Honoring Ten Years of Always Off Book!

That's right, this month marks the ten year anniversary of this humble theatre blog of mine.

In all that time, I have been in many shows, lived a few places, tried a few experiments, published a novel about the theatre, tried to start my own company, wrote produced and performed (for very few people) my own one man show, helped found a small arts center, wrote another stage play I hope to have performed sometime, and generally continued to participate in and celebrate the stage in my life.

Through all of that there has been this blog. True, it has over the last few years had less content on it than it did in its early years. This is due mostly to my not being in someone elses show for quite a while. As regular readers know, most of what I write about here on the blog is how any given show I am in is progressing. I write about other theatre thoughts sometimes as well, but a general over view of my success and that of the production has always been the meat and potatoes of always off book, with general theatre advice columns coming in a decent second place in terms of frequency.

One of my first posts ever, about stage kissing, continues to get responses even all of this time later. I am proud of that, and happy to advise anyone who come to the piece by way of a Google search. (where the post is in the top ten, first pages returns sometimes.)

That early post is, however, in general the exception. I rarely get feedback on my thoughts here on the blog, even when I'm in a show. Outside of that kissing post from 2005, I've not gotten any comments on anything I've posted here in a very long time from the perspective of cyber space, despite my best efforts to involve any readers our there in the conversation.

Does that bother me? Honestly, yes. Perhaps not as much as it did in the earlier years, but the lack of connection I have made with fellow artists on this blog is discouraging and sad. That was and remains that only reason for Always Off Book- to share my thoughts and experiences on acting in the theatre with others who share my deep interest in same. I have hoped for years that a niche would build around this blog and it never has.

Blame promotion, or luck, or something else for that, heaven knows I don't know. I have the same problem with my regular, somewhat more business focused blog, TyUnglebower.com. The fact is that with that one exception, this blog, after ten years of my trying, (ten years!) reaches and touches, it would seem, nobody. I am not even certain if any of the posts get read, though I have, in theory, a few following via blogger, according to the stats.

I'll allow myself a tiny bit of self-indulgence here when I ask, would it have killed any of you guys to have answered and shared your thoughts on something I posted over the last decade, when I asked?

Now that I've put the disappointment front and center, I won't dwell on it. I will say that despite all of this, the blog is vanishing. I may have less frequent original content so long as I'm not in a show, and it would seem I am writing for basically nobody but myself here, year after year. But just as I won't allow myself to give up on the desire to do more acting and directing on my life even during the inexplicably dry periods, I will continue to keep this blog. Like the creative life, it will have eras of high and low points, much activity, and virtually none. But the words remain. My reflections, advice, perceptions and temporary memoirs-in-miniature from productions continue to have value to me, and, I maintain, still have value for others in theatre who should happen to come across it.

So despite the crickets, for now, it stays. And to celebrate ten years of blogging, I will be reposting some of my "greatest hits" on a regular basis throughout the next year, as time allows. Posts of all kinds that I think have defined this blog in its many stages, and posts that I think, or at least hope, can be of service to my fellow actors. Short of that, I hope the posts are interesting.

I'll continued to post original context throughout the tenth year, as it comes to me. But I'll have blasts from the past mixed in as well.

So, happy anniversary, Always Off Book.

Pride is Pride

I am not in an actor's union. Most of the performing I do is for non-profit theatres. Once in a while one will pay a tiny stipend. Most of the time, they do not. In both cases, however, they are community organizations committed to bringing live theatre to people who otherwise might not have access to it.

There are all kinds of community theatres, just as there are all kinds of professional theatres. And with community and/or non-profit theatre comes certain limitations. I am not fond of all of those givens. (One reason I am trying to start my own community acting company.) I'd love for community playhouses to be bolder sometimes. (At least around here.) But there are aspects of "professional" theatre, Union or not, of which I don't approve. Things about it which, quite frankly, I can't stand. That's one reason I never pursued the Equity, move to New York route.

So, both types of theatre have their disadvantages. I have in essence no control over that. I do however have control over what I do while a part of any given production. I can decide how seriously I take a play. How hard I work at producing a character. How much of myself I put into a role. How much extra effort I put into a show outside of my own immediate responsibilities. I can't make anybody else do it, but nobody else can prevent me from doing so, either.

It is my name on the playbill, whenever I perform. I'm not at all willing to write that off if I happen to not be getting paid. I may not show up and do as many things in this life as others, but when I do show up, you can be sure I am going to give it what I have. For all of the time I spend in a theatre, rehearsing, performing, or directing, I'd have to have little pride in myself to do otherwise. I make damn sure that when a program says, "Ty Unglebower", there is nothing to be ashamed of.

There are actors I've worked with who blow off this responsibility. They don't get paid, and they don't care about how stupid they look. They just screw around. And you know what? There are plenty of people who do the same thing in professional theatres, because they can't get fired very easily. Or they are in it for the money, and don't have to do so much as one thing beyond what their contract stipulates. Again, it's the actor, not the venue.

Truth be told, I've been in more than one community production that rivaled anything I've seen performed on a "professional" stage. That's because again, it's what any one actor chooses to give to what he is doing. When you care, and when you work hard, quality follows. Magic can happen. And those that dismiss this possibility simply because those on stage are volunteering their time as opposed to getting paid for it are about as shallow a bunch of dullards as you are likely to encounter.

The same sort of people who have been tricked into paying 5,000 dollars for a painting because "Famous Artist" painted it, only to find out later that "Famous Artist" was a hoax, and nobody by that name paints. Yet they could just "feel" the mastery of the work. (Because they were told a master painted it.) A work at which they would not have given a second glance had they known entering the gallery than an amateur painted it. Such people are in love with pedigree, not product. And they are quite the boneheads.

I value what I value. If I like a painting, I like like it, regardless of who painted it. I listen to songs that move me, and I applaud plays that are well done. And I certainly value my name. More so than those who dismiss non-profit theatre, without ever attending it value their own names, that is for sure.

I'm proud to be an actor who cares, in every venue, every time. I hope you are one as well.

Novel Ideas

Literally. For though this blog is not about my writing adventures, I did think it was particularly appropriate to mention this piece of writing news here on my acting blog.

For you see, loyal blog readers, for the last 15 months, or thereabouts, I have been writing the rough draft of a novel that takes place inside a community theatre production. And by the next time you read a post from me on Always Off Book, it will at long last be completed! It is exciting and hard to believe news all at the same time.

My story revolves as I said around a community theatre production of a fictitious play. It has it's ups and downs, this production. Until really weird encounters begin to take place. And maybe some messages from above are being delivered to certain people. So it's theatre, it's magic, it's passion. Actually theatre is nothing without a lot of passion and a little magic, as I have been recently reminded. It's also about redemption, in a way, which is often a thread in the good stories.

And I have been amused at how often the same muscles of imagination or flexed when writing as when acting. Being a writer doesn't make you an actor and vice-verca, don't get me wrong. I am just one of the people crazy enough to be both. But the process of delving into a character, giving them nuance and habits, finding ways to reveal their inner workings and their history without spelling everything out for everyone. It may be like comparing arena football with the NFL, but the similarities between acting and writing are undeniable. Only in writing, you are in fact performing every character, and not just one. And usually at the same time.

And of course an author acts as director, set designer, costume person, and so on.

So it has been a very interesting, frustrating, but rewarding and at times even eye opening experience, honing my writing craft while drawing on my knowledge of my theatre adventures and passions.

And not just the knowledge, but the feelings and emotions and thoughts of various kinds of actors in the midst of a rehearsal and a show. If in the end this novel manages to adequately describe to a third party how it sometimes feels to be involved in theatre, my job will be half done already.

Tonight I will write the final chapter, and that too will be familiar to actors; something into which a lot of emotion and time have been poured will be suddenly over. Though of course unlike the stage that is just the first step. There is second revisions. And third revisions. Not to mention the long road to publication. But first things first, and nothing will ever feel quite so visceral as the creation of a first draft, where you breath new life into a story, ex nihilo. And as I said, that aspect comes to an end tonight, and I thought I would share that with you, my loyal blog readers of Always Off Book.

Haven't I Seen You Somewhere Before?

When you are in community theatre, you run into many of the same people over and over. Whether you are on stage working with them or out in the house watching them, you encounter certain staple individuals, depending on the size of the market. Naturally the smaller the market and the small the company, the more likely you are to get repeat business as it were. I'd love it if this were true less often. In some ways it would behoove community companies to go out of there way to find totally new people on a regular basis. But that's another entry.

So recurring personalities in community theatre are a given, for purposes of my thoughts today. This situation has advantages as well as disadvantages.

Now there are certain companies that have season auditions, and once cast, the same group of people appear in each play for the year. But people know that going in with such places. Now, I mean those that hold open auditions for each play. 

To begin with, you tend to make many like minded friends. Those with whom you appear in several shows over the years tend to be more open to you personally after a time. And not only is a good to make new friends, it makes performing with them better in most cases. You establish trust with the other person, because you know their tendencies and style. What to expect from them backstage. When to joke and not joke with them. As my loyal blog readers no, trust is probably the number one advantage to working within someone in a play.

But on the other side of it, sometimes working with the same people can lead to a performance feeling stale if those involved are not careful. It becomes easier to be complacent, or to rely on tricks and such when we perform. People we have known personally for a while are less likely to keep us on our toes, should we begin to slack a bit. Working with new people regularly can keep things fresh for both the performers and the audience.

Not to mention that sometimes you can know somebody quite well, and loath them. Sad, but true. I have not gone to plays if I know that certain people I detest will appear in them. It may not be fair, but it is one of the side effects of working with the same difficult people over and over again, and then finding yourself in the audience.

And on the subject of audiences, familiar faces have pluses and minuses in their eyes as well. On the one hand, members of the community may find it comforting and entertaining to be able to see their local lawyer, or doctor, or their cousin in the plays a lot. It makes them feel connected to what is going on. That they are some how part of the larger community that the company is trying to reach. But then again, it may be harder to attract and keep new customers if they feel they are only going to see the same actors show after show after show.

And there is also the slightest chance of type casting. Some people don't mind it, but if say they always call on Jane to try out for the goofy romantic comedies because she is "always so good in them", and Jane always gets in, nobody, including Jane, may feel confident that she can play something other than that. True, sometimes recurring personalities at a company play a variety of roles and can escape this problem, but then we get back into the previous disadvantage of seeing the same people over and over no matter what the role.

And of course, no matter how good anybody is, when you have known them, worked with them, and seen them several times, there is always the danger of just seeing "George" up there on stage, without really letting yourself enjoy their performance. It doesn't have to be that way to be sure, but if George has been to your daughters wedding, the last 12 parties you have been to, and been in a play with you the last four times, you may have to work extra hard to forget that it is George. Whereas if you have no idea who the people are, it may be easier to set aside your knowledge of them being an actor. Suspension of disbelief tends to decrease somewhat.

So there you have it. Just a few of the ups and downs of having a list of "usual suspects" within a theatre. At least the theatres around here. I imagine it is similar anywhere. They can all be overcome, however, with a little bit of determination, open mindedness and pride in what you are doing. (If you are in the show yourself.)

My Latest ShowBiz Radio Post

This week over at Showbiz Radio, I talk a bit about what you should do to put the community into community theatre. As actors, we really shouldn't feel our job ends with our performances. We should keep in mind how much has to happen in order for a show to be the best it can be. And when the show is better, our individual performances are better.