Comments on: Traveling Spotlight Productions Miss Saigon

By: Bob Ashby

Bob Ashby — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:50:19 +0000

It is true enough that an occasional actor fails to get a bio to the person putting the program together in time to have it included. But the entire ensemble? It stretches credulity to suppose that everyone in the ensemble was tardy or unmotivated. It is far more reasonable to believe that someone made a decision that it was preferable to use available program space to carry unusually lengthy bios of principals and directors (close to 3/4 of a page in one case) than to include any bios of ensemble members. (Many groups deliberately place a word limit on bios to avoid such a problem). In my opinion, such a decision is ill-advised and slights the contributions that ensemble members make to a production.

By: Kat Brais

Kat Brais — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:00:52 +0000

Bob,
I’m not going to comment on your review as I have not yet seen the show, but I would like to point out that sometimes, cast members don’t get their bios to the producer in time to go to print. Usually, cast is hounded from the beginning to get their bios in and they then wait until the last minute or try to push back the deadline. Because it is a new company and they probably have little budget, you don’t know who took on the projcet of putting programs together. They could just be someone in the cast putting it together on their lunch break at work. Actors have egos, and if they had wanted their bios in the program, they should have gotten them in on time.