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Monday, October 20, 2025
Experiential entertainment is having a gold rush but commercial success is far from certain
Business | The Guardian: When the first ever stage adaptation of the global book and film franchise The Hunger Games opens its doors in London next week, fans paying up to £200 have been promised an “electrifying” and “immersive” experience.
2 comments:
Payton
said...
This is very interesting to me, since I love immersive productions but I’m not a huge fan of all these remakes. It makes a lot of sense that the only thing people are willing to pay to see is what’s already familiar since it’s so expensive to experience theater anymore, but really the biggest problem here is money. Not to go full on anarchist here but if we didn’t have to worry about profits at all, we wouldn't have the issue we do here. More authentic creation, larger audiences, and an easier way to connect with that audience. I hate how commercial the theater industry has become. We are no longer producing to create a shared feeling, but to make enough money to persist. So many theaters no longer have the option to just create to send a message or share a feeling because they are so concerned with staying relevant and making money, which they have no choice but to do unless they want the production company to collapse, so all of the shows they produce are remakes of Disney movies because the audience will go see a disney movie over a thing they don’t recognize. While this issue isn’t the fault of the production companies or the consumers, but rather our society’s economic systems, we as consumers can help these companies have the financial freedom to create more mindfully by supporting their work financially. Step one to solving this problem is to go buy a ticket and see a show. Maybe enjoy it, maybe hate it, either way let it make you feel something- that is the whole point.
People yearn for something new, and studios are too terrified to try IPs that will not be guaranteed to turn a profit. Audiences yearn for something new, especially after years of only unplanned sequels and remakes. The biggest barrier is that experimental means not everyone will like it, which seemingly terrifies investors and producers. I think that's part of the point of experimental arts, the knowledge that what you’re seeing is subjective, and you may just be one of the only people without the art equivalent of the cilantro soap gene. People also want live theater despite the general population not being as keen on Broadway as in the past. This may be the shift that Broadway needs to make an actual comeback. A redefinition of the musical theater genre, at least, is necessary. I am annoyed that part of the drive for immersive events is “viral ability” and things in place with the sole reason to be posted about and get more people to buy tickets, but I cannot knock that tactic, it is a good one.
2 comments:
This is very interesting to me, since I love immersive productions but I’m not a huge fan of all these remakes. It makes a lot of sense that the only thing people are willing to pay to see is what’s already familiar since it’s so expensive to experience theater anymore, but really the biggest problem here is money. Not to go full on anarchist here but if we didn’t have to worry about profits at all, we wouldn't have the issue we do here. More authentic creation, larger audiences, and an easier way to connect with that audience. I hate how commercial the theater industry has become. We are no longer producing to create a shared feeling, but to make enough money to persist. So many theaters no longer have the option to just create to send a message or share a feeling because they are so concerned with staying relevant and making money, which they have no choice but to do unless they want the production company to collapse, so all of the shows they produce are remakes of Disney movies because the audience will go see a disney movie over a thing they don’t recognize. While this issue isn’t the fault of the production companies or the consumers, but rather our society’s economic systems, we as consumers can help these companies have the financial freedom to create more mindfully by supporting their work financially. Step one to solving this problem is to go buy a ticket and see a show. Maybe enjoy it, maybe hate it, either way let it make you feel something- that is the whole point.
People yearn for something new, and studios are too terrified to try IPs that will not be guaranteed to turn a profit. Audiences yearn for something new, especially after years of only unplanned sequels and remakes. The biggest barrier is that experimental means not everyone will like it, which seemingly terrifies investors and producers. I think that's part of the point of experimental arts, the knowledge that what you’re seeing is subjective, and you may just be one of the only people without the art equivalent of the cilantro soap gene. People also want live theater despite the general population not being as keen on Broadway as in the past. This may be the shift that Broadway needs to make an actual comeback. A redefinition of the musical theater genre, at least, is necessary. I am annoyed that part of the drive for immersive events is “viral ability” and things in place with the sole reason to be posted about and get more people to buy tickets, but I cannot knock that tactic, it is a good one.
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