Stage | theguardian.com: It is every actor's nightmare: losing your voice on stage in front of a packed house. But during Tuesday's preview performance of Sam Mendes's King Lear at the National Theatre, with Simon Russell Beale in the title role, that was exactly what happened.
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I've never lost my voice, so I can't even imagine what the experience even feels like. Even the most professional and trained actors mess up and things do go drastically wrong from time to time. Sam Mendes experienced his worse nightmare, but the article makes it seem like the company played it off appropriately. I wonder if the actor noticed anything unusual during the performance before this happened or if it was completely unexpected? I want to witness at some point what it feels like to be completely unable to talk. The National Theatre is a very well know place, but they played the event of in the proper manner and I bet it didn't take away from the performance too much.
the actor must have felt it coming
how long does it take to recover?
Although it's a bit sadistic, I do enjoy watching actors have mishaps like this on stage. I mean, it's never fun in live theatre when things go wrong and everyone has to scramble to figure out what to do, but the solutions I think are always fantastic. Actors' improving, for instance, is sometimes really funny, and sometimes can actually add to a show, even if it's not scripted. When my high school did Peter Pan, for instance, the girl who played the bird was supposed to roll on stage in a big nest when Smee is stuck on the rock. When the bird didn't show up, the actors improved an entire monologue about the "Hypothetical Bird", and although it wasn't scripted, it made the show just that much better. And the best part was the audience totally bought it and found it hysterical when the bird finally did come out, almost 5 minutes later. These kinds of mishaps are sometimes the mother of invention, as they say, and I think that sometimes theatre benefits from them.
This reminds me of Phantom of the Opera when Carlotta loses her voice onstage. I also find it interesting that they decided to have someone explain the change to the audience. It is my understanding that on Broadway when they have to switch to a standby it is done in a way that does not let the audience know.
What happened to that actor must have been horrible, but it's great that the cast was able to work around it, and that the understudy was able to fill in so well. I also found it really interesting that they decided to explain the change, instead of just going with it. I'm not sure how I feel about that choice, but it was cool that the person who made the announcement was the actor who lost his voice. Over break I saw Book of Mormon on Broadway, and it was great. The acting was great, and I thought that Elder Price did an incredible job. So, reading the program afterwards, I was surprised to find out that the actor who played Price was a standby. I had never seen an understudy or standby on Broadway before, so it was really interesting to see this one, and to see the incredible job he did in the role.
This happened to one of the leads in a production I worked on in high school. She got sick before the closing performance and everyone thought she would make it through one last show. However, her voice cut completely during intermission. I think it was a great learning experience for everyone involved because this is the nature of live theatre. We had to scramble to find ways to still get the story across without using the leads voice. I remember making giant cards which had lines that were essential that she convey to get the story across. Otherwise we made cuts and gave some of her lines to other actors and everything was fine.
However terrifying it was for Sam Mendes to lose his voice on stage it is 3 times more amazing that the cast was able to continue the show without his voice. This somewhat reminds me of the who "Sweet Nothing in My Ear" where there are actors saying lines so the audience understands and actors acting out the drama and using sign language since the characters were deaf. After a while of watching you seem to forget those speaking and your mind just matches what you are hearing to the actors acting. I wonder if the show where Sam lost his voice had somewhat the same effect.
This sounds terrifying. I have not acted much, but I imagine it'd be as if a set piece suddenly collapsed or a costume change failed to happen. The artist suddenly loses control of their mode of expression. It disappears. The article also shows how well practiced you must be in order to be a performer. You never know when something crazy will go wrong, and as they say, "the show must go on!"
That is one hell of a scare! I also agree with Ruben, as I too have a sick satisfaction in watching people squirm. Yes, we are terrible people. I mean, people loves to see Spiderman when everything was going wrong. Its the same concept. Well in this case, thank goodness for unions because this actor must be covered for such a circumstance. I ALSO think it is pretty cool that the performers were able to improvise so well.
I'm certain that it must have been scary to lose one's voice suddenly during a performance. I've lost my voice a few times, but never "mid-sentence". Luckily, I'm not an actor, and don't have to fear losing my voice, but I know that if put in a position where I did have to perform, I would freak out. It's good that the audience and actors had a good response to the last minute change in casting. Well, as they say, the show must go on.
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