Um.....musical madness??

Okay, seems like I didn't put my thoughts very well further up. I can see how it looks like I'm a musical fan and am glad that there's very few plays advertising their auditions on this site, but that is not the case. I enjoy a good play, be it drama or comedy (though I prefer a drama) as both an audience member and as a performer. My first post was in reply to what one of the many Walters on here said in regards to serious actors not being happy due to the barrage of musical auditions.

It is my hope that all forms of theatre that the various community groups around Perth engage in flourish. I believe that for many various reasons auditions for plays are not finding their way onto this site but auditions for musicals are. I don't know if this is a good thing in the general sense or a bad thing. As someone who is about to direct a musical the competition is making life a little difficult, but you deal with it don't you - healthy competition encourages us to strive for our best.

As for my comment regarding utilising the same techniques and abilities for my performances in musicals as I would in a non-musical show, the comparison to film actors is a little frivolous - film and stage are worlds apart, at least my experiences in both tells me that they are worlds apart. Film acting is inward and focusses on making an impression, stage acting is about expression - the subtle nuance that can only be captured by a camera that a film actor will use is virtually pointless on stage as it gets lost and won't be communicated to the whole audience. However, I do uphold that the skills and techniques are inherently the same but applied in a different manner - inwards or outwards depending on the medium. And as for a comparison between a play and a musical and discussion on whether musical performance is unnatural and if the actors are able to emotionally replicate how they would feel breaking out into song in the middle of the street, when it is completely unrealistic to do so - my experience tells me that the best way to perform this unnatural act is to find a way to make it seem natural. Look within at who you are and at how it could seem natural for you to sing in a particular moment - draw from your past, tap into sense memory - this is method acting right? Or have my studies misled me?? When I'm watching a musical I think an actor has done well if they can do this - make it seem natural for them to be singing.

Anyway, there's two more cents for the pot.

DazzaB

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." Scott Adams