www.huffingtonpost.com: It’s the theme of Glee. Theatre nerds, the social outcasts at their high school, bonding together to form their own community though their school’s glee club show choir.
The original Time review of Glee says it’s this way, “...it’s about a journey not just to college and career but to identity and conviction, the price of popularity, the compromises we must make between what we want and what we need.” And what all teens need is a sense of belonging.
17 comments:
I never really understood the "theatre is for nerds" stereotype. I watched glee for a short period of time in middle school (early high school?) and enjoyed it, but never felt like I could relate to the characters because I feel like I've always been surrounded by people who think that theatre is cool. Even in elementary school, drama club was such a cool thing to do just because it was one of the only real after school activities someone could be involved in, which was the key to being cool. Even in my middle school years, which tend to be the most tumultuous for a growing young-adult, I felt like I wasn't even cool enough for the drama club, so I don't necessarily know that I ever got the idea that theatre is a haven for nerds. It's quite interesting that this stereotype prevails, just because I've never had that kind of experience.
It is always so cool to learn and explore that ways in which people have found their way to theatre and why they love it so much. I also agree with Brennan's previous comment. I never saw theatre as "nerdy". yes, there were some who never stopped singing show tunes or rehearsed scenes full out during lunch, but as part of the theatre community, we accepted that and I think that the rest of the community saw the confidence in which we had for who we were as a community and in turn, had a respect for us. I think that combining the experiences that Brennan and I have to those of the earlier generations of thespians, I think that we can see an awesome transformation of acceptance by the outside community and simply not caring what the outside community really thought. I agree with the article in that I have found that being a part of theatre can make you find friends that will last a lifetime. when you are exploring the habits of the world together and learning a lot about yourself in the process, you find friends that support you and cheer you on in your endeavors simply because they are going the same.
Theatre is a connector for sure. I find it funny that even people in theatre considered themselves nerds in their formative years. I also think it is funny that the two previous comments talked about how theatre isn't for nerds, as they are part of the theatre community. I'd have to agree and say that I never felt like a nerd in theatre, but an outcast? For sure. Children's and high school theatre was my foundation for confidence, friends, and skills. It's where I found community and something to be passionate about, and where I could apply so many of my interests at the same time. I never joined a Drama club, as my high school was run as a magnet program, however, I can attest to being surrounded by people who understand and appreciate my goals, and interests. Artists as a whole, and theatre makers in specific are people who accept more of the world for what it is. Theatre creates community, and that is what young people need in their formative years.
Theatre is a very special community. What I remember most about high school is being a part of all of the shows. It took up most of my time in high school and I spent it with amazing people. If I did not do theatre in high school then I probably would not have gone on to pursue theatre in college and for the rest of my life. Theatre is definitely like a community because there are so many connections between people that you would never expect. There are so many times where I see two totally separate people in my life that are friends on facebook. I am always shocked at first how they could possibly know each other, but the answer is always because of theatre. There are only so many places you can do theatre in an area and those people tend to know each other and support each other.
Much like Brennan, Vanessa and Jake had previously mentioned, the notion that theater was a space for nerds was always sort of a foreign concept for me. Still when I hear the word "nerd", I get the stereotypical image of someone that is part of the Robotics Club or is a Mathelete. When I was growing up, theater definitely was "nerdy" in the sense that those who were in theater had a specific knowledge and understanding of how theater worked and was performed. But I don't think I ever viewed it through the lens of it being a place for outcasts or freaks. However, I may be biased because I went to a middle school and high school where many people had a deep appreciation for the arts. I think that if one grew up more in the Midwest or in places where the arts were heavily out funded by sports, this idea would be more relevant. For that, I am very glad to have grown up the way I was grown up-- surrounded by those who see the importance and value of funding the arts. I don't want to live in a world were those who are jocks are constantly labeled as being the "popular people" and those in the arts are "the nerds." That's boring.
I would not be the person I always wanted to be if it were not for theatre, and I carry that sentiment with me every day that I am a part of this community. I know I've said this time and time again in comments and in conversation, but before I found theatre I was lost. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I entered this world, either - all I knew was that I wanted to belong somewhere, and theatre seemed just crazy enough to take me. The knowledge that elsewhere theatre was something the outcasts and the nerds did came long after I had been immersed into it. To me it was always just a world into which I could potentially fit, and being a costume designer was just another way to take my place in the community. Football teams had positions, too. How was theatre any different?
Theatre has brought me all I ever wanted in life but could not articulate my need for. I remember being in the seventh grade, sitting at the back of the classroom, reading a book while the rest of the class chattered on, and wondering if I would ever get past this. I had this idea in my head of the person I could be, but I had no idea how I would ever get there, or if I ever would. I was so stuck. Today I sit at the back of the room in 33, and I don't have to wonder because I am that person. I am grateful to theatre for this and many other reasons. Sometimes I wonder if my life has given me art, or if my art has given me life. I think it is a bit of both. Either way, the theatre community has granted me the privilege of asking myself these kinds of questions. My fellow artists are my family, and they are with me everywhere I go. If someone had tried to tell 12-year-old Natalia this was possible, she'd have gone back to reading, thinking it sounded too good to be true.
This article resonated deeply with me. even though my high school didn't have a very strong theater , or even consistent leadership, I know that the group of people I was able to connect with through theater and various theater-related activities throughout high school allowed me to become a more well-rounded, fully realized person, and dare I say, adult. Without access to the learning opportunities and real-world work experience, I don't know how I would have ended up spending my afternoons and evenings. Actually, I know exactly what I would have done, and since I don't think my mother will ever read this, (If you do, I'm sorry, Mom) I'm just gong to say that I would have done more drugs. I wouldn't be at Carnegie Mellon, I might not even be at community college. In the 9th grade, before I'd really sunk my teeth into this whole "theater" thing, I told my godmother that I'd only go to community college if my parents bought me a car (I was a horrible child, I know). I don't want to think what my life would be like if that continued to be my reality, but I would not be as happy as I am now. In short, I guess I can say that theater redirected my path to bigger and brighter things, and showed me that I'm more than just another bright, yet unmotivated kid at an under-achieving high school. So...thanks, theater. I guess you're pretty cool after all.
I think this stereotype of theater being for the outcasts and the underdogs is definitely played up in television shows like Glee. However, I know many people who found a home away from home and a place to belong within the theatrical community that they couldn’t find anywhere else. Theater is, of course, important for addressing larger societal problems and sparking conversations, but it also is vital for being a gathering place for a community and a place where young kids, like 9th grade me who struggle to make friends, find an identity and a sense of belonging. This idea of maintaining a sense of community within theater is incredibly important to me and I’d like to think it is to other people too. One of the most important things about theater to me is its ability to bring together people from all cultures, backgrounds, and walks of life. We get a bit of a sense of this within Purnell, although the diversity is limited by this being an expensive university on the East Coast of the United States. Still there is still a wide range of backstories that are all bound together by this one thing: a passion for theater.
It is always exciting to read positive things about theatre. Recently with the small amount of work on the shows at carnegie mellon, the passion has been taken out of it all. It's just been about work, and even this week our stagemanager was talking about how in professional theatre no one cries when the show is over. Tears are excessive, but i was worried that she was eluding to the fact that this will become more and more of just being a job. But this is exciting, and gives me hope. I think when you have so many people dead set on achieving what most people think is impossible there has to be socmuch passion involved. And then when those efforts come together to make one common goal, the pay off has got to be enormous. Theatre by nature is a binding exercise, and this proves it.
It is always exciting to read positive things about theatre. Recently with the small amount of work on the shows at carnegie mellon, the passion has been taken out of it all. It's just been about work, and even this week our stagemanager was talking about how in professional theatre no one cries when the show is over. Tears are excessive, but i was worried that she was eluding to the fact that this will become more and more of just being a job. But this is exciting, and gives me hope. I think when you have so many people dead set on achieving what most people think is impossible there has to be socmuch passion involved. And then when those efforts come together to make one common goal, the pay off has got to be enormous. Theatre by nature is a bonding exercise, and this proves it.
What a sweet and endearing article. While I haven’t seen Glee I’m definitely familiar with the theater stereotype of the outcast kids coming together to make art, and as cheesy as it is I am able to relate to that stereotype infinitely well. In high school I worked on the build/ backstage crew for every show from the beginning of my freshman year to the end of my senior year, and I honestly don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t made myself go to that initial meeting. I really do think that the arts community is able to genuinely help and “save” a lot of people, in particular kids in middle/ high school who don’t feel like they have a safe place. Specific to technical theater, I think that there is something so profoundly special and unexplainable about the act of physically building something together and seeing it come to life. The reward that comes from that catharsis is what connects people to one another who wouldn’t normally have ever crossed paths. Creation gives people a purpose they didn’t think they needed.
I think that the “theatre nerd” concept is like a self fulfilling prophesy. As kids and teenagers, we are exposed to the stereotype that theatre is for people who are weird, don’t have friends, etc. So the people who feel that way then feel like that their schools theatre club or show choir is naturally the place for them. I remember in my high school’s costume shop, we described our theatre club as cult-like, because of how close everyone was, and how once someone got the theatre bug, they rarely left. I think that it is an inherent part of the theatre community that welcomes people with open arms. So many shows are about the outcast or “other” achieving amazing things. So I think that it is natural that those who make and perform, also do. Putting on a show about being open to others allows those working on it to feel the same way.
Like many people mentioned, I don't really know where the notion of theatre people are nerds came from and I've never experienced it so I couldn't relate to Glee when I watched it. I made some super close connections back home because of theater, but I actually never knew how a tightly knit community can be created by theater until I came here (when I look at the School of Drama compared to the other departments here). Especially at such a stressful and rigorous school, I wouldn't survive here if I was studying something else. I definitely think the collaborative nature of theater has a lot to do with the interconnected community that it creates, since the only other thing that I've worked on that has a similar amount of collaboration needed is film. Although the math and sciences are important, I think the arts are just as important and I'm glad that I grew up and still is surrounded by people who know that.
I think theater is pretty cool. I'm majoring in it, after all. I was one of those shitty theater kids in high school, I wore all black by accident many days because I didn't want to have to change at the end of the day. I hung out in the theater during free periods, I stayed til 11 each night during a show. My friends would text me, "Where r u" and I would always respond "the theater".
But, something that I noticed with a lot of my theater friends and theater non-friends is a feeling of superiority. Those weird kids practicing Brecht under a "live oak tree" (as opposed to a dead oak tree? What?) may have been sunny and joyful. But a lot of kids I knew like that were under that tree talking shit about people who didn't do theater, who weren't enlightened. They didn't like kids who played football or partied. They said "I can't have fun tonight, I have rehearsal" with a sneer and a sense of superiority to others.
Theater is a community, and like any community, isn't perfect. Lots of people find their place in it and are happier because of it. But some people, naturally, are jerks about it. Just, watch yourself, I guess. Theater isn't perfect.
I hate the theatre nerd stereotype. All I can think of when I think of the theatre nerd stereotype is the "High School Theatre" skit done on Saturday Night Live, which makes fun of basically every stereotypical "theatre kid." However, I do agree that theatre is a community, much like how everything is a community. I will admit that it is great to be around people who are Hamilton trash like me, and will understand virtually anything theatre related that I mention. But I mean, that goes with any career choice. My friends that are on the track team talk about times and different events and I have no idea what a good time is and what I should be impressed by. Track is a community, because a community comes from any group of people that have things in common. So, I agree and disagree with this article. I agree that theatre is a community, but I do not think that is unique to theatre.
I have always been in theatre since I was very young. I definitely know what this article means by community. I have made a lot of relationships because of theatre and have created many friend groups within the "community". Along with theatre, I also enjoyed stretching out into the "outside world" and hang out with people who weren't necessarily in any art. I do agree with what Cassidy said in reference to the feeling of "superiority". I have noticed that most theatre people I know believe themselves to be very high in artistic status. I think this is because of their lack of experience with other art disciplines. Not being exposed to others who are not "theatre geeks" might be good for some people and it'll open their minds beyond their own theatre community. So yes, theatre is definitely a community, but i do think it's exclusive nature is sort of annoying and not necessary, especially in the direction we are going where so many art disciplines and jobs are being brought into the world of theatre.
Like most of the other comments on this article, I share the sentiment that I have not really viewed theatre as a totally and completely nerdy hobby or activity, just one that may attract some typically “nerdy” people. The seniors in my school’s theatre company when I was a freshmen were definitely not nerds, they were actually pretty cool, however, in the next couple of years, our tech crew’s ratio of “nerds” and “outcasts” definitely grew. By my senior year, the main leaders in our tech crew were definitely on the nerdy side, quiet, awkward, knew a surprising amount about sound or lighting, and spent a little too much time in the theatre to escape socializing. This made me think that my Design and Production major, the kids in 33, would all be exactly like them, huge nerds. It is true that a lot of them are hugely passionate about theatre, but they aren’t quiet by any means. This diverse community is refreshing.
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