Beware of “The Muscle!”  Know “The Muscle!”  Fear “The Muscle!”


If you are working on any sort of live performance production, it is important for you to know who, in the production, has “The Muscle.”

“The Muscle” is the decision-maker on the show.  Whatever “The Muscle” say, goes. 

“The Muscle” can sometimes be a producer because it is their money on the line.

“The Muscle” is rarely, if ever, the Author or Playwright — they are seen as easily replaceable by everyone in the production — even though they never are in reality.

“The Muscle” is never the set designer or the light designer or the stage manager.

“The Muscle” on most projects is usually an actor, a composer — but never a lyricist — or a director.

People do not argue with “The Muscle.”  When “The Muscle” speaks, everyone gets in line and follows.

Challenges to “The Muscle” usually end in the blood of the challenger. 

Sometimes “The Muscle” from other shows come together to work on a whole new show and there is a fight between former “The Muscles” to see who will be “THE Muscle” on the new show. 

The winner of “The Muscle” fight is usually the one with the most recent success — and by “success” we do not mean award or accolades.  We mean:  Money.

Know “The Muscle.”  Accept that you are not “The Muscle.”  Hope “The Muscle” is on your side — if not, you can quickly find yourself quashed and on the street wondering what happened — even if “The Muscle” just twitched your way by accident.

11 Comments

  1. ANNE – I live and teach on the upper West Coast of the United States. My interests are Philosophy, English, and Social Communication.
    anne90210 says:

    I know all about muscle. Problem happens when everyone thinks they have it when nobody really does. Can be a real mess. You do make a good point that nobody is equal. People like to think so but never. There are always power players to deal with both real and not so.

  2. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    Gordon Davidescu says:

    Hoo boy. Muscle, to me, is one of the most intimidating aspects of theater.

  3. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    That’s excellent advice, Anne. You’re right that everyone thinks they have the muscle. The person who gets their vision on stage or in performance is The Muscle, though.

  4. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    It can be a good thing, though, Gordon — because The Muscle has found previous success and earned that power. The unfortunate thing happens when The Muscle doesn’t realize or want or exercise that power and the entire production shrinks and dies. Sometimes the wrong person is given The Muscle and the same disastrous results happen.

  5. Pingback: Helen Thomas is Betrayed by her Bigotry « Urban Semiotic
  6. Pingback: The Irreparable Insult: John Denver Does Not Star on Broadway as Will Rogers | United Stage
  7. Pingback: Three More Reasons I Hate Comcast | Urban Semiotic
  8. Pingback: Interactive Actors Acting Acted | United Stage
  9. Pingback: Cheryl Cole was Simon Cowell’s Waterloo | Boles University Blog
  10. Pingback: How John Biggs and Tech Crunch Blew Up the Boles Blogs Network! | Boles University Blog
  11. Pingback: Perfecting the Pivot | David Boles Blogs

Comments are closed.