Stagehands or Performers?

[brassboy]

2 hours ago, karuna said:

Kind of missing my point. I’m not criticizing any performers. 

If you went to a Broadway show, would it be ok for the actors to stop acting, hold up their hand,  change the set, and then pretend nothing happened?

Audiences wouldn’t stand for it. Neither would the performers. 

I hate being taken “out of the moment “.  All this prop pushing does that constantly. 

And im not sure it’s what these wonderful performers are paying  a lot of money for either. 

Actually, it is VERY common for actors in a show (even on Broadway) to be responsible for moving props or set pieces, oftentimes NOT in character because they have the benefit of doing it in blackout. At MOST Broadway shows though you don't see this because of automation. So until corps are allowed to spend 48 hours in advance at every show site laying down tracks and a wooden floor on top of that for their automated props to freely move about the field, we'll just have to deal with members doing the grunt work. And if you think these members are feeling slighted on their drum corps experience because 5% of it involves moving props, then maybe you should go ask some members about it. I'm willing to bet that while it's not their favorite thing to do by far, they don't give it a second thought. I'm sure they didn't pay a lot of money to get heat stroke either in an unforeseen Texas heatwave.

[karuna]

17 minutes ago, brassboy said:

Actually, it is VERY common for actors in a show (even on Broadway) to be responsible for moving props or set pieces, oftentimes NOT in character because they have the benefit of doing it in blackout. At MOST Broadway shows though you don't see this because of automation. So until corps are allowed to spend 48 hours in advance at every show site laying down tracks and a wooden floor on top of that for their automated props to freely move about the field, we'll just have to deal with members doing the grunt work. And if you think these members are feeling slighted on their drum corps experience because 5% of it involves moving props, then maybe you should go ask some members about it. I'm willing to bet that while it's not their favorite thing to do by far, they don't give it a second thought. I'm sure they didn't pay a lot of money to get heat stroke either in an unforeseen Texas heatwave.

Yeah it would violate all kinds of union rules for actors to be stagehands.  Furthermore actors who are on stage don’t break character to move a flat.  Drum corps members are on stage for the whole performance. Why is that being ignored? Plenty of members express themselves already.  No need for you to imagine what they think.  They want to perform not be stagehands.    Yes they will put up with it  for a chance to be part of a corps.  But the real question is WHY?  For BAD ART where you tell your performers well this really should be hidden from the audience but I can’t do that so just do it anyway?  Right. 

[Alzam81]

3 hours ago, karuna said:

Props are now a very large (pun intended) part of DCI productions. They can create all kinds of interesting and engaging stages.  Cool. 

What annoys me is that for large portions of a show, members ( who spent countless hours becoming the most talented musicians and performers and spend a lot of money for the privilege of joining a corps) are now relegated to being prop pushers. They don’t get to perform;  they get to push monstrously heavy props all over the field and they break character to do it. Used to be you’d get dinged for breaking character. Now we see people putting their backs into it all over the field  I know these things are cyclic but I sure wish performers got to perform for the whole show.   You know — march well, play well, spin well?  God bless all those stagehands out  on tour.  

Most good show designers will assign moving props to different people throughout the show. 

[karuna]

4 minutes ago, Alzam81 said:

Most good show designers will try to assign moving props to different people throughout the show. 

FTFY.  Luck of the draw  Some will win and some will lose. 

[Bluzes]

3 hours ago, karuna said:

are now relegated to being prop pushers

Add to that they spend countless hours all season with off-field packing and unpacking as if they were preparing for jobs at UPS or the Amazon sweat shop. Then expend valuable amounts of energy pushing/pulling and lugging these things in place right before the show. Very evident the other night in the heat what good did no uniforms do when pushing the props in place was a uncessary dehydration factor, why no props in the heat. Poor Boston has to put more clothes on, insane.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Bluzes
typo

[quietcity]

At its best, performers moving props and altering the staging can become integral to the show. Cirque du Soleil is masterful at this. The Broadway production of the Lion King is another example, in which actor and prop were merged. But of course, corps don't have the same control over their environment as theater groups do. 

SCV did a great job moving props in Ouroboros, in part because the performers stayed hidden behind the props as they moved them. The props seemed to have a life of their own. In this year's Babylon, it is much more obvious that the performers have put down their instruments to schlep the cages around, and so it is harder to suspend disbelief. Bluecoats and Cavies this year do a decent job of melding the performer/stagehand role. They don't try to hide themselves, but rather stay in character as they do the grunt work.

My hope is that drum corps is simply going through another spasm of artistic growing pains, just as with uniforms/costumes, G bugles to Bb horns and so on. If so, use of props may become more integrated and less jarring. 

[karuna]

6 minutes ago, quietcity said:

My hope is that drum corps is simply going through another spasm of artistic growing pains, just as with uniforms/costumes, G bugles to Bb horns and so on. If so, use of props may become more integrated and less jarring. 

Show time is the big payoff for what is in many ways a grueling summer.  How many vets say every year in August “I’m done with  drum corps” yet every November there they are doing it again.  Let’s honor the performer’s dedication by maximizing their time in the lights spent actually performing .  These are all choices the designers are making.  Chose the performer. 

[DCI-86]

3 hours ago, George Dixon said:

I'm not criticizing the performers either. I'm saying they are spending time moving props instead of playing/marching. Isn't that exactly what you are saying?

That’s kind of like saying, the pit isn’t really part of the corps anymore because they don’t march like they used to just stand still and play instruments, so why would someone ant to join a “marching band” and just stand at the front for the whole show.

Moving props comes with the territory of modern drum corps. And I love what SCV and others are doing, focusing on staging and so many interesting things going on at once and the manipulation of props to create different stages and effects. 

Edited July 22, 2018 by DCI-86

[Bluzes]

18 minutes ago, quietcity said:

If so, use of props may become more integrated and less jarring. 

It doesn't seem with modern show design and starting positions that there is concern for the (free) labor required to lug around the props or comfort when electronic problems delay the show. Constantly expending time and energy on prop handling takes away from face time with the creative staff which is what they are paying for. While providing free labor. Wish I had them parameters in my spread sheets at work.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Bluzes
typo

[ThirdValvesAreForWimps]

I look forward to the day when a corps totally sets a new trend and doesn’t use any props at all.