NYTimes.com: Exhibits that offer a glimpse behind the scenes at films like the “Harry Potter” movies are becoming increasing common as part of so-called experiential marketing efforts by the Hollywood studios. Now, an entertainment giant with a major presence on stage as well as in film wants to find out if such exhibits could stimulate interest in Broadway shows.
10 comments:
It seems this type of attraction is becoming very common, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. On the contrary, displaying the process and artistry behind a major production as popular as The Lion King is a great way to draw people in to theater, to educate about the work that goes into the conception of a show. I do believe we've gotten to a point in time where people want to see magic happen and believe it, and then they immediately want to know how it works, who did it, why. I find it interesting that as the performance industry is continually expanding and coming up with new ways to make shows or movies seem more real and to make the tricks more invisible, there is also an increase in the number of exhibits, books, etc. that go behind the scenes and break down the illusion. I'm not sure why that is. But it's interesting.
I definitely agree with Camille. It's great the The Lion King is celebrating their 15 years on Broadway with the opening of this exhibition. In some cases, exhibitions like these could be used as tourist attracters. While this may be the case, I enjoy the fact that this exhibition is free to its visitors. The Lion King has shared its magic on Broadway with countless families and children, and now they are sharing a little more by letting their fans into how the world was created. From a student's standpoint, I would absolutely love to see the beginning design sketches and plans for The Lion King, and hope other Broadway shows follow suit and open more exhibitions like this in the future.
I definitely agree with Camille. It's great the The Lion King is celebrating their 15 years on Broadway with the opening of this exhibition. In some cases, exhibitions like these could be used as tourist attracters. While this may be the case, I enjoy the fact that this exhibition is free to its visitors. The Lion King has shared its magic on Broadway with countless families and children, and now they are sharing a little more by letting their fans into how the world was created. From a student's standpoint, I would absolutely love to see the beginning design sketches and plans for The Lion King, and hope other Broadway shows follow suit and open more exhibitions like this in the future.
I agree that this is a good idea to get people more interested in theatre and the theatre industry, however, I wish that this was more of a Broadway venture, rather than just The Lion King. The Lion King as a production is already a huge tourist attraction. The tickets are hugely expensive, and they sell out most performances. It's amazing that this exhibit is free, but it would be even better if the exhibit was able to promote other Broadway shows as well, that might need the sales boost more.
A commenter above me said that she hopes other shows also do this. However, most Broadway shows don't have an extra $500,000 to spend on a free exhibition. Obviously, it's not the responsibility of The Lion King to promote the rest of Broadway, but it would be amazing if Broadway as a whole could pool resources to create an exhibit that showcases the "backstage" parts of many different shows, to maybe get tourists interested in other shows as well.
I think this is a great idea! I can imagine that anyone who goes through this exhibit without having seen the show will definitely want to see the show once they leave. I agree with Cat that it is unfortunate that shows that are hurting more aren't able to make an exhibit such as this one in order to draw in audiences. I wonder if it's possible for some shows to do a smaller-scale version of this, though, even if it's something that is set-up in the lobby of the theater during the day and then struck at night for performances. I think it would be great if shows could offer paid backstage tours as well. I realize that all of these things take money to get started, but it seems like they may have enough earning potential for it all to be worth it.
i do think it is a good idea. an exhibition of this show is not only draw people's attention to this show, but also to this production. how the whole thing runs and how people make it. not to mention the Lion king is such a great show, anything about this show will leads to a big influence. this is good for us. and this is a wonderful memory for people who joint the exhibition.
on the other hand, be honest i worry about the way they do it is just for commercial reason. i don't believe an exhibition will make people understand how a production works. it can only show no more than 1%. does it worth we spending so much time to organize such an activity is hard to say.
I love this idea and plan to go. I LOVE The Lion King. One thing they could do would be to add a model of the stampede that actually works. I remember seeing it when i was little and wondering how they did it.
I also agree with Cat if they promoted other shows out that aren't just Disney, but then again its Disney so they probably wouldn't.
I think this is just another great experiential marketing effort that will certainly be successful. With exhibiting "a glimpse behind the scenes," people can be educated and entertained how the backstage will be looked like and also be willing to attend the show. So, I think this idea of exhibition is great for both drawing more audiences and educating people. Especially as "The Lion King"'s 15th anniversary on Broadway, this will be memorable and valuable moments for both producers and fans. Although I see the cost of the exhibit is quite expensive, this is definitely worthy of doing it. With a lot of spectacle exhibition with thorough explanation, this seems so amazing. I think this event will definitely be good thing that will help tracing the history of the show by looking at the early concepts and sketches. I wish that other productions also try these innovative things.
This is such a great idea on the part of the marketing team for The Lion King. "Disney" and "Free" don't usually go together in the same sentence. I had the opportunity a couple years ago to shadow on the national tour of the show, so I'd imagine I've already seen most of pieces on display, other than the designer drawings and such. There are tons of exhibits like this that have to do with movies and their creation. While it would be great for other shows to do, I'm just not quite sure how feasible it would be. First of all, the money needed to get it up and running may not be available. Second, would an exhibit like this for a show not in the epic scale of The Lion King really have an audience? Obviously, there are those in the industry who would be interested, but other than that, I'm not sure there are many names other than Disney that this would actually work for.
This is what I love so much; being able to see the process of something that so many people adore. This show has been so iconic to so many people especially people my age because we grew up with this show. I definitely feel that this is a great way to celebrate 15 years and allowing people to see this is just great. Not many people would be willing to do this and the fact that they have compiled so much for people to interact with and take pictures with and see and explore and discover is just amazing.
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