Well, another Tonys ceremony has come and gone, leaving a string of bodies in its wake, most notably A Catered Affair and Cry-Baby, and rumors of a number of others.
In looking over the talk of the past year, I guess it’s time to think back and reflect on a few ideas that surfaced.
Long plays are in after all.
During one of the pre-Tonys daytime performances, Cheyenne Jackson was still touting that Xanadu was only 90 minutes, a key selling point the producers used during the shows early press period. Not too long after the opening, this was followed up by producer Ken Davenport sharing his thoughts on short shows at his Producer's Perspective blog, as well as in an article on Bloomberg.
One of the big winners of the season has, as everyone already knows, been the 3+ hour August: Osage County, which has recently increased ticket prices, a trend not followed by the producers of Xanadu, who will not be funding a new summer home anytime soon, unlike the producers of August: Osage County.
What’s most important about a show is not its length but its quality and popular appeal. If Kiss Me, Kate had been 90 minutes, I doubt it would have survived its original season, and if The Drowsy Chaperone has been two minutes longer, its conceit would have really run dry.
Xanadu had the makings of a hit—a recognizable title, bankable Broadway stars, some pre-opening backstage drama, strong reviews, and familiar songs. I doubt its lack of smash hit status is closely related to its length, but clearly its 90-minute running time was not a selling point for most New York theatergoers.
In Hollywood, it’s common standard for insiders and analysts to pick everything to pieces in hopes of being the first to identify a trend, leaving the less-inspired among the producers to be chasing after scripts just like a past hit like the man with a shovel at the circus (i.e. Gladiator spawned Troy, King Arthur, Alexander). I can’t count how many times I’ve read about family films being the new trend in the past fifteen years, just as we are now hearing about how chick flicks are the new In thing just because Sex and the City was a hit (not keeping in mind the box office gross for chick flicks Fool’s Gold, 27 Dresses, and a host of others this past year). I hope to God Broadway doesn’t start the same thing!
the Broadway Mouth
June 23, 2008
Showing posts with label Xanadu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xanadu. Show all posts
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Promoting the Hat: Guidelines for Selecting Showcase Scenes
An employee at work recently called and left a message like the following:
“I’m just calling to let you know that I won’t be able to see my client tomorrow, but if he wants to, I can see him on Friday instead. Just let me know.”
What is wrong with this picture? If you were in charge of staffing 200 people, would you know what to do? We sure as heck didn’t.
It’s amazing what a simple piece of information can do. A first name somewhere in the message would have given us enough to go on to figure out what the message was about.
Xanadu on Live
To me, this message was a little, er, a lot like the recent Xanadu performance on Live With Regis and Kelly in which members of the cast performed “All Around the World.” I haven’t seen the show (though I do have a good idea of what it’s about), and I was totally and completely lost as to what was going on. There was some specific choreography happening, and there was some reason why the chorus was dancing, but because there was no dialogue and no proper set-up, the performance was as engaging as the telephone message above was informative.
This is something good English teachers understand clearly. People need to have enough context so that when they receive new information, they know how to organize it. Imagine reading The Crucible without understanding Puritan America, seeing The Dairy of Anne Frank without knowing what the Holocaust was, or watching The Client without knowing what the mob is. It would be confusing, and you would quickly lose interest.
When Broadway shows give performances on the morning shows, the producers are trying to sell the show. To do so effectively, the audience needs to be able to grasp what is happening in a moment. The performance Xanada gave on The View when it first opened provided that, quickly letting the audience know what Cheyenne Jackson’s character was doing, giving context for the song. The performance on Live did not.
One of the worst Tony performances I’ve seen was from the Into the Woods revival, in which the show was basically thrown into a blender and presented to the audience as a mishmash of color and sound. I’m very familiar with the show, and I was completely lost. What a wasted opportunity for that show!
When producers are provided the opportunity to showcase their musical, it’s crucial to think like a viewer, asking yourself the following questions:
1. If someone doesn’t know the show, what will they need in order to appreciate what is happening?
2. Is there enough set or costumes to provide context?
3. What scene can be comprehended with the shortest introduction?
When you look at how cast recordings have change over the decades, you’ll notice the role intro dialogue plays on many contemporary recordings. Why? Because the dialogue helps provide context for the song to follow.
A Catered Affair on The View
Interestingly enough, the segment with Faith Prince and Tom Wopat on The View was extraordinarily effective in selling the show. Prince and Wopat came off as exceedingly genial and fun, and they were given the chance to speak impassionedly about the project to the point where it felt like seeing A Catered Affair would be the experience of a lifetime. If I was heading to New York, I’d be putting A Catered Affair high on my “Must See” list based upon what they had to say alone.
What might this say about the best ways to promote a show?
the Broadway Mouth
June 15, 2008
“I’m just calling to let you know that I won’t be able to see my client tomorrow, but if he wants to, I can see him on Friday instead. Just let me know.”
What is wrong with this picture? If you were in charge of staffing 200 people, would you know what to do? We sure as heck didn’t.
It’s amazing what a simple piece of information can do. A first name somewhere in the message would have given us enough to go on to figure out what the message was about.
Xanadu on Live
To me, this message was a little, er, a lot like the recent Xanadu performance on Live With Regis and Kelly in which members of the cast performed “All Around the World.” I haven’t seen the show (though I do have a good idea of what it’s about), and I was totally and completely lost as to what was going on. There was some specific choreography happening, and there was some reason why the chorus was dancing, but because there was no dialogue and no proper set-up, the performance was as engaging as the telephone message above was informative.
This is something good English teachers understand clearly. People need to have enough context so that when they receive new information, they know how to organize it. Imagine reading The Crucible without understanding Puritan America, seeing The Dairy of Anne Frank without knowing what the Holocaust was, or watching The Client without knowing what the mob is. It would be confusing, and you would quickly lose interest.
When Broadway shows give performances on the morning shows, the producers are trying to sell the show. To do so effectively, the audience needs to be able to grasp what is happening in a moment. The performance Xanada gave on The View when it first opened provided that, quickly letting the audience know what Cheyenne Jackson’s character was doing, giving context for the song. The performance on Live did not.
One of the worst Tony performances I’ve seen was from the Into the Woods revival, in which the show was basically thrown into a blender and presented to the audience as a mishmash of color and sound. I’m very familiar with the show, and I was completely lost. What a wasted opportunity for that show!
When producers are provided the opportunity to showcase their musical, it’s crucial to think like a viewer, asking yourself the following questions:
1. If someone doesn’t know the show, what will they need in order to appreciate what is happening?
2. Is there enough set or costumes to provide context?
3. What scene can be comprehended with the shortest introduction?
When you look at how cast recordings have change over the decades, you’ll notice the role intro dialogue plays on many contemporary recordings. Why? Because the dialogue helps provide context for the song to follow.
A Catered Affair on The View
Interestingly enough, the segment with Faith Prince and Tom Wopat on The View was extraordinarily effective in selling the show. Prince and Wopat came off as exceedingly genial and fun, and they were given the chance to speak impassionedly about the project to the point where it felt like seeing A Catered Affair would be the experience of a lifetime. If I was heading to New York, I’d be putting A Catered Affair high on my “Must See” list based upon what they had to say alone.
What might this say about the best ways to promote a show?
the Broadway Mouth
June 15, 2008
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