At some point in life, you will find yourself repeating a performance or two.
Every performer I know, as well as some I’ve read about, has a unique way of dealing with repetition:
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A costume designer who works on Broadway splits the difference between depending on the reliability of a long-term job and thriving on variety. She has a steady gig with one show and subs the rest of the time.
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A former New York neighbor who plays 5 instruments had been playing classical music gigs after graduating from Juilliard. When he found that he needed to make more money, he switched to Broadway. He has yet to find a steady job with one show. He loves the variety that subbing brings, and practices all 5 instruments every day.
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The actress Catherine Russell tells her story to The New York Times. She finds variety every night in a role she has performed for 25 years!* (She has also been listed in Guinness World Records!)
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A character actor I know has been on Broadway for 40 years, mostly acting in various roles in the Fantasticks. He does other shows out of town for variety.
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A singing actor I’ve worked with loves variety. His “money gig” is being Santa Claus in a Radio City show out of town. He will likely be the next actor in the role at Radio City when it becomes available.
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A musician I dated had just returned from 6 months in Korea with a show when we met. He played 2 shows almost every day. With 4 hours between shows, he made a project of learning about Korean food, going to as many restaurants as he could.
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In the old days, travel was by train, meaning that there was much more time between gigs in distant cities (and no jet lag). The members of the Budapest String Quartet would race each other during long trips to see who could memorize a quartet the fastest. The faster you were, the more time you had to read your book! They would arrive in the new city, go to the venue, and perform the just-memorized quartet from memory.
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The Norman Luboff Choir toured with enough music for at least 3 programs. But the programs were never printed as such ~ the tour repertoire was. Norman would choose each concert’s program backstage a few minutes before the downbeat. The music was familiar, yes, but there was no complacency.
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When the Juilliard String Quartet breaks in a new member, everything they play is rehearsed from scratch. That approach gives full participation to the new member, and keeps everyone else alert as well. In addition, they are always playing contemporary music along with the standard repertoire.
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My job at the moment is to prepare for the 3rd concert of 3 with similar programs. In this group of concerts, I know the venues and the types of audiences who are likely to attend each one. I change the order while practicing and in the concerts themselves. During this week, I am practicing with the venue’s piano in mind.
The concert is in 3 days. Today I practiced the program in order, repeating spots that needed attention before going to the next piece.
Tomorrow, 2 days before, I’m planning to “perform” the program. If I need to go back to practice something, that will be after running the whole show.
On the day before, I have learned to expect mistakes. And during the warmup on the day of, forget it. That is totally unreliable. So on Saturday and Sunday, my focus will be on warming up very well and on being focused. I like to start and end each piece in program order, but not spend much time on the rest.
*Many thanks to C.I. for alerting me to this article!
Related article
- Concert countdown on mostly unfamiliar music (gretchenspianos.wordpress.com)
Where is your comfort zone with regard to security and variety? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!
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I was in a community theater production of “The Drunkard” which ran for 6 months (at a local melodrama house in Monterey – First Theater). Initially I dreaded the monotony of the long run (normal productions are 3-8 weeks).
However, after the first couple of months I realized I was getting more out of my character (as shallow as it was being a melodrama performance) than I had from any of the other shows I’d been in. I’m not a professional actor. But I believe this run in performance helped me to become a better performer.
- Years later, I led a group called “The Royal Stuarts” which performed vaudeville style shows about Scottish history and culture. We would perform at Celtic events across the Western US 15-20 weekends a year, with 5-6 shows a day both Saturday and Sunday. We had enough material to perform 3 unique shows, but as you can see, we ended up repeating a lot of material.
The odd part was many of our “fans” came to our first show of the weekend and would stay through every single performance – all 10-12 shows! So, they’d see a lot of repeat material. They LOVED it. Because, the shows were live there was always a slight difference… It was these slight differences they loved to see.
Repeat performances for me allow me, as a performer, to really hone my craft. As a composer, I don’t write repeats in the music as I feel it needs to continually grow as a single piece. However, that said, I can imagine all of the music getting multiple performances – even by the same artists, because no live performance is ever quite the same.
Thanks for your comprehensive take, Chip!
The most I’ve ever performed something is the Fantasticks ~ 38 shows. I enjoyed watching the “Old Actor” change his role to fit the audience each time. Being on Broadway for 40 years worked magic on him.
Like you, I initially dreaded doing a long run. We all ended up loving it, because everyone in the cast genuinely liked each other (we still keep in touch), and the music was fun.
I’d do that again in a second!
Such an interesting post! Thanks!
Thanks, Suzanne! Hope all is well.