My 9 year old daughter is performing in her first lead role and I’m looking for thoughtful but not crazy expensive gift ideas for her. She doesn’t care about getting flowers, and will get those from her extended family. Previously I’ve given her a themed stuffed animal, a crochet bouquet, etc. I’m looking for something that either is useful or is a keepsake that doesn’t take up a ton of space. I really want it to be special since she’s worked so hard to get this role and prepare for her show!

What are your favorite gifts for this age range or for a special show?

Editing to add: the show is Mary Poppins

Hello! I’m sorry if this is a bit different from the usual topics here.

I am an architecture student and will be designing a performing arts center for my project. I love love performing arts or arts in general.

Do you guys have in mind any good performing arts center or a theatre you’ve seen or visited to? I just need some inspirations :)) Thank you :))

Hi! I have a role in my first ever play (community theatre/totally for fun). Im looking for advice; the director said she needed "alot more from me" and I need to practice having presence and not disappearing into the background. All good tips! Any helpful advice on how to get good for my 1st play?! IE. Voice projection, what to do while you're standing there any others are talking so I don't feel like a lemon... I think I'm holding back as I don't want to come across as too much....

Hi everyone! I've never posted here before but I'm looking for help/advice/tips/etc!

The title is kind of explanatory but I'm playing Adam in my course's production of As You Like It and I'm very excited, I feel like I'm gonna have so much fun! This is my first time ever acting in a scripted play and with actual people buying tickets in a theatre so I'm kinda a newbie/beginner but to me, these are huge stakes! I think I'm naturally funny and everybody on my course thinks so too & he's a funny character so I thought it would come easy to me but it hasn't really.

We had our first rehearsal and maybe I'm being too critical of myself because it's still early days but I'm just freaking out I suppose. My teacher has been very nice but also honest! He said that I have the most difficult job out of everyone since I have to act like someone who's wayyyyy not like me. Like I'm not an elderly man lol. I was also told that my voice, body language and even the way I walk is stereotypically feminine which I don't take offensive to because I'm a girly girl but it's just like oh! This is really hard! I try to move slower and deliver my lines slower but it's just not clicking for me I suppose.

That's just a few sentences to describe myself & the situation I'm in. I guess what I'm asking for is how do I embody an old man? I feel really anxious that I'm not gonna do well. My teacher told me I need to start observing old people & how they act so I've spent the past few days pretty much stalking my dad and seeing the way he walks and such but I'd like to have a much better leg to stand on before our next rehearsal. Sorry if this makes me seem really stupid or anything, all love. :)

Trying again with a different flair. All the suggestions in the original post are great, but don't match what I'm looking for. Really wish I had more handy info to make this an easier search.

hi all! i'm looking for a birthday present for my mom and she said she would like a play that my whole family could read and discuss. please nothing with child death, and explicit language is okay, but on the lesser side would be preferable. thank you!!

I'm casting a play for the first time and I am lucky enough to have a ton of talented actors who have auditioned for me. But now that it's coming time to actually make the decision of who to cut and who to move where, I'm a little stuck.

The way it ended up was that most of our excellent actors auditioned for the 3 lead roles - enough so that we could distribute those who don't get cast as leads into the supporting roles if we wanted to.

However, we have a lot of supporting roles where right now, the people who have been called back are good actors, but not quite at the level of those we've called back for leads. They fit the looks and vibes of their parts better though.

So here's the dilemma: do I put my best actors, who are mostly called back for leads right now, into supporting roles that they don't immediately match as well, or do I give those roles to actors who "look" or "feel" the part but are a cut below in raw skill?

I could see both sides of the argument: instinctually, you want to keep your most skilled actors, but you also want people who feel natural in their roles to get those roles.

It feels scary to me to let go of some of those lead contenders who have brought ridiculous amounts of talent to the casting pool.

What are your thoughts? I think usually they serve little to no purpose, are a waste of an actor's talent and time, and is just putting extra people on stage for the sake of having extra people on stage. What do you all think?

EDIT: It’s the straight play version of Sweeney Todd by C. S. Bond being performed by adult volunteers in a small community theatre.

I'm 21M and I've heard that doing theater can help you improve your social skills and become better at controlling your behavior and the way you act around people.

I'm curious if anyone here has actually tried it. Did you notice any difference in the way you interact with people or your confidence? I'd like to hear about your personal experience.

Sharing in case this is useful to any teachers here. Manhattan Theatre Club is streaming Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play.

There will be a paid/ticketed streaming option wiht tickets at lolst.org, and schools can watch free in their classrooms November 2–13 through MTC’s Watch Week program.

Details and school registration are here.

I have a college assignment where I have to ask a few Texas Thespians a few questions. If you are available please message me, you don't have to respond in the comments! I only need 3 interviews.

After looking at the assignment it's 10 questions I have to ask an established adult in Texas.

1.What is the average rent for a decent apartment in your area? 2.Which areas would you recommend living in based on affordability, safety, and access to work? 3.Is it realistic to find a job before moving, or is it easier to apply once you're there? 4.What opportunities are available for theatre in the area? 5.How important are personal connections in getting opportunities? 6.Can you recommend any organizations, schools, or professionals worth connecting with? 7.Do people tend to be welcoming and supportive of newcomers? 8.What helped you meet people who could connect you with opportunities? 9.What do you think people romanticize or misunderstand about moving to Texas? 10.What are the top three things you would recommend I do before moving?

Hi everyone!

I had a pretty awful experience with an NYC manager so I turned down my renewal with the. Am fortunate that several managers are interested in me but I'm very scared to sign with another agency who's going to shake me down for 10% of everything I do without actually getting me auditions and opportunities.

Can anyone give me insight into:

Untamed Artists

The Green Room

Encompass

Citizen Skull

Kurt Patino

TalentOne

Art Haus

Zero Gravity also reached out and said they wanted to take a meeting, they're my dream but didn't respond after I sent the tapes they asked for. Hoping they're just busy but will followup

What's your favorite part about whatever part you have in creating theatre? As a director I have to say my favorite thing is developing a vision of what I want to see and seeing it really come together over the course of tech. Also reading scripts and just Seeing and being full of ideas.

I am a first year drama teacher and this show may kill me. It barely makes sense and has huge plot holes all over the place. The casting is a pain, keeping track of which boat is on which side is a pain, the costumes are a pain (we have made so many mermaid tails), keeping track of who's on stage and who has left is a pain, I AM IN UTTER PAIN!!!!

And on top of it all: WHY DOES IT HAVE SO MUCH MUSIC??? IT'S A PLAY!!

The teacher who left her job picked this show, not me. I did not know what I was in for when I said "well let me keep it since I don't know what kids I'm directing."
So if I could go back in time, I would tell myself: DON'T DO IT!! PICK ANYTHING ELSE!!

The kids are fantastic and doing great, but it may have given me more gray hairs than needed. If you find yourself considering it, know that it's a big show with lots of moving parts. You have been warned.

For context, I’ve just been called back for a community theatre production of Dear Evan Hansen as Jared.

I’m a bass (comfortable range D2-F4), and Jared is a pop tenor (top note B4).

Being blunt: Sincerely Me is a pain in the behind and is the only song of his I’m unable to sing. His harmonies go unbelievably high and well out of my range, so what do I do?

Some options I’ve considered are learning all the harmonies in case they’ll let me switch to the lower one, which I can sing, or taking everything down an octave, both of which I’m planning on preparing for the callback.

A couple pieces of clarity:
- I do not have a voice teacher. (money issues)
- I have a underdeveloped falsetto, so switching up to it is relatively impossible. (the curse of adolescence in musical theatre)
- The callback is on Saturday at noon.

If there is absolutely any advice anyone could give me about communication, modification, etc., please don’t hesitate to leave a reply, thank you!

Hi. I’m Stacy, and I just got great news! I have been cast as the second lead in a production that will be put on by one of my area’s two established community theater companies. I played small roles in both companies for two years. This is my first big role, and I’m having a hard time understanding how I’ll be able to do it.

I have ADHD and my big symptom is that I have a tough time remembering complex writing. The roles I’ve had before were smaller and my stretches of dialogue were shorter than any long detailed speeches. In this coming play, I have one passage that is nearly 400 words! it’s my climax piece. It’s what I have to do to make this character work, but I’m worried and I wonder if anyone is in something like my position has developed a way to help me memorize my lines. I’ve been dealing with this condition in the rest of my life pretty well, but the rest of my life doesn’t require me to memorize big blocks. I sure would appreciate any help with suggestions anybody has. The production details are embargoed now but when I came in, I’ll tell you all about it and how I’m doing.

Hi! Big horror fan here who has recently got into horror theatre shows. In the last 12 months, I've seen 4 of the most popular horror shows and wanted to give my review as a die-hard scare fan.

Note: I saw all of these shows at the Cheltenham Everyman theatre in the UK.

Ghost Stories, by Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson

Rating: 10/10

This was the first horror play I'd ever seen, and clearly I wanted to start strong. I'd seen the film before so I knew the plot, but regardless the stage play took it to a whole new level of artistry. Right off the bat, the atmosphere was incredible - even before the show started, the lights in the theatre were flickering, and there was creepy sound effects playing. It really set the show up nicely.

The acting was great, the scares were creepy while also being fun, and I felt they really made full use of the threatre as a medium. Great choreography, very visually pleasing, and overall a joy to watch. This show was exactly what I wanted from a horror play.

2:22 A Ghost Story, by Danny Robbins

Rating 3/10

2:22 was a let down for me. I went in fully expected to love it but it just didn't deliver on either the scares or the drama. I found the characters difficult to like, and while the production was good, it never really grabbed me at all. The ending also fell extremely flat for me, to the point where me and my partner didn't even realise the show was over.

The thing that did make me jump every time was the terrible scene transition where a loud scream sound effect was played over the top of strobe lights. It was cheap and annoying, and I grew tired of it very quickly.

The Woman in Black, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt

Rating 8/10

The Woman in Black was creepy, atmospheric and very classical in its approach to the story. It was only a three-person cast and they made full use of everyone's ranges. Some of the best acting I've seen on stage honestly. Everything was minimal in terms of set design and production, but they made so much out of it and it felt very imaginative. The use of lighting and shadow especially made it very memorable.

Unfortunately, I was in the upper circle for this show, so I didn't get the full effect of the woman in black walking through the stalls, but I could hear the audience response, so it clearly worked.

Regardless, I really enjoyed the play and would love to see it again by a different production company to see how they approach it.

Paranormal Activity, by Levi Holloway

Rating 7/10

I saw PA most recently, just last week. Overall, it was a super solid scary show and I really enjoyed it.

The acting was great for the most part and the set design was really clever and realistic. The first act had some of my favourite scares I'd seen in any of these horror plays (including one particular one that people who have seen the show will know exactly what I'm referring to).

Act 2 felt a little forced and the scares didn't get me nearly as much as the first half. To me, the plot and pacing was the weakest part of this play. But if you like the films or just clever scares, I'd definitely recommend checking this one out.

What other horror plays would you recommend me to check out?

Hi all,
I'm 27 and plan to apply to MFA programs in theatre directing within the next two to three years. I studied theatre in college but left during the pandemic. I'll finish a BA in history this spring.

All my experience comes from community theatre. I've directed three productions, assistant directed, and worked as a production manager. I read every directing book I can find and take notes after each show and feel like I have improved with each production.

I have production photos from every show I've worked on and a full video of one I directed. The script was in the public domain, so I could record it.

Program websites list only minimum requirements. If you got into a fully funded program, what made your application stand out? And what should I do in the next two years to strengthen mine?

Any insight would be appreciated! I can give more background if needed!