Years ago I saw The Elephant Man at a local community theater. The lead was my then brother in law. He was brilliant. Probably the best performance I have ever seen. And I’ve seen quite a few Broadway productions. It wasn’t a fluke, he is a NYU Drama School graduate. But he never got past the Off-Off-Off Broadway level. That showed me proof of how tough it is to make it.
My definition of community theater doesn’t necessarily mean unpaid, but it does mean it’s pretty much all local performers in a community venue, and everyone still has a day job. I don’t expect a big budget for sets and costumes, but I do expect it to look somewhat polished.
Just got an email - the same company that had the fist-squeezin’ enraged Richard will be doing Deathtrap starting this week. Thinking about it…
Two friends of mine (a husband and wife) were in the cast of a production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at their local civic theater – he was in the “chorus”, playing multiple secondary roles, while she played one of Lycus’s courtesans. Several of the other actresses playing courtesans (not my friend) were a bit long in the tooth (one was in her 60s), and the revealing costumes did not do them any favors, though I give them credit for doing the role and hamming it up appropriately.
Particularly humorous when you consider that, in the play, John himself is on the verge of getting the part because he was related to someone. 