Congratulations to Stephen Schwartz for making it on Saturday Night Live. When was the last time a Broadway show got this kind of coverage? Could this be a sign that Broadway is headed closer to pop culture.
We can hope.
If the above clip isn't working, following the this link.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Pop Culture?
I’ve been talking much lately about getting Broadway into mainstream culture. Well, one way of that happening is getting people to write about it. Two recent articles of note that you might be interested in and links to them:
Entertainment Weekly, March 3, 2008—This is the issue with the Oscars on the cover. There’s an article inside that consists of snippets from interviews from people involved with the Broadway and film versions of Rent, including Fredi Walker-Browne and Daphne Rubin-Vega discussing not being in the movie.
Time, March 10, 2008—This is the issue with the back of Obama’s head on the covering and the headline “How Much Does Experience Matter?” There’s a great article here about the closing of Rent and, more importantly, discussing the future of Broadway in terms of reaching out to new audiences and changing the storytelling perspectives to more personal subject matter (which I recently wrote about myself). The article highlights In the Heights and Passing Strange.
the Broadway Mouth
March 7, 2008
Entertainment Weekly, March 3, 2008—This is the issue with the Oscars on the cover. There’s an article inside that consists of snippets from interviews from people involved with the Broadway and film versions of Rent, including Fredi Walker-Browne and Daphne Rubin-Vega discussing not being in the movie.
Time, March 10, 2008—This is the issue with the back of Obama’s head on the covering and the headline “How Much Does Experience Matter?” There’s a great article here about the closing of Rent and, more importantly, discussing the future of Broadway in terms of reaching out to new audiences and changing the storytelling perspectives to more personal subject matter (which I recently wrote about myself). The article highlights In the Heights and Passing Strange.
the Broadway Mouth
March 7, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Million Dollar Question: Getting New Butts in Seats
How do you get people into a theatre? How do you get people, who are otherwise oblivious to ads for some crazy show called The Drowsy Chaperone or that show they’ll never get tickets for anyway but saw on Martha Stewart, Wicked, to actually take out the debit card and order the tickets?
When I was teaching high school, I organized three trips to see Broadway tours. One was a class field trip to the second national tour of Beauty and the Beast, which was an amazing experience for my kids. Most of them left exhilarated and thrilled. One of my boys, not one you’d expect to say it, was practically jumping out of his skin wanting me to organize a trip to see Kiss Me, Kate the following fall (a show I had talked much about in class since my then-recent trip to New York; I ended up resigning the position before I could take them, though, because I wanted time in my life to write). My second trip was an after-school activity where I brought 20+ students, teachers, and parents to see Aida, another thrilling event for the students. My third was bringing a smaller group to see Les Miserables, which was a great trip, with the girls wearing their prom dresses because it was a chance to use them a second time.
As long as kids have an iota of understanding of the arts, they like the big Broadway shows. The question becomes, then, how do you get them to form a bridge between liking musicals and actually dishing out the money to see them? Shows are quite expensive, but people are willing to dish out money for what they really want—be it a $75 video game, $50 concert tickets, or $65 baseball tickets (and another $25 for the soda and hot dog).
The more that we can get young people attending the theatre—without pandering to them in content and, therefore, cutting off the older bread-and-butter crowd—the stronger roots we’ll have in the years to come.
One significant aspect of this is making Broadway an all-important part of pop culture, which is slowly happening with Legally Blonde, Hairspray, and High School Musical. Producers need to find ways to make people aware of their shows outside New York and to generate a must-see aura about their work, such as through music videos, pop versions of songs, and strong MySpace and Facebook presence (as in links and video clips on member sites).
I was recently at a well-to-do suburban school, and I had a student telling me how much she loved the OBCR of Sweeney Todd; however, when the John Doyle show came to town, she didn’t even know it was here until I told her (and also warned her it probably wasn’t the best production for her to see). That’s a problem.
So, it’s a dilemma, getting people of all ages to find enough value in making the trip and spending the money. But solving it holds the key to, perhaps, a Second Golden Age.
the Broadway Mouth
March 5, 2008
When I was teaching high school, I organized three trips to see Broadway tours. One was a class field trip to the second national tour of Beauty and the Beast, which was an amazing experience for my kids. Most of them left exhilarated and thrilled. One of my boys, not one you’d expect to say it, was practically jumping out of his skin wanting me to organize a trip to see Kiss Me, Kate the following fall (a show I had talked much about in class since my then-recent trip to New York; I ended up resigning the position before I could take them, though, because I wanted time in my life to write). My second trip was an after-school activity where I brought 20+ students, teachers, and parents to see Aida, another thrilling event for the students. My third was bringing a smaller group to see Les Miserables, which was a great trip, with the girls wearing their prom dresses because it was a chance to use them a second time.
As long as kids have an iota of understanding of the arts, they like the big Broadway shows. The question becomes, then, how do you get them to form a bridge between liking musicals and actually dishing out the money to see them? Shows are quite expensive, but people are willing to dish out money for what they really want—be it a $75 video game, $50 concert tickets, or $65 baseball tickets (and another $25 for the soda and hot dog).
The more that we can get young people attending the theatre—without pandering to them in content and, therefore, cutting off the older bread-and-butter crowd—the stronger roots we’ll have in the years to come.
One significant aspect of this is making Broadway an all-important part of pop culture, which is slowly happening with Legally Blonde, Hairspray, and High School Musical. Producers need to find ways to make people aware of their shows outside New York and to generate a must-see aura about their work, such as through music videos, pop versions of songs, and strong MySpace and Facebook presence (as in links and video clips on member sites).
I was recently at a well-to-do suburban school, and I had a student telling me how much she loved the OBCR of Sweeney Todd; however, when the John Doyle show came to town, she didn’t even know it was here until I told her (and also warned her it probably wasn’t the best production for her to see). That’s a problem.
So, it’s a dilemma, getting people of all ages to find enough value in making the trip and spending the money. But solving it holds the key to, perhaps, a Second Golden Age.
the Broadway Mouth
March 5, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Gypsy in Vanity Fair
Thanks to folks at All That Chat and Broadway World for posting this picture from Laura Benanti’s website. This is a photo from Vanity Fair. Not only does the cast look great, but it’s one big step in making Broadway a part of popular culture (more on that topic tomorrow).
the Broadway Mouth
March 5, 2008
Clip Me, Kate
I was digging through my programs and clippings from various shows I’ve seen over the years, and I came across this advertisement I saved from the tour of Kiss Me, Kate, which starred (at the time I saw it) Rachel York, Rex Smith, Jim Newman, Jenny Hill, and Chuck Wagner.
I loved this advertisement, which made me do a double-take. Because I had seen the show in New York as well, the poster looked eerily familiar—familiar because it not only features mostly the Broadway cast, but eerily because it features ¾ of the original stars as well.
That’s Rachel York’s beautiful face on Marin Mazzie’s beautiful body and Rex Smith’s head on Brian Stokes Mitchell’s body (though those aren’t Mitchell’s hands), twice. Interestingly enough, York on tour, just like she did in the recorded London production, had red hair.
I actually have the Broadway show poster that looks like this with the original cast hanging in Shubert Alley, my hallway with Broadway posters (not to be confused with my living room with its Broadway posters). Probably no one on the tour route would even notice the short-cuts, so it’s not a big deal, but I thought it was funny.
If you live in New York and find the picture familiar, you may recognize it from Rick McKay’s documentary Broadway: The Golden Age, flashed up when Elaine Stritch is supporting revivals.
the Broadway Mouth
March 5, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Broadway Star Bingo VI (Honoring Actors Who’ve Appeared in Les Miserables)
Welcome to the sixth edition of Broadway Star Bingo, honoring the Broadway runs of Les Miserables and the myriad of performers Cameron Mackintosh has employed for many years, giving extremely talented people a chance to play roles that they might not otherwise have gotten had the show not been the big-name draw.
Rules for Bingo: As in regular Bingo, try to get five boxes in a row up, down, or diagonal. Mark off the boxes of Broadway stars you’ve seen perform live.
What counts: Broadway, off-Broadway, regional, or any other venue for live theatre. You must have seen them in a musical or play (not concert, benefit, etc.) and must have seen them live (DVDs, videos, and bootlegs don’t count).
Rules for Bango: For a Bango, you must form the letter B on the Broadway Star Bingo card. To do this, you get the entire B row, the entire top and bottom row, plus the top two and bottom two names under the O. To complete the B-shape, you get the first four names in the very middle row going across (in other words, excluding the name in the O column). This is a little confusing, but it forms a B on the card.
Rules for Bongo: This is the coveted coverall.
Winning: When you hit a bingo, bango, bongo, call it out on the comment space below. You do NOT need to be a registered Blogger user to post. You may be as anonymous as you’d like.
When you have a bingo or a bango, call off the squares in which you won, listing at least one show you saw each performer in. If you have a bongo, you may call off as many as you wish.
Prize: The prize is pride and bragging rights, plus the chance to share your beloved theatrical memories.
the Broadway Mouth
March 3, 2008
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Rules for Bingo: As in regular Bingo, try to get five boxes in a row up, down, or diagonal. Mark off the boxes of Broadway stars you’ve seen perform live.
What counts: Broadway, off-Broadway, regional, or any other venue for live theatre. You must have seen them in a musical or play (not concert, benefit, etc.) and must have seen them live (DVDs, videos, and bootlegs don’t count).
Rules for Bango: For a Bango, you must form the letter B on the Broadway Star Bingo card. To do this, you get the entire B row, the entire top and bottom row, plus the top two and bottom two names under the O. To complete the B-shape, you get the first four names in the very middle row going across (in other words, excluding the name in the O column). This is a little confusing, but it forms a B on the card.
Rules for Bongo: This is the coveted coverall.
Winning: When you hit a bingo, bango, bongo, call it out on the comment space below. You do NOT need to be a registered Blogger user to post. You may be as anonymous as you’d like.
When you have a bingo or a bango, call off the squares in which you won, listing at least one show you saw each performer in. If you have a bongo, you may call off as many as you wish.
Prize: The prize is pride and bragging rights, plus the chance to share your beloved theatrical memories.
the Broadway Mouth
March 3, 2008
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The Winner Takes It All
I won, and luck had nothing to do with it.
I will return later today with a new Broadway Star Bingo board, but while I had a minute, I wanted to share my great win. Ken Davenport, producer of the off-Broadway show Altar Boyz (among others), writes a blog that I follow regularly. It’s an interesting amalgam of producing theories, inspiration, and viewpoints that, as I did earlier, I still highly recommend. Whatever your role is in producing commercial art, it’s easy to get caught up in circumstances and, in the end, to lose sight of your initial vision. When the stress comes, adversity arises, or the pressure’s pressed, we panic and toss vision out the window, almost always to the detriment of our work. Davenport’s blog entries work to keep us on track toward the prize.
Occasionally Davenport will ask questions for which he’ll award prizes to the first person who responds without using Google. I’m usually not the first person to read the blogs, but I was, this time, the first to read it with the right answer.
The best part was that, while reading what he had written about John Grisham, I was thinking, “That’s like Hal Prince,” which was an easy connection for to me make because, like Hal Prince (or should I say, because of Hal Prince), I have always aspired to start new projects the day after one opens (mostly because I have so many projects I want to do and can’t wait to get started; plus, if you want to be prolific, you have to act prolific). In fact, I started writing the book to my second musical while I was (literally) in the throes of producing a reading for my first one. I liked the idea and couldn’t wait.
After thinking, “That’s like Hal Prince” while reading his blog entry, I got to the bottom and had forgotten my initial response (the question was asking what Hal Prince and John Grisham had in common, which was basically what I discuss above). When I finally made the connection, I was so excited, I almost fumbled my response.
I don’t know where I learned Prince’s work habits from—I’m thinking maybe from watching the bonus features on Broadway: The American Musical so much, though it could have come from Broadway: The Golden Age, the book Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre: Expanded Edition by Foster Hirsch, or any of the number of books I’ve read on the topic.
What I have found is that your life calling (or area of study, as the case may be) is the area in which you could work extremely hard at something and actually look forward to it. Some people could never imagine sitting down to write a book or a play or a sitcom pilot. I could and have (though none have been published or produced professionally yet). Likewise, I could never imagine sitting down to take apart a car engine or to tackle cleaning a trashed hotel room. Thank God others can.
Hard work. Hard work is how I know that Hal Prince starts a new show the day after his last one opens. It wasn’t really work in the traditional sense, though. I’ve loved learning all that I have. But, like all good things, knowledge and success takes work to acquire, a mountain of hard work.
Luck has nothing to do with it.
the Broadway Mouth
March 3, 2008
I will return later today with a new Broadway Star Bingo board, but while I had a minute, I wanted to share my great win. Ken Davenport, producer of the off-Broadway show Altar Boyz (among others), writes a blog that I follow regularly. It’s an interesting amalgam of producing theories, inspiration, and viewpoints that, as I did earlier, I still highly recommend. Whatever your role is in producing commercial art, it’s easy to get caught up in circumstances and, in the end, to lose sight of your initial vision. When the stress comes, adversity arises, or the pressure’s pressed, we panic and toss vision out the window, almost always to the detriment of our work. Davenport’s blog entries work to keep us on track toward the prize.
Occasionally Davenport will ask questions for which he’ll award prizes to the first person who responds without using Google. I’m usually not the first person to read the blogs, but I was, this time, the first to read it with the right answer.
The best part was that, while reading what he had written about John Grisham, I was thinking, “That’s like Hal Prince,” which was an easy connection for to me make because, like Hal Prince (or should I say, because of Hal Prince), I have always aspired to start new projects the day after one opens (mostly because I have so many projects I want to do and can’t wait to get started; plus, if you want to be prolific, you have to act prolific). In fact, I started writing the book to my second musical while I was (literally) in the throes of producing a reading for my first one. I liked the idea and couldn’t wait.
After thinking, “That’s like Hal Prince” while reading his blog entry, I got to the bottom and had forgotten my initial response (the question was asking what Hal Prince and John Grisham had in common, which was basically what I discuss above). When I finally made the connection, I was so excited, I almost fumbled my response.
I don’t know where I learned Prince’s work habits from—I’m thinking maybe from watching the bonus features on Broadway: The American Musical so much, though it could have come from Broadway: The Golden Age, the book Harold Prince and the American Musical Theatre: Expanded Edition by Foster Hirsch, or any of the number of books I’ve read on the topic.
What I have found is that your life calling (or area of study, as the case may be) is the area in which you could work extremely hard at something and actually look forward to it. Some people could never imagine sitting down to write a book or a play or a sitcom pilot. I could and have (though none have been published or produced professionally yet). Likewise, I could never imagine sitting down to take apart a car engine or to tackle cleaning a trashed hotel room. Thank God others can.
Hard work. Hard work is how I know that Hal Prince starts a new show the day after his last one opens. It wasn’t really work in the traditional sense, though. I’ve loved learning all that I have. But, like all good things, knowledge and success takes work to acquire, a mountain of hard work.
Luck has nothing to do with it.
the Broadway Mouth
March 3, 2008
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