Maybe this should be its own thread...or maybe it was at one time...but which Broadway or London productions that have been released on home video have you liked? BILLY ELLIOT LIVE was released on DVD and Blu-ray last week. Anyone buy it?
What are your favorites? Do you buy them when they're released or just watch them on PBS, NetFlix, etc.?
Let's include concert productions of shows, too...like SWEENEY TODD with Patti LuPone and the San Francisco Symphony...or COMPANY with Neil Patrick Harris and the New York Philharmonic.
I get a hold of all of this stuff as it comes out, and I feel that my collection is far more impressive than what they are offering at a rather exorbitant price. I feel like Jekyll and Hyde, Putting it Together, and Memphis were all less than great productions to begin with, and they can all be found on DVD for a couple bucks.
The Shakespeare stuff is nice to have access to, but most of those are also incredibly trite productions with a high snooze factor. They certainly do not find a middle ground between the poetics of of Shakespeare's language and telling an exciting story. The poetry really does shine through on them, but they lack entertainment value.
If they are able to offer more original content, and make deals with the producers of current productions both here and in London, then I will consider coughing up the cash of a subscription.
I haven't seen anything from the Lincoln Archives... are the videos professionally shot and edited? or are they just like a house video they show in theater lobbies
I get it that some producers may not want to film currently running shoes, but what about shows that are going to close. Like gentleman guide or hand to God. Or film shows and then when they close release them. Also I wouldn't mind getting an updated filmed version of curious incident.
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I think that would also be a great idea to film shows that we're going to close and release them after they close. Why not? It keeps their name out there. I asked the producer of Broadway HD on FB if they were going to release more modern current shows and he said yes but gave no time frame of when that would happen. I wouldn't mind seeing some of the Shakespeare shows in the meantime and I have never seen Memphis so would like to see that.
Not worth it for $15. But I wish they would start filing Broadway productions; I don't live in New York and I can't afford to go there to see shows, so I would love to purchase videos of shows, or at least have a streaming service that is affordable and has the latest Broadway material. I am all for that, no matter how much producers wine and complain. It would eliminate bootlegs as well! I really, really, really wish they would do this. It's 2015.
Every so often there was a rare moment of perfect balance when I soared above him.
haterobics is right. even if they put a copyright protection on the video meaning that you won't be able to download it, one can easily use a recording software that captures whatever is on the computer desktop. keep the application on while the video is running in full screen and you've got yourself a nice pro shot play / musical lol.
The thing is, besides being an utter toad of a human being, Riedel usually has the least knowledge of the topic in the room. He doesn't usually understand the content or approach of a show, and is always completely and unfailingly socially ignorant, which makes it really infuriating when Susan can't get a word in edgewise. A definitive mansplainer; it's always painful when he has female guests. I watch the show sporadically when I really want to see a guest, because it's the only theatre talkshow we have, but it would be so much better without this hateful clown in a dadcoat. (thanks ScaryWarhol)
^Add a small watermark with the account name. I sometimes buy digital webcomics/books and noticed that some do that on every page. It's not bothersome, as most TV network logo "bugs" work the same way.
I also agree with the idea that airing only closed productions may be more enticing to producers, instead of competing against the live stage, though that also begs the question of when something should be filmed for this (perhaps only after a closing announcement).
Wanted to bump this thread to see if anybody has subscribed to this. I love the idea, but it looks like the content is the same as when it came out (very BBC heavy and few actual Broadway shows...) I'm hoping that with the success of the livestream of 'Daddy Long Legs', producers would see this as a viable opportunity! Just wanted to get people's opinions or if they knew any insider information about things being added to the collection anytime soon...
Jshan05 said: "Wanted to bump this thread to see if anybody has subscribed to this. I love the idea, but it looks like the content is the same as when it came out (very BBC heavy and few actual Broadway shows...) I'm hoping that with the success of the livestream of 'Daddy Long Legs', producers would see this as a viable opportunity! Just wanted to get people's opinions or if they knew any insider information about things being added to the collection anytime soon..."
But the only real way to measure the Daddy Long Legs stream "success" is whether or not it produced a noticeable uptick in ticket sales for the show still on stage, assuming it was serving as "advertising" the way Davenport insisted. In that respect, I don't believe the livestream was successful. But it did increase album sales, so there's that.
The Daddy Long Legs experiment does not exactly reflect BroadwayHD's potential or purpose because that was done for free marketing purposes; literally Davenport said that the main takeaway was only that "people want this." Well, of course they do. Lots of people would like free livestreaming for lots of things. Questionable commercial viability is probably why so many Broadway producers are still shunning BroadwayHD, I imagine. But there have been ideas shared in this thread that I think would help, if current producers can keep an open mind.
^^ That makes sense, I suppose I used the wrong wording when I said success. I thought it was successful in the sense that a lot of my non-theater friends had the chance to watch something they usually wouldn't have and ended up really enjoying it.
Bottom line for me is that I am hopeful these new ventures with technology will have a snowball effect and more productions will be made available/will experiment with new ways to get their show out into the world (without taking away from the magic that is actually sitting in the theater and experiencing a show.)