A cast member of a touring show (who i won't divulge because she might get in trouble) has a bootleg video of her performing a song attached to her facebook
I was under the impression that they frowned upon this kind of stuff not promote it
i ran into julia murney in a hotel in atlanta after she was out with bronchitis...she told me to see if i could find a bootleg because she knew they were out there... and she supported them... so i guess not...
Apparently Equity wants a clause added to all contracts that the performers must actively denounce bootlegging at every chance they can. I don't think that's going to go into effect in 2008, though.
Performers want to be able to see themselves - how many posters here have dvds/videos of their high school/college performances? Bootlegs are the only option for union performers (not counting TOFT, but that's hardly as convenient, and you can't keep those).
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
Within a few days after HAIRSPRAY opened on Broadway, a fan gave Marissa Jaret Winokur a bootleg of the show. Marissa then gave it to her understudy so the understudy could better learn the show.
It happens all of the time. A lot of performers and designers love to have a copy of their own work for their personal records. I know of several performers in tours who tape the show in rehearsals for themselves.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
i ran into julia murney in a hotel in atlanta after she was out with bronchitis...she told me to see if i could find a bootleg because she knew they were out there... and she supported them... so i guess not...
btw i love her, she is my hero
Didn't Julia asked the Chatterbox audience for a bootleg when she was on there for "Chess"? Someone handed her one too...it was hilarious.
Anyway, I agree with Rathnait62.
"I'm-Not-That-Boring-Low-Ass-Girl?! You better go up at the end!" - Seth Rudetsky to Julia Murney about her Solo CD choice
"Apparently Equity wants a clause added to all contracts that the performers must actively denounce bootlegging at every chance they can."
Does that mean that they are going to put it in their bio, right next to where they brag about being a proud AEA member?
'Tondela Thundercrotch is THRILLED to be part of this awesome production! Big shout out to God and family! She is a PROUD member of AEA and TOTALLY won’t be friends on Facebook or MySpace with you if you support bootlegs.”
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
i think bootlegs and youtube clips sometimes help. I would have never bought another Wicked ticket had I not heard Julia Murney's voice on youtube and instantly turned into a devoted fan!
I think bootlegs do more good than harm. Does a theatre queen having a Taboo bootleg hurt anyone? Is the teenage girl with a Wicked bootleg not going to want to buy a ticket to the show?
Equtiy can have thier own opinion about bootlegs just like individual actors have thiers.
The reason why I don't think the clause in the contract that states that preformers must denounce bootlegs won't work is because they realize that everyone has thier own opinions about it.
Though, if they really want to. They can go down the path of saying that the actors are part of their group if they don't like thier idea on bootlegs then they can leave.
I remember talking to Block at the stage door on one of the final preformances of Pirate Queen. She said that Linclon center didn't come to record the show or anything. But, that no one should be worried because chances are that bootlegs will be all over youtube.
Every actor on broadway is entitled to thier own opinion on the topic. I do think that they are a good thing. There are people who don't live near broadway who are in to it. It may be the only way to see their favorite preformeres. And, they do tend to help people get interested in a particular show. I think that they don't do a good job of proving thier case of saying that broadway bootlegs are totally bad unless they look at some of the good things that have come out of it.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
i think bootlegs and youtube clips sometimes help. I would have never bought another Wicked ticket had I not heard Julia Murney's voice on youtube and instantly turned into a devoted fan!
Oh, they totally help. Over at her fan forum, admins allow people to openly talk about boots they've seen of Julia. She's made quite a few fans that way. In fact, some of her most devoted fans have never even see her live. It's amazing.
"I'm-Not-That-Boring-Low-Ass-Girl?! You better go up at the end!" - Seth Rudetsky to Julia Murney about her Solo CD choice
And also, for performers who have never appeared on a cast recording (and there are many), bootlegs are the only way they can market their talent outside of the theatres during the runs of their shows.
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
I think that the producers aren't a fan of them because they worrie that they will prevent tickets from being sold. That they think that people would want to see the bootleg as oppose to seeing the live show.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
Anthony Rapp was asked if Rent 10 was gonna be filmed and released (Last year) and he said how he appreciates them because it gives people a chance to see a show who don't usually see a show or people who are poor. But somewhere he said you should never pay for one.
On the other hand, Nathan Lane supposidly saw a guy with a video camera and told him to get out.
In my opinion, They help people choose whether they like a show or not. That's how I chose to get Avenue Q tickets. I decided how funny it was AFTER the common bootleg. Same with Rent. This was 3 years ago by the way.
He's a faker, and you've been taken in by his con. And in doing so, you are enabling him. He is doing more damage to aspergers than papa's words ever could. -Chane/Liverpool on me having asperger syndrome.
Julia is the best elphaba I've seen and I wouldn't have made the effort to see that... less-than-deserving-of-seeing-five-times show for a fifth time without youtube and bootlegs.
Producers may argue that people won't go see the show if they can see it for free on a bootleg but I argue that bootlegs have convinced me to see several shows I wouldn't have otherwise considered... ie Karen Ziemba's Thataway in Curtains sold the show for me...