Saturday, October 22, 2011
Broadway gets religion
Variety: This season, Broadway's finding its faith. With a new production of "Godspell" in previews and a revival of "Jesus Christ Superstar" on the way in the spring, the New Testament has staked out two potentially concurrent Rialto outposts. At the same time, a handful of producers -- including the team behind "Memphis" -- have begun to tap the same faith-based demo that has powered sales of recent films such as surprise success "Courageous."
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5 comments:
In this election season where faith based votes are determining the republican candidate I am not surprised that these shows are doing well. It seems after "The Passion" the faith based market in entertainment is enormous.
It seems as if Broadway is jumping onto the Book of Mormon train. I recall that when the show first opened, the biggest surprise was that Mormons seemed to love the show. Perhaps, with this new influx of faith based shows, while making fun or celebrating, Broadway is attempting to broaden the demographic. If the Mormons are coming to see Book of Mormon, how about some more family friendly shows?
I'm interested that all of these faith based shows are up at the same time, I agree that it isn't very surprising. While these shows are based around religion, the themes and stories are relevant and interesting to people of all religions/backgrounds. Religion is an incredibly powerful and important part of North American culture and it makes sense that this would be reflected on stage. Luke makes an interesting point about it being the election season and I would agree with that notion. Every four years religion becomes an even more common topic of conversation and it becomes more important for candidates to speak openly about their beliefs. This season probably reflects the current mindset and focuses of the nation - explaining why these shows are so popular. Not to mention the fact that religion sells even for the most basic level that everyone has in the country has been affected by religion in some way.
I never thought about faith-based groups being concerned about seeing these types of shows, but it's great that they're realizing that Broadway isn't exploiting their faith but instead presenting it in a relatable and entertaining way. Broadway is not out to upset the religious people of the world! As a person that is not religious at all, I really appreciate these shows as an educational tool. This is really awful and I realize that I was ignorant, but I learned a lot about the characters and events of the Bible story from shows like Jesus Christ Superstar. I was never exposed to the Bible story or other religious tales much in my household, so these shows have opened my eyes a bit. I think shows of a religious nature require special care in production and presentation, but I think that they are great for marketing and ticket sales (as this author pointed out) as well as for education.
It’s very interesting that there are currently so many shows on Broadway that deal with religion. I knew that these shows are going on, but they are such hits that you forget they are all centered around what is largely considered a controversial topic. It is amazing that these shows deal with controversial topics in such a way that they manage to not overly offend anyone. Religion often becomes important in times of economic downturn as people search for something stable to turn to. Perhaps this is why these shows are so popular now.
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