dot.LA: After dominating the internet with its short-form videos, TikTok is taking its content to the next stage—literally.
The video-sharing platform has commissioned its first musical, “For You, Paige,” which will be performed live from a New York theater at 4 p.m. PT Thursday and streamed on the platform. While funding a musical may sound like an odd project for a social media company, TikTok has emerged as a hub for music creators and fans.
4 comments:
This is a really interesting idea. My first thought was concern that this reach into the musical theatre world is just the latest of Tik Tok's advertising strategies. Although there does seem to be a fair amount of that in here, it also seems like a genuinely interesting show. The premise is very similar to a lot of the more modern musicals that have been swearing as of late that seem to be either hit or miss once on stage, so I will be very interested to see how this turns out. The idea of it not having a live audience at all is also very unique. I am very appreciative of the covid caution, even at the extreme of not sharing the physical filming location, and as stated in the article it lends a particularly challenging element to the staging of the play. I am left to wonder if in the future there is an in person performance of this show, if there would be a change to the staging or if it would remain the same as a nod to the platform it originated from.
I am not ashamed to admit that I spend way too much of my time scrolling through TikTok, so I was surprised when I saw this article and has not heard this news already. The company definitely has the money to do a high scale production, but I was surprised to see that they are using a New York Theatre. However, when I got to reading about the story line of the new musical, I was a bit bummed. The story line is too familiar and re-used. It’s basic to say the least; a couple of friends and one of them gets offered to follow their dreams, but at the cost of leaving their best friends behind. It may sound harsh, but I would have wished they would have at least tried to be a little more creative in the story line. But, realistically, they are catering to their target audience.
I think they're right about the appeal of tiktok, but I'm kind of shocked that this isn't going to be performed for a live audience. While the target audience may be people scrolling through tiktok (and perhaps it is some larger campaign to attract viewers to the platform's live content feature), I can't believe they aren't trying to market this to the larger public. Why rent out a whole theater - on BROADWAY, no less- if you aren't going to make the most of the opportunity? My second thought is about revenue. Unless tiktok's ad premiums are pretty high, surely it'd make more sense to put on the show with ticket-paying audience members. Even if it were just for a short run, I think it'd draw a lot of people in. Most of all, I think that the team behind this musical should've just produced it in a non-Broadway theater. Given that their performance will be captured by cameras, it seems like the name of Broadway itself is just being used for name value - clickbait, essentially.
A quote from Blankenbuehler says "Any responsible artist is coming back to this as a different artist." really stuck me. I think the pressure for many artists is that we are both the same and different at the same time. I think the overall tone of the pandemic was “going back to normal”, however this quote made me think in a different perspective. “Back to normal” is not how we should be. I think art changes with the times, and if art does not change in a time like this, could it really still be called art? Further, theatre has more or less stayed the same throughout the years, and I have to wonder if the model most theatremakers are sticking with still works for the modern world? If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that the world can change so drastically and people will still find a way to move forward. I think that it is time for theatre to move forward as well. Though it is difficult, I believe that we should also come back as a different theatre, rather than what was before.
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