Friday, August 16, 2019
How Broadway Is Going Beyond the Theatre to Cultivate New Audiences
thebroadwayblog.com: While fans continue to flock to Broadway until recently it has remained a relatively singular art form with little monetization extending beyond the reach of the theatre, where patrons can pick up posters, coffee mugs and other branded swag. But the entrepreneurial spirit reigns supreme, and now an extension of the creative vision behind Broadway shows is available to those who can’t snag a seat.
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4 comments:
The title of this article is actually a rather positive spin on a rather weird trend what actually going on in Broadway, they're just finding new ways to make more money with something that is way too expensive to begin with. Whenever I'm in New York, I hardly ever will pay that much money for a show to have a couple hours of my time, and thats coming from a person who wants to be making shows like that for a living. The real solution to the issue of people not having access to shows due to monetary constraints is to make it cheaper, but that goes into a full other discussion of broadway making money. A novel for a broadway show to me is rather overkill and kind of capitalist, but for Harry Potter I'm okay with it because its really just a nice hard covered version of the already published and performed script. I think Broadway needs to find better ways to reach more audiences and find ways to make the art of theatre more than just the past time of the wealthy.
Natsumi Furo
As a foreign resident who just visited NY to see Dear Evan Hansen, a musical I longed for by listening to a cast album, I felt a strong affinity with the topic of this article. I enjoyed imaginary theatre-going by listening to albums and reading books far across the sea from Broadway. However, there were some points in this article that made me feel slightly uncomfortable. Firstly, I strongly agree with the comment above that Broadway shows are getting too expensive as the art of theatre. Although the art of musical performances today cannot avoid commercial and business aspects, being too expensive sets the theatre far beyond the common people’s reach. Secondly, “whether the book is an offshoot of the musical, providing more insight with which to view the plot, or meant to solely exist as a separate entity”
I have doubts about the existence of a novelization. It is common for novelizations to have backstories and supplementary explanations that is not clarified on the stage. However, the extra information would fill the space for imagination. If the specific details are given, the audience would not be able to overlap themselves to the character by bringing up their own experience.
Just as this article states, live theatre is becoming more exclusive with its expensive ticket sales. It’s frustrating as a person who loves live shows because I want to watch the performance and learn from them for my future career, but ticket prices make it nearly impossible to do so. Not only that, but it can be exclusive to those who don’t see live shows often and interest can be easily lost. It was exciting for me to read this article because the theatre community recognizes this and is making an effort to make up for it. These extra show expansions not only allow new faces to get into theatre in a cheaper, accessible way, but it gives old fans more material to appreciate their favorite shows. Theatre is a medium that is meant to be shared. While it’s not the same as a live performance, these materials can still bring the joy of theatre at a personal level.
~Elinore Tolman
Just as this article states, live theatre is becoming more exclusive with its expensive ticket sales. It’s frustrating as a person who loves live shows because I want to watch the performance and learn from them for my future career, but ticket prices make it nearly impossible to do so. Not only that, but it can be exclusive to those who don’t see live shows often and interest can be easily lost. It was exciting for me to read this article because the theatre community recognizes this and is making an effort to make up for it. These extra show expansions not only allow new faces to get into theatre in a cheaper, accessible way, but it gives old fans more material to appreciate their favorite shows. Theatre is a medium that is meant to be shared. While it’s not the same as a live performance, these materials can still bring the joy of theatre at a personal level.
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