatrice smiles, I like her, and if she doesn't, I just think she's a jerk, which is tricky when you have to root for her character. It's a seemingly simple thing that I might never have discovered if I had not had so many productions to compare.
Lately, I've been going to the opera. The Met is pretty much the ultimate theatrical experience - it is bigger than Broadway in every way I could think of, without microphones!
At The Met on Friday, November 6th, to see Tosca
I initially thought that a night at the opera would be more about being seen by others than about what's happening onstage, but the acting, musicianship, and storytelling of these masterpieces is stunning. When Tosca jumped from the tower, I gasped aloud. I was very worried for Gilda's safety during intermission of Rigoletto. Opera has very little to do with my career, but I have found myself wrapped up in the storytelling every time, and learning just as much from these performances as from any other.
I think everyone, especially actors, but EVERYONE, should see as much live theatre as possible. Even if you hate it, it will teach you something. It will inspire you. It will give you motivation. It will make you feel alive.
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