rec.arts.theatre.musicals

On Aug 9, 4:07 pm, Ray S wrote:
> As long as I've been knocking about community theaters, (since the 70's
> for reference) I've always run across some that seem to get themselves
> into a tradition where the actors go out to the lobby after the show and
> do a sort of meet and greet.
>
> Me, I've never really liked it. It always ends up looking like some kind
> of wedding receiving line, and you have just spent a couple hours trying
> to create an illusion and then you can't bash it down fast enough. I
> guess it also looks like begging for compliments also. If a theater
> doesn't really have a decent green room area to meet post show friends,
> I don't have any beef with the actors sort of hanging back and if
> patrons want to go out of their way to give a compliment, fine. But a
> 'get out their and meet the folks' push just doesn't feel right to me.
>
> So, thoughts? Opinions? On what seems to be an occasional tradition.

When I'm doing a community theatre show, I generally will have friends
or family in the audience, so I'll find them, whether in the lobby or
the house or wherever (most of the theatres here don't have much of a
stage door, and if they do, it's often a back exit where the audience
has little or no access).

But as for forced meet-n-greets: I've never been in one as an actor
(thankfully). It's bad enough as an audience member. I hate being
forced through a receiving line and having to talk to actors whose
performances I may or may not have cared for. After I see a show, I
want to talk to the people in it I know, not give empty praise (or
white lies) to the people I don't.

And for purely practical purposes, I think it's silly to be out in
costume amongst the audience. All it takes is one spilled drink to
ruin a costume (or at the very least make some wardrobe mistress's
night an unpleasant one).

However, as has been already said, I think in-costume meet-and-greets
can be great for kids' shows. If a little girl gets to meet
Cinderella, she'll probably demand that her family drag her back to
the theatre so that she can meet Peter Pan later in the season.

Kevin