New York Post: Pronounce the word artist, to conjure up the image of a solitary genius. A sacred aura still attaches to the word, a sense of one in contact with the numinous. “He’s an artist,” we’ll say in tones of reverence about an actor or musician or director. “A true artist,” we’ll solemnly proclaim our favorite singer or photographer, meaning someone who appears to dwell upon a higher plane. Vision, inspiration, mysterious gifts as from above: such are some of the associations that continue to adorn the word.
5 comments:
Although the headline of this article reads a negative statement, I would feel comfortable saying that this article is mostly good news looking at the larger picture. Yes, it may be bad news for producers or discourage those that want to produce Broadway musicals. However, for the Broadway theatergoer and for the Broadway community at large, numbers are up, both revenue and attendance. Keeping these numbers up is key to the continuing success of the arts. Yes, theatre is not just Broadway, but is often the first time that future patrons of the arts are introduced to the power of live theatre. I think one of the most informative parts of this article is that no matter what, it is easier to recoup costs when you have lower production costs. It’s simple. You can have a great idea but if it costs $80 million dollars, you better hope that the show is good enough to last for four of five years just to break even.
I find it interesting that this article says that Broadway tries to keep ticket costs in line with what they think an average woman in her mid-40’s would pay for a show. Unless women in their mid-40s like to drop hundreds of dollar on random things, I think that that fact is inaccurate.
I did, however, find it intriguing that it takes so long for shows to actually make a profit, and how that is a large factor in how long a production runs. I expected Spiderman to run a lot longer than I did, but then again I had no idea that it cost $80 million to produce. Budgeting is such an important aspect of theater, and it seems like more people need to understand that so that more shows are actually successful. Nevertheless, all theater is not Broadway, and so this is a very narrow yet informative view of the theatrical world.
Ok there is a lot to argue about this article and why Spiderman was a failure with it's investors. But I think I big let down was that the creative designers and board wouldn't listen to Julie's vision on the piece. Everyone knew that the performance was going to be over budget and that it was going to be a huge spectacle. However, it seemed that the creative team didn't listen to Julie and she left it to them to decided. I think if they went through with her vision the show might've been more of an success than it was. Especially being a musical adaption about a popular movie and comic, it can be a difficult process to get so many people to pay a bunch of money to just see the tech of the show. There are pros and cons of this show, but they should've budgeted better than they did. Maybe next time the creative board will make the right decision.
Musicals just aren’t the same anymore. While there still is a group of people who look towards broadway to have the next best story that will be a hit for generations, I just haven’t seen one in a while. And the concept that if you keep working on the idea everyday and funnelling an unlimited amount of movie at it is bound to be a success is just a naive and wasteful way of thinking. Reality is that some ideas are just rotten to the core. Just because there exists a strong cult following for a particular concept doesn’t mean they will going running to go see it just because it’s on broadway. Often the people who are into the fandom are the same people who can’t stand theater or people breaking out into to song every five minutes to express their feelings on a particular event that happened two seconds ago. I think the real issue broadway shows have been as successful as they used to be is because people are only in it for the money now; how can they get the most back from their investment. Rather than caring about the art of telling a good story.
Producing shows on Broadway is a very tricky business. There is a certain science to it because there are so many factors that go into a show’s success. Producers can never be sure exactly how a show will do. When creating a show there is no way of judging how a large audience will react to it. They need to make sure they do not spend too much money at first, but they also need to spend enough in order for the show to become successful. It is almost like gambling since the risks are very high. There are some seasons that are more popular than others. It all depends on what is going on in the world at that moment and also what other kinds of shows are on Broadway at the same time. Productions take years to create and actually get them on Broadway. Many people make revivals of older popular shows in the hope that people that were fans of the original show or have heard about it will attend the revival and enjoy it just as much if not more.
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