#1
Posted: 11/1/12 at 9:10am
Dear Roundabout,
First of all, congratulations on the insane brilliance that is your new production of THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. The casting is brilliant, the costumes are gorgeous, and the sets breathtaking. In 25 years of theater going, seeing shows at every level of theater there is - high school, community theater, regional theater, national tours, and Broadway - I've never spent an evening where I've had more fun.
Now, having said all that, I think it would be a crying shame to let this amazing show slink into oblivion without being commemorated in various ways:
-First off, I think the insane BEAUTY of this production needs to be preserved in a souvenir program. I know you don't typically do programs (except for long running shows like CABARET and ANYTHING GOES) but these costumes and sets need to be remembered (especially at Tony time).
-Secondly, this is an AMAZINGLY musical cast who is singing the crap out of this score. I realize the Original Broadway Cast Recording was just re-released, but that doesn't take the need to record this cast away. Stephanie J. Block, Will Chase, Jessie Meuller, Andy Karl, Chita Rivera and the rest are giving such exceptional musical performances they deserve to be recorded.
-Finally, adding this all together, I would BEG you to track down an investor to finance filming this show. With the advent of today's interactive technology (i.e. DVD and Blu-ray) you could bring the fun audience interaction into people's homes. Surely someone could design a DVD/Blu-ray where, when time comes for the voting element of the show, a menu would pop up and the at home watcher could use their remote to choose who is Datchery, who is the murderer, and who are the lovers. It would be time consuming I realize, but one just need film each possible ending and through seemless branching... voila, you have an at home experience to closely match the in theater joy.
Too many amazing shows have gone by without being preserved in this manner (your production of CABARET is one that is a travesty to not have on film) and it would be a real shame to not take advantage of modern technology to allow a wider spread experience of this amazing evening of theater.
Thanks for reading and congratulations again on your great artistic success with this show.
Sincerely,
R.J. Lowe*
First of all, congratulations on the insane brilliance that is your new production of THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. The casting is brilliant, the costumes are gorgeous, and the sets breathtaking. In 25 years of theater going, seeing shows at every level of theater there is - high school, community theater, regional theater, national tours, and Broadway - I've never spent an evening where I've had more fun.
Now, having said all that, I think it would be a crying shame to let this amazing show slink into oblivion without being commemorated in various ways:
-First off, I think the insane BEAUTY of this production needs to be preserved in a souvenir program. I know you don't typically do programs (except for long running shows like CABARET and ANYTHING GOES) but these costumes and sets need to be remembered (especially at Tony time).
-Secondly, this is an AMAZINGLY musical cast who is singing the crap out of this score. I realize the Original Broadway Cast Recording was just re-released, but that doesn't take the need to record this cast away. Stephanie J. Block, Will Chase, Jessie Meuller, Andy Karl, Chita Rivera and the rest are giving such exceptional musical performances they deserve to be recorded.
-Finally, adding this all together, I would BEG you to track down an investor to finance filming this show. With the advent of today's interactive technology (i.e. DVD and Blu-ray) you could bring the fun audience interaction into people's homes. Surely someone could design a DVD/Blu-ray where, when time comes for the voting element of the show, a menu would pop up and the at home watcher could use their remote to choose who is Datchery, who is the murderer, and who are the lovers. It would be time consuming I realize, but one just need film each possible ending and through seemless branching... voila, you have an at home experience to closely match the in theater joy.
Too many amazing shows have gone by without being preserved in this manner (your production of CABARET is one that is a travesty to not have on film) and it would be a real shame to not take advantage of modern technology to allow a wider spread experience of this amazing evening of theater.
Thanks for reading and congratulations again on your great artistic success with this show.
Sincerely,
R.J. Lowe*
<-- Tevye, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, March 2018
Updated On: 11/1/12 at 09:10 AM
. It is nice to see people respond positively to this show, but I wonder if they are going to struggle to keep it running for the initial engagement (let alone an extension, a cast recording or a filming). Is the word of mouth for the show otherwise good? I wonder if that's the most important thing at the moment. 
