Monday, September 29, 2008
Linda Winer: The sad decline of Off-Broadway
Newsday.com: "Where's Off-Broadway? This is not a trick question, like the one about how to get to Carnegie Hall. You see, most theatergoers, after a few visits, know where to find what we know as Broadway - the nearly 40 playhouses that line and, more often, adjoin Broadway, the boulevard, from 41st Street to 54th."
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8 comments:
Sadly, when you do think of off-Broadway, you can't help but think of Broadway's limp little brother standing in the shadows. This article showed me that that is not the case, instead off-Broadway is the nesting egg for many of the Broadway shows. Its where they can develop into something that will shine and fly off into the world from Broadway.
i agree that off-broadway is the heart of broadway, the energy, drive, and sheer creativity that directly feeds the big money makers on broadway. i don't think this fact is changing, but rather our culture is just having a hard time supporting that. for example, given our current economic state of course the "less" "smaller" less well known shows are going to suffer. also with all of or new web streaming, 10 dollar movie tickets, youtube... people have cheap, instant access to entertainment. it's crazy expensive to see shows, much less travel to new york- so the natural desire (once you get their) is to go for the big shows that you hear about, and listen to the music you know.
Winer makes a good point. We don't hear much about the little stuff these days. It's the big shows that get all the attention and the press. It's wonder that there are any small theatres surviving in NYC given the demand for big Broadway shows.
I completely and 100% agree with this article. I am all for off-Broadway productions and allowing them to be the testing grounds for such amazing shows which now appear on Broadway. The movement metaphor made by the writer of this article was beautiful I think. The shifting into a different position is exactly accurate on describing theatre happeniongs. I believe that there is so much Off Broadway shows offer the community that these industries are simply sucking out the life of some of these shows. All they are aiming at is how can I make this a huge sucess. Obviously this is a good thing but to take away from the show and do it souly for the money is a bit rediculous if you ask me.
I think the most interesting part of the article is the mention of Bill T Jones having a Broadway stay.. I wonder if that means the company is shying away from its really avante guarde workshops. The few I worked on had a duck named quackadack and tons of rubber duckies.
Or.. they're bringing that style to Broadway, which is sorely needed.
it is really disappointing to see Off-Broadway to struggle with some of these problems. and it seems like there are bi-polar effect happening in the theatergoers, as well. all the audiences are watching Mama Mia!, across the street from where struggling producers and creative staff team there to experiment with their aesthetics.
I agree with Liz's comment. The term "Off-Broadway" and, even worse, "Off-Off-Broadway" has a demeaning and condescending tone which has the ability to marginalise the artists which, well, form on the margins.
I think that Off-Broadway deserves more credit than it gets. It is the creative center for many B'Way hits. Also, as the article points out, there are many fabulous productions of great shows that never make it anywhere because Broadway producers deem them too specialized for the masses on Broadway.
Theater is not just about the flash and spectacle of top shows like Wicked, Lion King, and others. Theater can also be very small and intimate. Often, these shows get lost in the shuffle.
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