Do You Think Broadway Will Become Extinct?- Page 2

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 10:04am

While we want that demographic we don't need MTV's brand of entertainment which doesn't go much further than to shock IMHO. If we could convince MTV to put on a show that wasn't just about appealing to our our base instincts only and actually had some sort of story to it with meaning (Isn't theatre supposed to be a higher art?), I would be all for it. What we need to find is some way to show people that Broadway is enjoyable. We need to get away from this 15 minute attention span that everyone has today and show people that these 15 minute shows have nothing on a good play or musical. We need to figure out a way to get "my" generation to listen. How do we do that? Well I think Sean Colmes in A Raisin In The Sun could be a start if he manages to do an amazing job with it. (Don't crack it til you've seen it. Even however unlikely you think it is.) While star casting is looked down on by many, it may be the best way to save Broadway. These are people "my" generation idolize. If they see them doing Broadway and doing a good job, it will bring more people to Broadway. I know many people out there hate seeing this done(actors especially). I think "big stars" should only be able to go on if they have the talent. When they do stunt casting with celebrities who are bad at acting, they may be helping the show in the short run, but they are hurting people's view of Broadway in the long run and may end up running Broadway out of business if they let the less talented ones through.

Updated On: 2/23/04 at 10:04 AM

Posted: 2/23/04 at 10:19am

..See, I think there is a great many people who Don’t WANT Broadway to be made accessible to everyone…They like having it as their own little stomping ground…makes them feel special…dare I say, better than the “average Joe”…

It makes them feel special to deride a Britney Spears while claiming that have that import album with rare Sondheim songs …and they know every lyric…

They can look aghast at Janet Jackson’s breast while crowing that a Sutton Foster would never stoop to something like that or a Chita Rivera never HAD to resort to a cheap stunt ….

It’s the constant degrading of other art forms or mediums by a large number of the Broadway community and fans that is heading all of them right in the direction of the dinosaur…

Ya'll see??…

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 10:20am

son, how dare you take that elitist tone!! just because mtv is and has been a purveyor of lowest common denominator entertainment and celebrates artists whose songs about violence and the degradation of women have helped contribute to a callous youth culture indifferent to human life, is no reason to claim that it's art is any less important or culturally significant than any other.

why i think it's a given that the artists currently in rotation on mtv will be seen as pioneers by the people of the future and that the popular music of today will be the classical music of the future. by that time, bitches and ho's will know dat if they gonna get outta line they gonna get jacked and if they keep on pushing dat i'm gonna busta cap in they ass. i for one long for the future when such lyrical brilliance is celebrated as the art that it is. it won't be long people before britney and cristina are seen for the geniuses that they are and their contributions to modern culture will be accepted and discussed along with the giants of the music industry.

broadway is obviously a dinosaur that's just waiting to be put out of it's misery by the next generation that has no time for singers actually singing when they could dance better if they were lip synching. it's practically dead already. i mean please, who even understands what that crazy tony kushner is talking about.

what we need is something that the youth can identify with. no messages, no story, just some violence and some sex and a blunt or two. yeah, bitch, dat's wha um sayin'. can ya feel me?

Updated On: 2/23/04 at 10:20 AM

Posted: 2/23/04 at 10:28am

That's right Mambo...It’s all THEIR fault...!

How much MTV do you watch? Not much if any I would imagine?

Still upset the Beatles crossed over, are we?

Everyone who listens to or enjoys something other than the cast album of "Redhead" is an idiot! Right!

Still casting blame on everyone but an industry that FAILED to acclimate itself to the times?

As I said, your - own - little - club - and as I also said it will end eventually so grab your original cast album of "Greenwilllow" and hold on tight!

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 10:29am

Papa, You LOL me. (In classic Jerry Maguire fashion.)

Updated On: 2/23/04 at 10:29 AM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 10:42am

nah, anth, i'm just po'd that nwa and public enemy don't get enough props for their trailblazing.

to be honest, i'm not much of a musical fan really and don't even own a single obc album or cd, although i've worked on more than my share. so you can keep your "redhead" (especialy since mrs. mambo has made me swear them off). and i never called anybody an idiot although, if the shoe fits, lace it up baby.

beatles? nah, i always preferred the stones and the stooges and the original misfits.

everything ends. it's a question of whether it ends with it's head held high and at least with a semblance of it's ideals (not that it has ever really had any, but that's beside the point) or whether it panders to the most base instincts of humanity.

Posted: 2/23/04 at 10:59am

True…..I think we should just stop trying to connect to any generation or pander to anyone without a degree from AMDA and just let it die.... just let it go…

Just produce MAME and Streetcar over and over until everyone who cared is dead or at the least, in a coma....

Let it slide down the toilet without any thought of innovation...because the very thought of innovation is enough to make everyone have the dry heaves…

Burn baby Burn with your head held high and your feet planted firm on the ground…

[EddieVarley]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 11:04am

I don't know everyone is getting all upset, in the future will are going to ruled by apes, so it doesn't matter. Now what the apes will be enjoying theater-wise is the real debate. Maybe something like, "Hello Darwin!" will be the big hit....

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 11:07am

eddie! how can you say that? everyone knows that 3 chimps typing to infinity will eventually produce hamlet, so it's obvious that our future simian overlords will enjoy highbrow plays and merely dispense altogether with the musical.

Posted: 2/23/04 at 11:11am

I love apes...!! so cute and they bray with almost the same power as Sutton Foster!

[EddieVarley]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 11:16am

I stand corrected papa, perhaps the musical is, indeed, doomed to extinction. Oh well, back to serving my present simian overlord. She just called me "Bright Eyes", but I ain't never gonna let her know I can speak.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 12:08pm

voiceanth - What makes you think MTV wants anything to do with Broadway in the first place? Broadway has endured wars, assassinations, stock market crashes and terrorism for over 100 years now. I think it will be fine without the sponsorship of the false idol of MTV. The attitude is not isolationist. It is a completely different art form and a completely different forum. If Broadway is guilty of isolating MTV, then MTV is certainly guiilty of the same. When was the last time you heard of a musical making music news on MTV? Possibly a mention of Billy Joel's connection with Movin' Out or Elton John's win for Aida, but only because of their pop star status. MTV takes care of their own such as Joey Fatone when they do a show, but could care less about anything that doesn't contain a pop star.

Personally, I would rather not have Broadway associated with MTV. Does that seem elitist? Maybe. But what has MTV ever offered to the public in the last 15 years that Broadway so desperately needs? A demographic of violence/sex hungry teens who celebrate binge drinking and cruelty? I'm not exactly sure how that would benefit Broadway. Yes, I have watched MTV since its birth in the early 80s and while it used to stand for innovation in the music world, it has very little to do with music any longer. Broadway is not extinct yet. But if it decided to celebrate the mentality of the MTV programming, then what we know as Broadway will be extinct.

"They can look aghast at Janet Jackson’s breast while crowing that a Sutton Foster would never stoop to something like that or a Chita Rivera never HAD to resort to a cheap stunt"

Sutton probably wouldn't and Chita probably didn't.
What's your point? When was the last time Janet Jackson auditioned for Aida? You're talking apples and oranges.

"The Tony’s Ratings have declined precipitously since 1979"

Have they? I don't know the figures. What are they?

"People, when RENT failed to get anyone excited for very long..well…that was pretty much it….."

What do you consider very long? Eight years and it's still running. Seven of the top ten longest running shows in Broadway history have opened since 1982. The other three opened in the mid-70s. Even with slump seasons, each decade is producing longer-running shows. How do you substantiate that people are not excited about Broadway?

"Let it slide down the toilet without any thought of innovation...because the very thought of innovation is enough to make everyone have the dry heaves…"

There have been huge innovations from book structure to scenic and lighting design to musical styles to political and social commentary.

I think the big question here is, what exactly are you expecting of Broadway and musical theatre? And what exactly do you think MTV has to offer that is beneficial to Broadway? And why are you so desperate to compare musical theatre to the world of MTV? It's two completely different genres. While there may be a bit of crossover in musical style of the score, there is really nothing else the two entities have in common. Why not add opera into the mix?

Posted: 2/23/04 at 12:46pm

And what exactly do you think MTV has to offer that is beneficial to Broadway?

Voiceanth: An audience! Ya not gonna live forever, Mister Matt!...Who goes to shows when we all drop dead?

The question was; do you think Broadway is becoming extinct?

And I answered yes.... it’s nothing new.... Broadway forgot (or did they refuse to do anything) to appeal to any new generations for decades...and every now and then it hits the community right smack in the butt.

It's not new....

While the world was focused on Vietnam in 1971 …...Broadway thought that everyone needed to see "No, No, Nanette"…or "Coco"…. like anyone not gay or over 40 in 1971 cared about anything in those two shows in 1971…

Live in a bubble, die in a bubble!

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 12:53pm

Speaking of the MTV thing....
I have said before that IMHO most people outside of NYC don't know who most broadway actors are. Movie stars and pop stars are where its at, and for many of these people broadway is seen as a "step down" in there careers. Growing up out of NYC broadway was always talked about as the place where has-been movie and tv actors go when't when they couldn't get any more jobs and I think alot of people still see it that way.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 1:25pm

Broadway still has a very diversified audience nationally and internationally. And guess what? It is mostly the younger audiences that have kept shows like Rent and Aida alive on Broadway. Not to mention the thousands of children that have seen Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King that were thrilled with their first Broadway musical. Broadway survived over 80 years before the birth of MTV and will continue to do so. If you're so concerned about the future generations of the Broadway audience, why are you focusing on the MTV group? Why not Nickelodian and the Cartoon Network? How about the major national networks, WB, and FOX? They also have millions of young viewers.

My big question was directed to your response. Was that difficult to understand? I'm sorry if I confused you.

Moving on....

Your comments about the 1971 season and Vietnam only support what I've been saying. Coco closed in 1970, so no one saw it in 1971 anyway. I noticed that you selectively ommitted quite a number of msucials that opened that year such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Inner City, and Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death. All very thought-provoking pieces of the era as well as two shows inspired as a direct response to the US involvement in Vietnam; Hair in 1968 and Paul Sills' Story Theater in 1970, both of which were still running in 1971. Not to mention the countless plays offered in 1971. So shows like No No Nanette and Coco were only a fraction of the diverse variety of shows during the period.

I think the bubble to which you refer is the one in which you are living. Open your eyes and do your research. People obviously cared enough about No No Nanette that it ran for 861 performances.

Perhaps you forgot (or refused to acknowledge) that Broadway has been trying to pull in the younger generation with its pop-star stunt casting. Do you think Baby Boomers or the Senior grouops really care about seeing Deborah Cox or Joey Fatone? Shows like Avenue Q and Jerry Springer The Opera should be getting the attention of MTV, but perhaps they are too intelligent for the network to consider endorsing?

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 1:30pm

And let's not forget the Buffy Musical!

Posted: 2/23/04 at 1:36pm

We need more of Joey Fatone....Maybe Joey in the Buffy Musical would be good...

...and X-Tina as EVITA would astounding....

She should be cast as Jo in "Little Women" ...not, well you know....

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 1:38pm

newyorkuniq - "Growing up out of NYC broadway was always talked about as the place where has-been movie and tv actors go when't when they couldn't get any more jobs and I think alot of people still see it that way."

Where have you heard of these opinions? Even my friends in Texas and Chicago who are not theatre fans still consider Broadway to be very highly respected. It's still "BROADWAY". Most of the people I talk to consider it a big deal for a major star to perform on Broadway considering they could probably be making more money doing something else. Look at Hugh Jackman, for example. How many people really think he is doing it because his career is dying?

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 1:43pm

Well it's not my opinion thats for sure, but I have friends who are out in LA who feel very strongly about it.

Posted: 2/23/04 at 1:44pm

Justin Timberlake in a revival of PAl JOEY...now, THAT I would go see!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 1:51pm

Broadway won't die, just devolve. It's already a snootier version of Vegas, anyways so...I see Starbucks Theater, Comcast Follies, Oprah's Theatre Club, Wells Fargo Theater...

Perhaps a more pertinent question might be what will happen to off-Broadway? When Kander/Ebb, riding a career high, can't get their "The Visit" produced Off-Broadway....what the hell is going on?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 2:03pm

Borstalboy - Have you seen The Visit? I saw the tryout in Chicago and it really wasn't memorable. But I did think it was better than Bounce. The Light in the Piazza was far superior to either show.

Posted: 2/23/04 at 2:09pm

Britney Spears in Sweet Charity!

Now THAT would be something!

Then Broadway would be hotter than hot! Talk about MTV coverage night and day!whew!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 2:19pm

No, sadly, I missed The Visit. But nonetheless...Sondheim and Kander/Ebb are.....well, they're Sondheim and Kander/Ebb! Pioneers that deserve to be produced so that those of us who love them can love them at their worst.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 2/23/04 at 4:36pm

ahh IT BETTER NOT!!! haha or it can when i die. hahahha jp! but hopefully it will stay for good!