Alix Cohen
Soapbox: Cabaret
Maybe Your Friend Shouldn’t Be Your Director
March 17, 2016
While I understand both wanting to with work with someone you like and the appeal of a probable discount for services, take into consideration that you may not be getting honest assessment when you hire a friend to be your director. A friend may let you get away with things that should be changed or edited out in order not to hurt your feelings.
He or she may concentrate on that about which you’re least secure (say range and octave, letting lyrical meaning fall by the wayside), observe an habitual gesture as familiar and benign without registering how it affects communicating the material, or act as the focus of your rehearsal, not addressing the importance of connecting to strangers around the room.
A friend is less likely to tell you your dress is too short or tight or that your favorite jeans are inappropriate for the theme, club, occasion. He or she may appreciate your lung power and the desire to show it off, losing sight of where it’s employed.
Will your director push for better research despite time constraints or impatience? Will he/she cut an entertaining tale or a song you do well when the show drags?
Will he/she tell you when a number doesn’t work, despite best efforts?
That first performance in front of family, friends, and colleagues is frankly no criteria. You will be cheered and toasted regardless of relative quality. (Watch out for private references here; you’re not in your living room.) It’s the second or third show that counts, when strangers judge objectively.
Your director must be able to exercise lack of bias. Then, if you want to get a drink together, fine.