NYTimes.com: Efforts to screen high-definition broadcasts of Broadway shows in movie theaters have been random, halting and frustrating. Yet, in little more than a month, a filmed-live version of the recent Broadway production of “Of Mice and Men” came together and, beginning in November, will be beamed into about 1,400 theaters around the world.
12 comments:
A part of me wonders how much of this idea was sparked from last year's live broadcast of The Sound of Music. It seems like this taping truly resulted in an act of fate. It is amazing that the production team, producers, and others involved were able to pull this off without planning for it from the very beginning of the run. This taping also probably wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the National Theatre footing the $1 Million bill. I can't imagine the producers would have signed off on this without that incentive.
It will be interesting to see the result of this taping. If the production ends up making a large sum of money off of ticket sales, I wonder if other Broadway productions will follow suit and start planning national recordings from the very beginning of their processes. While this idea certainly has the potential for making the producers and creative team more money beyond the closing of the show, I am more interested in finding ways to use filming and tapings to entice people to come see productions while they are still being performed live on stage.
I agree with Jess. This reminds me the of the idea around the Sound of Music live broadcast, except with a late plan that the producers, directors and team think will work. My issue with this broadcast idea is that show got pretty low ratings. Seeing a live filmed performance is only good if the broadway production is unbelievably amazing. So I already assume that this taping will be a failure and a waste of money. Yes it publicizes the production to a larger audience to grab more attention, however, if it's gets even worse rating than the broadway performance then that's puts a downer on the whole Of Mice and Men team, even Steinbeck. I love the idea of taping performances so fans can capture and keep their favorite performances, but if the production relieved bad reviews, it shouldn't waste money on a live broadcast.
I really like what Jess has to say in the end of comment about finding ways to get people to see the production and not just the filming of a production. With a play that has James Franco in it, it was already popular because of his large fan base. If this becomes a movie every James Franco will rush to the theater to see it because now it will be advertised in everyday life. I am not so sure that a move like this will do anything for theater as a whole but just the producers and people involved with the production who make money off of this idea.
Yes! I'm extremely excited about this. This is (hopefully) going to be a high-quality version of a Broadway show. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see Of Mice and Men, even though it's a show that I hold dear to me. In the future, I hope that national tapings become commonplace. I don't think that this will steer people away from seeing live people. On the contrary, I think people, if they see the movie, would want to see the live play. I also see a big market for people who have seen the show live and want to treasure it. And, there's also people like me who can't get to New York for time and financial reasons who could definitely afford a movie ticket over a Broadway ticket. Obviously, the experiences won't be the same, but c'est la vie.
I always question how successful filmed versions of staged productions would be. When a show is performed in the theater it is designed and block in a very specific venue works in that setting. This is primarily because the audience is so far away from the actors, and that you are able to become really immersed in the world. Where as in film, there are very different techniques used to achieve this. In film you can very specifically tell the audience where to look using closeups and editing. This could make a filmed version of a stage play unsuccessful because the story will not come through because the same techniques aren't being used. I'm interested to see what happens with this!
I actually knew about this before because I saw Of Mice of Men a few days before they filmed it. I am friends with one of the assistant stage managers and he was telling me about the filming and showed me all of the extra equipment backstage for it. Everyone on the production had to work a lot harder and come in a lot of extra hours to set up the equipment to rehearse and then take it down for a normal performance. They had to make a few adjustments for the cameras. I was told that it will play in theaters for a certain amount of time, then it will be locked up in a vault and no one can see it again.
I actually knew about this before because I saw Of Mice of Men a few days before they filmed it. I am friends with one of the assistant stage managers and he was telling me about the filming and showed me all of the extra equipment backstage for it. Everyone on the production had to work a lot harder and come in a lot of extra hours to set up the equipment to rehearse and then take it down for a normal performance. They had to make a few adjustments for the cameras. I was told that it will play in theaters for a certain amount of time, then it will be locked up in a vault and no one can see it again.
This is interesting. Like some people have mentioned, there has been a lot more interest in widely availably theatre recently. The Sound of Music Live, the up coming Peter Pan Live, and even movie musicals like Les Miserables, Into the Woods and The Last Five Years all seem to point to the fact the the public likes theatre and will pay money to see it if it is brought to them. From the perspective of a business person or a consumer of theatre, this is superb! I adore seeing my favorite shows come to life before me for a fraction of a broadway ticket, and if people like me will go to see them, they will certainly get made.
On the other hand, our world is quickly becoming insta-tized. Everything is becoming available at the tips of our fingers, and in that chaos, theatre has remained a pure art form, existing in the moment it has been performed in and no longer. Theatre is special because if done well, it catches up the cast and the audience into an all-encompassing moment. That power can't be translated onto the screen, and I worry that if filming productions becomes too common, it will diminish the need for real theatre. There is a law of economics that says that people won't pay more for something they can get for less, and my concern is that for people with a mild interest in theatre, the availability and accessibility of filmed productions will quell their desire to see real productions. I hope for the best with this run, but I also hope that this doesn't become the norm. If shows were meant to be filmed, they would be movies.
From Broadway to the camera, I’ve seen previews at the movies of the screening of a performance that was done. I’ve always thought to myself how the productions go from the stage to the screen. The process seems like it takes quite a bit of planning, and I guess I never thought that the entire crew needs to give their approval in order for the project to happen. I believe that with the societal trends happening, that people want to see those ‘A’ list stars on the screen that they will be more willing to go to events like this one. The shows they pick to do are just as important when adapting, because who wants to go and see a show that’s been done several times over, but you know what people still go to them. I guess it all depends on what’s trending at the time, and with “Of Mice and Men” I would definitely be wanting to go and see it, it’s been years since the last time I saw the production.
Awesome! I am not interested in attending another rendition of Mice and Men but there are a lot of shows that I will not get to see in person, because New York is expensive and far away, and I eagerly await the day when the stigma around recording theater is low enough that I can watch the recordings. I think that a large part of the stigma is about low quality of the recordings out there. People are under the impression that a good recording of a live play is impossible. I hope that with this show they do a truly good one that will show people is possible. Hopefully paving the way for more in the future.
Seeing as the premier of this just recently came out my comment will be a little retrospective. This being said when I first heard about this project I felt a little skeptical. I believe this could've stemmed from my opinion on sound of music live, which I was not very impressed with. I felt that either something should be made for film or the stage but not have the ability for both. The two categories of this art form are separate for many reasons. Mainly staging and choices. Staging on an actual stage focuses on spatial relationships to each person and their area but on a film this is not as important. Likewise certain acting choices can vary based on whether you are on stage or film. However, with the recent opening of Of Mice and Men... I may have to change my opinion. It was very very very well done. It had all the in depth feeling of a stage performance with the individuality of a film. I am interested to see what other shows will transfer live on tv and can not wait to see the inevitable flops and successes that await.
Growing up without any kind of access to Broadway was extremely frustrating. I dreamt about it. I wanted to see it. I actually owned the Jekyll and Hyde DVD and I'd watch it over and over again because that was the closest thing I had to magical Broadway. If this were to become the new normal, to record and broadcast Broadway shows, so many more people would have access to that magic. I think this is a wonderful idea.
The only problem is the cost. I would have gone to see the filmed version Of Mice and Men, but I didn't even hear about it. So if I didn't know about it, I'm assuming that people who don't usually associate with theatre didn't know about it either. So how successful was it?? Was the cost worth it?? If we record and broadcast Broadway shows, are people going to want to watch them?
I really do hope that this starts to take off. That kid in me who grew up longing to experience THE Broadway wants nothing more than for this to become a regular thing. For people who can't afford or don't have access to live theatre, this is a great alternative.
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