Friday, March 21, 2008
In the theatre, size isn't everything
Guardian Unlimited: "With The Lord of the Rings set to close early at Drury Lane in July, it will enter the record books as not just one of the West End's most lavish productions but also one of its costliest failures. That follows the show's early closure in Toronto, where it had set an interesting precedent for theatrical investment. The Ontario government put forward some $2.5m towards its reported budget of $23m, on behalf of their 12 million citizens."
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8 comments:
This is such a humble statement. i mean to see The Lord of th Rings failing in Toronto? Wow I was expecting a more dedicated crowd to the extent of people camping outside the box office for tickets. Well it is nice to see that it does not take couple millions of dollars to put on a good show or even shows that can potentially run 20 years. WOW. Well hope LOTR has better luck in Germany. The set and costumes looks amazing.
I agree that it is a shame that Lord of the Rings is doing so poorly, however, I think that the big spectacular musical may be going into a recession, some of my favorite sets have been simple, or on smaller stages. Smaller shows ave the power to create an intimate relationship with the audience who can feel like the show is just for them.
There is however still a market for larger productions. Opera is a way to have incredibly grand and awe inspiring productions where the budget for that exists. If production scale continues in this downward trend the future will hold an entire new set of challenges for the designers and their teams to be able to deal with the unknown parameters of the intimate production.
I agree with Teddy. Sets these days have either been huge sets that leave little to the imagination or even simple ones that bring the audience in more to the story. I think at a time like this when people really want to get away from the troubles of the world they are more fond of the sets that allow them to imagine and see for themselves what is going on on stage. I think this is important for audiences to really connect with the story.
I think that the big thing that is turning people away is the idea of a Lord of the Rings musical. Besides getting some less-than-favorable reviews, this story isn't one that seems to lend itself really well to musicality like Hairspray or even the upcoming Shrek musical. I think that there was a higher expected interest out of sheer curiosity, but that never really came to fruition.
I don't think that this is the end of behemoth musicals, I just hope it's the end for lazy retellings of really awesome books, stories, and movies. I'd spend tons of money to see a crazy production of a story that wasn't almost perfectly told by a movie a few years ago. Cmon. Stop being lazy.
I'm not surprised this failed. Of course it's going to fail. The movies and books were great, how can you ever compare to that? Furthermore, why would anyone bother seeing your show when they can just rent the movie (which probably looks "cooler"). These sets leave little to the imagination because these stories are TIRED and we know them.. How much effort is really going in to redeveloping these stories?
Poor Lord of the Rings. When will they stop putting it onstage? It just doesn't work, and they don't get that for some reason. Although there are many, many things that get put on the stage that shouldn't be. I guess that's jus the nature of the business.
But really, it hasn't worked before, why did they think it would work now?
I mean, the show got a great review in both west end and canada. But it really is important to think how the size of the production does not guarantee the success of the show, for all the time. Spring Awakening is making too much money for the amount they put to make it. But for a shows like LOTR, it will take a while to get the ball rolling and the producers have to sit back and wait. I hope it goes well in Germany!!
I agree that movies and books that were of great success need to stop being forced onto the stage, but I have to say I admire the determination behind this production. The fact that they are hardly daunted and ready to move on to the next location might show a mild amount of stupidity, but over all shows more commitment and belief in the art they are creating.
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