It's that time again!

Well, here we are another year almost gone and the 31st of October is upon us. i know many of you have mixed emotions about Halloween. I have always enjoyed it being an actor, it gives me a chance to dress up and run around in public without being labled a complete freak! Anyway I have added a few dress up tips in the costume shop, and the prop shop, enjoy! I know its a little late but hey most of you are already getting ready for next year, right?

Try Try Again

A wise man once said that you don't have enough time in life to make all of the mistakes yourself, so learn from the mistakes of others. I am about to let you experience that first hand.

We here at Family Theatre Warehouse have recently reorganized and formed a new company, The Donut kids theatre. We hired actors, bought costumes, built a set and put together one heck of a show and now we are waiting for an audience.

We failed to fully research the market and the best way of attracting an audience. Another wise guy once quipped that he who fails to plan, plans to fail.

So what now? Do we tuck our tail between our legs and run off to a quiet corner to lick our wounds? Not likely! I have three actors who have invested themselves in this production for the last six weeks and we are desperate to heve it seen! So now begins the process of rethinking what went wrong, finding out who to contact, getting the information into the hands of the right people and trying again!

Many times in theatre it takes a little trial and error to make things work smoothly. Unfortunately there are seasons when it is rather more error than trial, but giving up never got anybody anywhere.

So, when the dimensions of your beautiful set are wrong for the stage, or the paint color is wrong, or the costume won't fit, or the lead actor has a stroke a week from the Ameican College Theatre festival (true story), remember the old addage "The Show Must Go On". It isn't a fatalistic, callously uncaring mantra, but rather a rallying cry. It means, get creative! Get back up! Try again! Very few people in this grand endeavour succed their first time out, and even fewer succeed every time, so get back up and give it your best shot!

Basic Survival Training for Live Theatre!

Whew! Sorry it's been so long since anything new was added to the collection! Since May we have hosted seven weekends of performances at Family Theatre Warehouse here in Okc. So I thought I would give a little pep talk on how to survive the stress of back to back productions it takes to make a successful theatre!

First, get in the habit of doing everything you can in advance. From selecting paint colors for the set to designing posters, costumes and program covers, do as much in preproduction to alleviate stress as possible.

Secondly, ask for help! This is a toughie for me because the majority of shows I produce are class based and I feel guilty asking people who already help pay my salary to chip in with sweat and time. But I have found that as people become more involved in the process they take on a sense of ownership that can become a valuable asset. Besides relieving some of your stress they can add dollars to your bottom line! No matter how much you just wrote that check to the ad agency for, nothing sells tickets like proud actors, techies and family members determined to fill those seats!

Last but not least remember why you went to your first audition, wrote your first script, sang your first solo, danced your first steps...IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE FUN!!! So take it easy. Take a fifteen minute nap, you may surprised how much better you'll feel. Stay hydrated and keep your diet as healthy as possible. Learn when to let go of ideas that are costing you too much, emotionally, physically or financially, and just enjoy the process!

Get inspired, stay inspired!

Creativity, where does it come from? The sources are as varied as the people who use them. Some find inspiration in the people around them, some from nature. Many of us are inspired by our faith, some turn to other’s creative endeavors, such as paintings in a museum, or music, or poetry. Most of us use a combination of those things.

One thing that most of us hold in common when it comes to “catching lightning in a bottle”, it isn’t always easy. Whether writing songs, writing plays, directing, dancing, singing or acting. Whether designing for the stage, working with recordings, shooting video or film, we are all dependent on that divine spark of inspiration to do our very best work.

As a veteran director, playwright, designer and actor I too fall victim to “writer’s block” in just about every facet of my creative life from time to time. So, what do you do when the muses are not speaking? What happens when you don’t know what comes next? Let me take you on a little journey to explain the process I usually find myself in.

Phase one: Inspiration! This is the part where it sometimes feels like a message from heaven has come through loud and clear, the vision is sharp and the adrenaline is rushing! The planning phase takes off with a bang and progress is quick and steady. During this initial burst of creative energy it is a good time to set a firm foundation. Don’t be tempted to shortcut any of the hard work, dot your Is and cross your Ts. Making sure to do solid prep work can help you to survive the next step.

Phase two: Death of a Dream! This part stinks! It feels as if the enemy of all that is right in the world has come and stolen the inspiration you were feeling just moments or days before, it feels like you will never finish. It may be sparked by something someone says, some innocent comment from an “unbeliever” that causes you to question yourself, your ideas, the project, the very nature of creativity. Or it may be that one piece of the puzzle just didn’t fit like you thought it would. It is important to recognize that this may occur at some point during any project that takes more than a few minutes or hours to complete. Don’t worry, you haven’t lost your gift, it is in these challenges where we find out who will truly be a creative genius and who just likes the sound of it. Keep going, don’t give up! Don’t destroy your work! If you need to, and can, take a day off, walk away, go do something that requires less creative energy, have some fun. Sometimes even just a few minutes may do it, then come back with a clear head and assess the situation. Take a cold hard look and be willing to recognize that while the idea is good it isn’t perfect and that’s okay.

Phase three: The Grunt Work! Take inventory, how much of the project is left to complete? If you are like me you’re probably way past the point of no return, you have invested too much time and too many resources to scrap the whole thing and start over. See what needs to be done, don’t limit yourself here, come up with as many possible solutions to this roadblock as you can, you never know what bad idea may birth the solution, write it down, sketch it out, speak your ideas aloud, bounce them off of someone else. Now pick one and commit to it! This is the part Edison talked about when he said “Genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration!” As you begin to work through the problem areas you will find that your original enthusiasm is there somewhere, find it and finish the job!

And after you do, take a few pictures, outline your process and send us an article to: Markrmorris2@sbcglobal.net, make sure to check back often and let all your creative friends know we are here to help at dramorama.com!

The world's greatest job!

I have the absolute best job in the world! I am a theatrical director, I get to pretend for a living!

Think about it, if someone told you that when you grew up you would spend your days: making up stories, wearing cool costumes (remember the four year old you begging to wear your cape and cowboy boots to the grocery store with Mom?) building the coolest stuff imaginable, painting pictures, then selling tickets to people to come and watch you pretend with your best friends and stand around telling you how great it was! Way cool!

It seems to me that many people tend to forget that. They get wrapped up in “pushing the envelope” or “stretching boundaries of perception”! They forget that the most important people in this equation we call theatre, the audience, likes what we do! They want to enjoy it! Now, don’t get me wrong, ideas are important too! But face it if you never get anyone to hear your ideas you might as well spend your time in the privacy of your own home ranting and raving, it’s free!

There is a basic premise of human psychology that reveals a startling truth, nobody cares what you think! They don’t, they’re all too busy worrying about their own lives to give up valuable time to come to our theatres and be treated as if they were idiots! They’re not. Many of them are highly educated and still don’t “get it”. Maybe that’s because “it” has stopped making sense.

For example, many of us theatrical types point back to classical eras as being the “golden age” of our art. We all lament how many important ideas were being bandied about by the Greek dramatists or Shakespeare. We fail to realize that they were, many times, the sitcom of their day! This was philosophy for the masses. Ideas for Dummies! They created real characters that the average man could relate to, in real situations that made people laugh and cry. Then, and only then, they made their commentary on politics, religion, society, and it stuck! It stuck so well that their work many times is better remembered than the centuries of drama that lay between us and them!

I believe that if the theatre of our day is to regain its place in shaping ideas it needs to appeal to the masses. Does that mean going for the cheap laugh? Maybe, but then, while they are laughing, while their guard is down…slip in an idea or two. Not in a slap in the face abrupt, gotcha, kind of style, but with subtlety, with craft. Allow them the opportunity to be faced with new ideas in a way that appeals to them.

But never, never, even amongst yourselves demean and put them down, and then in the next breath bemoan the fact that they don’t support your lazy butt, oh sorry your “work”! They aren’t stupid, people can smell it when you hate them, and nobody likes being put down and patronized. I have the best job in the world, Pretending on Purpose! And sometimes somebody actually “gets” what I do!

You can't succeed unless you try!

We've all heard the old adages, "If it at first you don't succeed, try, try again!", "When you fall off the horse, you have to get back on again!" These are true but many people never even get that far when it comes to theatrical endeavours. Many of us prefer to just stand in the wings and comment on other people's attempts at greatness.

We sit on our sofas and easy chairs telling all of our friends, in glowing theatrical terminology, what's wrong with the latest Hollywood blockbuster, or Emmy award winning TV show! The problem with that is, they are getting paid, while we sit and complain about how much better we could do it! Not only that, but their ideas are out there, effecting the world!

Now most of us will never reach that level, but one thing is sure, you will not get 100% of the parts you don't audition for! No one will ever see any of the plays, screenplays, or novels you don't write! No one will ever hear the concert you don't perform! Many of us are great at giving lip service to the concept of being creative, but we sit waiting for someone to give us permission, waiting to be "discovered"!

So, what can you do today to make a contribution to the creative melting pot? How can you express an idea that is important to you? What are you willing to give up or suffer to make yourself heard? Get up, get out and try!

So we at Dramorama.com are here to help! Be sure to check out our departments (upper left) and send us any questions, or ideas to Markrmorris2@sbcglobal.net, and be sure to leave comments on our articles! It's all free and mostly learned the hard way, so it works! Be sure to come back often and invite your friends, feel free to link to our site and mostly have fun!

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