No Comparison

Today, someone said something to me  that I've heard many times in the past, and today, I'm finally going to blog about it.

Pleasant Grove High School is currently putting on a production of Phantom of the Opera.  My sons went to see it last night and really enjoyed themselves.  One of them told me today that he's had the songs in his head all day.

A co-worker who knows that I'm into theater (or, at least used to be.  More on that in a future blog entry...maybe) asked me if I had seen it yet.  When I mentioned that I hadn't, he told me that I needed to make sure and go see it.  Then he said it:

I saw Phantom in Toronto, and those kids at Pleasant Grove High School did every bit as good as the professional group.

NO. THEY. DID. NOT!

I've heard this time and time again.  "I saw <insert show name here> in <insert city here>, but <insert local theater group here> did a production that was just as good."

I understand that you thoroughly enjoyed the local production.  I get that.  I enjoy theater as much, if not more, than the next guy.  But there's no way that the local theater group is even in the same league as the professional group.

I have only seen one show on Broadway.  I have seen several shows put on by Broadway touring groups.  I've been in and seen more amateur and semiprofessional theater productions than I can count.  I don't feel like I'm disrespecting the local theater groups by saying that even the very best local theater doesn't compare to the professional groups.

Does this mean that I didn't enjoy the local groups?  No.  Does this mean that the local groups didn't put on a good show?  Absolutely not.

What I'm saying is that with multi-million-dollar budgets and with a MUCH larger talent pool, the professional groups have a big advantage right from the start.  Local theaters will rehearse a musical for a month or two.  The length of a run for a local theater is anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.  Professional groups have a much longer rehearsal period followed by a much MUCH longer production period.  This also leads (generally) to a higher quality production.

Are there exceptions to this?  I'm sure there are.  I'm sure that there are bad performances by professional groups and exceptional performances by local groups that approach each other in quality.  But this is, by far, the exception, not the rule.  As often as I hear the superlative praise of local theater groups and its less-than-apt comparison to professional theater, I'm quite certain that there is a lot of exaggeration going on.

So please don't tell me that the production you saw at a local High School was as good as the production you saw on Broadway, because that's when I'm going to stop listening to you.  Instead, tell me how much you enjoyed the production.  Give me  details about what you liked and why.  That goes a LOT farther than an overly-gushing comparison that has an unbelievably slim chance of actually being true.