The Boy From Where It Hurts (part 2)

A boxer watches a boxing match differently than a non-boxer. A writer reads a book differently than someone who doesn't write. An actor watches a show unlike anyone else in the audience.

As an actor, I want the show to be good. I want the show to be good so I get to watch a good show. I want it to be good so I don't have to pretend that it is good and theater is a valid art form. I want it to be good so I don't have to fake compliments to the cast when I see them after the show. But more than anything, if I go see a good show, it confirms for me the possibility of me being in a good show. When I go see a bad show, it reminds me how many bad shows I have been in and will be in before I have "made it".

Therefor, my review from Boy From Brooklyn was very difficult for me to write. I want the actors to succeed because it means I will someday succeed. I know how hard it is to live the life of an actor - there is no stability, you are constantly judging yourself based on the opinion of others. And most of all, you make sacrifices everyday for your art. The actors in Boy from Brooklyn were not happy about the sacrifices they had to make. To act, they were sacrificing their knowledge of what good and bad are. None of the actors were invested in their character or storyline. They knew the show was catering to an audience that doesn't know better. They knew it and they knew they had sacrificed their dreams of what acting should be.

My heart goes out to the performers. These are accomplished, talented actors. They know it should be better. And they know there isn't anything they can do about it. That is a very scary place to be.