www.hollywoodreporter.com: Elton John believes his musical Tammy Faye flopped on Broadway because it was “too political for America.”
The legendary singer-songwriter recently shared his thoughts with The Sunday Times on the show’s short-lived run on Broadway. Tammy Faye, which featured John’s music, chronicled the famous televangelist.
4 comments:
There's no science for what succeeds on Broadway and what flops, But there's no denying Broadway is a money maker. Look at two of the longest running shows: Phantom of the Opera and Chicago. Both have a level of spectacle that is appealing to a variety of age groups and cultures but neither have an overly political message, or arguably even timely message. There are spaces for political shows even on Broadway, but a big Broadway musical has a slim overlap with the political show audience. The show may have been better suited for a notable regional theater, or Chicago theater, but Broadway was not ready for it yet. With that said, I would go as far as to say it was too political for America. There are a lot of incredible theater artists who are making timely impactful shows that Force the audience to critically think about our current political environment. The show needed to find its niche audience and begin to build a presence first before moving to Broadway.
This is not a great time for non-Americans to make art thats main selling point is pointing out what America is doing wrong. Right now, especially starting around the election, is a time where America is hyper sensitive to what other countries think is wrong with america, and most people are not too happy to hear about it, especially from western europeans and brits. It is ironic, and telling, that this is a prime time for political comedians like John Oliver and John Stewart, but the exact wrong time for Tammy Faye. You might be asking ‘but John Oliver is British’, which is true, but John Oliver has been making political commentary as an American for over a decade, and has developed an audience that trusts him and his commentary without believing that he is condescending to them. The last thing a country wants when they know they are facing a collapse is another country telling them what they’re doing wrong from across an ocean. Tammy Faye can succeed in england, where they can point and laugh at America’s faults, but current American audiences will widely want to part in that.
There certainly are cases of shows that were too controversial or too ’political’ but the end all be all is if it’s recognizable. Broadway is expensive, It needs to have something people know and trust. Jukebox musicals are popular for this reason. People want to know they’re spending their hard earned money wisely. Aint no mo had this exact problem that it was a phenomenal show but it couldn’t keep a consistent audience because it didn’t have any known famous actors, it wasn’t a jukebox, and it wasn’t a known franchise or show. So despite how much people tried it didn’t succeed. It’s awful but it’s not changing any time soon. If people are spending massive amounts of money on these tickets they need to know they’re getting their money’s worth. With this however I could see it being a political issue but it was written by a famous artist so it had that going for it. Which means the possibility of it having been too political is definitely there.
I really wanted to see Tammy Faye because I had heard so many things about it both good and bad and I feel like when a show stirs up that many opinions it can go either way but I was super disappointed that it only ran for like two weeks before it announced its closing. I feel like the difference between theatre on Broadway and theatre in the West End is becoming increasingly clear. I feel like America does not foster a real appreciation for theatre and people often view Broadway as a one stop shop type of place where they come to see a show just for a good time and then they don't really have to think about the deeper message anymore; whereas in the West End, there is a lot bigger of an appreciation for theatre especially theatre that is controversial or a little bit experimental. This really makes me think about how audiences can really make or break a show and how luck plays a huge role in the success of a show.
Post a Comment