Do we see theatre anymore?

Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Jillian Zeman.

I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, or if this is true for anyone else, but I really don’t go to theatre much anymore. Not because I don’t enjoy it, not because there isn’t anything I want to see… but time. My show is usually on the same schedule as everything else and unfortunately I can’t exactly put in for a personal day to take in a show.

Tonight was treat. I actually got to watch a show. And it wasn’t one I was training on; it was out of pure enjoyment and, well, time. My current show is in Raleigh, NC and right next door in Durham was the national tour of Wicked. I’ve never seen it before (yes, I know most of your jaws all dropped… a New Yorker of 7 years, working in theatre hasn’t seen Wicked?!)

The production was amazing, and there were moments where I was looking around going “how did they do that?” I’ve had those moments with OOB as well, most recently with

APAC’s production of The Pillowman directed by Tom Wojtunik. Now here’s the difference, this show had a budget of who knows how much, and OOB has a strict budget. I think what is most remarkable is that on the larger big-budget productions you have an idea of how they made something work, but didn’t know the specifics (and granted, I’m speaking of theatre people who know what to look for during those special effect moments). However, on the OOB productions the designers have to bring a level of creativity to make the magic happen on a much tighter budget. I love sitting in a theatre and analyzing how a special effect happened. It’s moments like this that I’m so proud to work in OOB. It may not have the budgets that the larger productions do, but we have just as much, if not more creativity and talent to put on display.