Life Is Like a Musical by Tim Federle

Author:Tim Federle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Running Press
Published: 2017-10-03T04:00:00+00:00

25 SAVE THE DRAMA

Let go of the misinformed idea that great work can only be done if you’re some huge diva. In my experience, the bigger the star, the more gracious she comes—and vice versa.

Name drop alert: Bernadette Peters gave every last member of the company a special gift on their birthday during the Broadway run of Gypsy. Talk about a star. She also frequently picked up the tab when the entire cast would go out for drinks, and she never missed providing a “bagel Sunday,” on which giant platters were delivered to the theater before our last matinee of the week, courtesy of guess who. But for as generous a leading lady as she was, it’s what Bernadette didn’t do that left the deepest impressions. She never threw a tantrum. She never talked down to the actors who weren’t celebrities (read: every other member of the company). And she never even blinked when Sam Mendes, our celebrated and slightly brash British director, gave Bernadette notes in front of the entire company—a rarity in the annals of backstage etiquette. Generally, a star receives her “feedback” in the privacy of her own decked-out dressing room, but not Bernadette. She’s the kind of diva who got there the old-fashioned way: through hustle and humility. If you’ve got a note that’ll make my performance better, give it to me. I don’t care who hears.

I swear, I learned more watching Sam give Bernadette notes on how to play a particular scene than I would have had I received the notes myself. And I only had that opportunity because Bernadette was only a diva onstage, and a dyed-in-the-wool trouper the rest of the time.

Audra McDonald, Brian d’Arcy James, Gwen Verdon, Marin Mazzie, Brian Stokes Mitchell—these might not be household names in Branson or Biloxi, but on Broadway they’re our A-listers. And every last one of them is known for his or her warmth and wit. Word gets around fast. Even the positive stuff.

Maybe this notion that to command respect you’ve got to be some kind of demanding monster backstage is a leftover concept from the Golden Age of Hollywood, of all places—specifically those campy films that document an over-the-top take on showbiz. Look, we all giggle over All About Eve, with its scheming understudies and wildly histrionic actresses. Fictional stories featuring crazed lunatics are fun to enjoy with popcorn and a Coke. But movies aren’t real life. The truth is that the really gifted performers—the ones who are in it for the long haul—are nearly always all about the work. They save the drama for the stage.

Do you see this over-the-top behavior in your own life? Do you work with some of these folks who suck up all the air in the room, constantly make outrageous demands of the boss (or the employees), and generally make life unpleasant for everybody around them because of their addiction to control? Yeah, don’t be that. Don’t be the diva. Be the hardworking, workaday costar who chugs along merrily—and ends up with an actual, long-lasting career.

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