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Member Name: James885
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Location: Bowie, MD


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MUFASA: THE LION KING, featuring songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda & directed by Barry Jenkins, in theaters Christmas 2024  Apr 29 2024, 11:37:44 AM

Love Barry Jenkins, but personally could not be less interested in this prequel that it seems nobody was asking for.

Honestly, if a prequel has to happen I would rather see a story from Scar's POV, maybe similar to Cruella. 

The shot-for-shot and lifeless 'live action' Lion King remake made bank at the box office in 2019 so odds are high this one will probably make a fortune no matter what - although considering&n


SLAVE PLAY headed to London?  Feb 13 2024, 11:24:45 AM

Caught this at the Taper in LA two years ago and didn't care for it; as a black male who has been in several interracial relationships in the past, I had a lot of issues with it.

That said, it'll be interesting to see how it's received in London.


Universal's WICKED Film - News & Discussion Thread  Jan 28 2024, 08:10:23 PM

ErmengardeStopSniveling said:

A year is not a long time between film sequels, especially when there's been 12 years between Avatars, 2.5 years between Dunes, 3.5 years between SpiderVerses...etc. The year between also allows for WOM to build on streaming after it's in theaters. Don't want to oversaturate the market with Wickeds. It also sets up something of a tradition - "we saw Wicked with the family last Thanksgiving, let's do the same again this year.&qu


An Oversaturated Spring? Data and opinions...  Jan 25 2024, 01:03:47 PM

GilmoreGirlO2 said: "Interesting article - I would also add that so many shows opening at once do make audiences have to pick and choose more, depending on the amount of spending money they have. With a whole bunch of shows opening at one time, even if I'd like to go and see the majority of them, with ticket prices as they are, it's impossible for me to financially attend all that I wish to in such a close time frame to each other."
 

This is sp


How to Fix the Broadway Model  Jan 17 2024, 04:02:04 PM

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: These one-size-fits-all contracts are killing Broadway. Even if it takes a couple months of strikes to achieve those things, that might be a net positive in the longterm. At the current pace, Broadway will eat itself alive.
 

Although I think the challenges Broadway faces are multi-faceted, this is a big one. It seems like at some point in the near-ish future sh*t is going to hit the fan and Broadway is going to have to reckon with t


Ragtime  Jan 16 2024, 12:45:46 PM

l absolutely love Ragtime (as evidenced by my profile pic) but it's a giant show with a very large cast, all of which adds up to high running costs.

Unless you got some very big names for the leads, I feel like mounting it in the current Broadway financial climate would be even more of a risky and costly endeavor than it normally is.


Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (APPROPRIATE) and Lileana Blain-Cruz (THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH) to adapt Prince's PURPLE RAIN to the stage  Jan 8 2024, 01:23:43 PM

My parents are huge Prince fans and so this movie was on a lot in our house growing up.

The movie's main draw is Prince and his music, the story and everything else isn't really that good.  The relationship with Prince and Appollonia is kinda problematic when viewed through the lens of today, so I assume that'll get updated to give her more agency. 

Like Ermengarde said, this feels like an excuse to do a Prince show on Broadway - and considering the


Bridge & Tunnel Crowd Can No Longer Be Counted On?  Jan 3 2024, 10:43:31 PM

Like others, I think cost is a bigger factor for a lot of people right now, rather than perceived lack of safety. This is anecdotal, but a family member who makes an annual trip to NYC - and used to always see at least one show on her visit - passed up seeing a show this summer (Cursed Child) because the tickets prices were so high. When even rear mezzanine prices are nearly $200, it becomes untenable, especially for families. By contrast, touring productions are usually at least a bit cheape


Freak accidents during Broadway shows endangering musicians  Dec 16 2023, 10:49:17 PM

IMO, the most disturbing incident in this article is of the conductor at Wicked fainting and stage management deciding to continue the show, all while the musicians dialed 911 for help. Maybe others more knowledgable can enlighten me but I'm hard pressed to think of a good reason why the show should not have been stopped at that point. 


Broadway Is A Vanity Project  Dec 1 2023, 06:39:56 PM

Yeah, I think he could've phrased it better but I agree with what he means. The current economics of Broadway have probably never been more challenging. It's tough for shows without star power or big IP to turn a profit. Like Emergarde said, convincing people to spend several hundred dollars on a show they've never heard of without big names is a very tall order. 

To that end, it's not surprising that a show like Back To The Future is playing so well; similar t


Dance of the Vampires Revival?  Oct 24 2023, 01:30:03 PM

Yes, Crawford (coming off of PHANTOM) was pretty much singlehandedly responsible for destroying the Broadway production, since the producers and creatives gave him free rein to make changes, add "laughs" for himself, and otherwise "beef up" his role -- which wound up eliciting the exact opposite response from critics and theatregoers."

Yup. Crawford was the biggest creative force behind so many of the changes that resulted in a Broadway version tha


Artificial Intelligence in the Theatre  Aug 25 2023, 12:32:03 AM

AEA AGMA SM said: "Assuming the current ruling from the courts that AI generated work can't be granted copyrighted, then it would be extremely foolish of any producer to use it to generate designs. Imagine someone doing it and then every podunk community theatre downloading and using the designs (yes, probably badly because they wouldn't necessarily have the budget to reproduce them to a faithful degree)."

I think where it gets murky - and where there will pr


Artificial Intelligence in the Theatre  Aug 24 2023, 04:59:12 PM

The recent federal ruling regarding generative AI as well as the current feud playing out in Hollywood makes me wonder: could we eventually see producers seeking to deploy generative AI in the theatre?

Obviously it'll never replace live performers, but could producers seek to use a future version of the technology in the development of new plays and musicals? Specifically I'm recalling the experiment BWW undertook in back in January where they asked ChatGPT to come up with an o


Universal's WICKED Film - News & Discussion Thread  Jul 23 2023, 10:30:57 PM

Valentina3 said: "jpbran said: "I think it was just 10 shooting days."

I wonder what happens to the sets etc if those scenes had to be shot in specific settings. Would they have to strike the set, assuming they don't have permissions or money to keep them up for a long period of time?
"

It's going to cost them (a ton of) money to hold those soundstages for the indefinite duration of the actor's strike. Every studio is currentl


SAG-AFTRA strike  Jul 13 2023, 11:10:42 AM

EDSOSLO858 said: "If producers were smart, they’d snatch up some big-name actors for future projects as soon as possible. Otherwise they’d probably be out of work for months, maybe even years."

Not trying to be snarky or sarcastic, but it's not like Broadway / commercial theatre is on rock solid financial footing either. 


NY, NY may be on its way to closing-NY Post  Jul 11 2023, 11:33:29 AM

jkcohen626 said: "The articles I need are not speculations on closing (we all knew NY, NY wasn't making it past labor day, right?), but an analysis of why on Earth producers keep throwing over $20 million at new shows (without stars) and how on Earth they're letting them cost this much to run. I know, I know, I know inflation, everything is more expensive. But a show that costs $1.2 Million a week to run still sounds absurdly expensive to me."

I'm not in


Hands off the Tonys | Screenwriters are striking at the heart of Broadway  Jun 1 2023, 03:25:12 PM

It's worth noting that shortly after 'saving' the Tonys, Jeremy O. Harris was recently spotted in Cannes at a lavish party hosted by none other than Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

Zaslav, with his $245 million dollar yearly compensation, has emerged as one of the chief antagonists of the writers' strike against the studios. Zaslav was also booed and interrupted during his  recent commencement address at Boston University.

So make of that information what you will, but I think it's weird for someone of his position to be rubbing elbows with studio honchos right now, even if he was there in an actor capacity and not as a writer.

David Zaslav, who is now one of the top executives in the entertainment world, mingled with Scarlett Johansson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese at a lavish soiree.

 


Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID live-action movie musical - News & Discussion Thread  May 29 2023, 12:15:01 PM

Caught this last night. It was fine, nothing more. It doesn't hold a candle to the original, despite some interesting story changes. The new songs were meh. Halle Bailey was the best part.

I'm surprised more people here aren't talking about how they cut half of Poor Unfortunate Souls. I thought that was a travesty and I'm surprised Alan Menken was okay with truncating one of his and Ashman's signature songs.

Really all this film accomplished was to ma


Kail to direct Disney’s live-action MOANA movie musical  May 26 2023, 09:48:35 PM

How long till the inevitable live-action FROZEN?


Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID live-action movie musical - News & Discussion Thread  May 24 2023, 01:10:20 PM

rosscoe(au) said: 
The Scuttle Rap the less said the better.
 

Lol, the Scuttlebutt rap song seems to be universally reviled. 

I've read / heard several reviews say that this is one of their better live action remakes, but considering how the majority of them have been pretty bad, I don't think the bar is set that high : )


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