Beginning previews March 1, “Les Miserables” represents a notable test case. Unlike prior Broadway productions that have all gotten box office boosts from even mediocre pic adaptations — everything from Oscar winner “Chicago” to cineplex flops “Rent” and “The Phantom of the Opera” — “Les Miz” wasn’t actually running on the Main Stem when the movie hit the bigscreen in late 2012. Is it now too late to expect a Broadway halo effect from a film released more than a year ago?
7 comments:
I'm positive this article is correct in that the movie will definitely help ticket sales for the Broadway revival. The producers essentially got a totally free massive marketing scheme a year in advance of their opening. People who would never have even heard of Les Mis now know about it and like it. The film reached people who know nothing about theatre at all, and can serve as a bridge between these two populations. Of course, it is impossible to compare what the ticket sales would have been without the release of the movie, but I bet that ticket sales for Les Miserables will be extremely high.
Of course it would help the revival. It definitely would hurt the amount of people who go to see the production. I do think t would be more of a challenge for the creative team now that people have seen this production on film. Even though you can't go to a theatrical show expecting the movie, you should expect a good quality show that is usually better live.
I don't like Les Mis, which I know is like sacrilege in the theatre world, but it's true. And although, as the article points out, movies help their Broadway counterparts, I think the fact that the show isn't on Broadway and the movie was terrible will inevitably hurt the show. Any publicity is good publicity, economics says, but that only works I think on a large scale. Because the show is not on a big stage (literally and metaphorically), people who may have seen Les Mis for the first time will be very much unlikely to want to see it again. People who know the show will also have a bad taste from the movie, and also aren't likely to want to see the show again. I think that a Broadway show has a certain appeal that a smaller show doesn't have, and I hope the movie doesn't hurt the show too much.
I personally think that its funny that the article is even being written because its obvious to me that the movie is going to help with the musical. Les Miserables is all the rage because of the movie and it will clearly help support the musical version. New generations and viewers became familiar with the story with the movie release and now people are going to be trilled to see it live with professional actors. Because of the movies quality and freshness audiences are going to be swarming to the theater to watch this amazing production.
Everyone seems really eager to say that the movie is going to help the revival of Les Mis. However, I would not be so quick to agree. This is a really tough call because yes more people are aware of Les Mis and the story but at the same time the movie kind of sucked. When we talked about the movie in my theatre class back in high school the overwhelming majority was the film was awful and never should have been produced/ ruined a great theatre show. I think this could either intrigue people to go see the revival or make them think its old news and they should not bother taking the time to see it.
I do not think that the movie will help the revival; however, I have been telling my friends who have only seen the movie to make sure they see the musical in its original format. I did enjoy many aspects of the movie, but there were some things that I could never forgive. Overall, I would choose the musical any day. I'd especially love to see this revival with Ramin Karimloo as Jean Valjean. He is a really talented actor and has been good in every role he has played in Les Misérables so far (including Javert and Enjolras).
It will help the revival. All publicity is essentially publicity; whether it's good or bad. Most of the musical theatre community despised almost everything about the film besides Anne Hathaway. That being said, it reminded the public how moving the story of Jean Valjean is. Les Mis is also fresh and has been kept fresh longer than some would expect. When I hear Les Mis, they go and see it. No matter who is doing it because the music is so moving.
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