How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, going in

Hello all!

I've been cast as an ensemble singer-dancer in Actors Community Theater's production of "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" back in early May. While I find it slightly ironic my internship is in one of my lowest-involvement projects since I started in the major two years ago, it's already presented a great opportunity to sit back and learn from an outside-ish perspective.

Little bit about me and Actors: this will be my 8th show there since I started in 2012. I've gotten to become friendly with most of the board of directors and the regular contributors, and during my previous stints I've been an actor, set designer, lights operator, assistant director/stage manager, constructor, painter, usher, and once went in a blue ruffle suit to the Women's Convention for publicity. Other than having the chance to indulge in technical and backstage theatre, I've learned about what community actually means in community theater.

Community theater isn't educational theater in that it's not about the cast/crew's experience but the audience's: this may seem complimentary to what we're taught how important the audience is at ISU, but we worry more about the 'ethics and aesthetics' and 'successful failures'. ISU can operate that way since we're only minutely funded by ticket sales, but Actors' grants and sponsorships don't adequately cover the overhead cost to ignore financial decisions when making creative ones. This means they have to pick shows balanced between popular with crowds and cheap on copyright, scout out and depend on regulars to carry productions well ahead of season announcements, and repurpose and maximize technical design efficiency for the convenience of the few designers frequently available and low quantity/quality of set pieces. Another thing is that anyone on the board of directors can helm a show, which means in the eight shows I've done I've only worked with one director twice; the huge amount of directors available means you experience vastly different mindsets, personalities, and competencies of directors that requires you to adapt to a new theatre relationship show by show. As such, what I've learned from Actors is less about theatrical technique and more about working with opposing people and developing a relationship with the community.

So I auditioned and entered into "How to Succeed"...