Bad for Broadway...- Page 2

[kangaroo]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 3:56pm

I agree with JBSinger on a few things: But I do think that although expensive, Broadways do take a lot of money to go underway.
But I don't think that Broadway stars get paid enough. They work really hard, and they barely earn anything... Cameron Diaz got millions for one day of work in Shrek 2.
I think also taht they should stop bringing actresses to Broadway who don't belong there, and their names are just there to sell the name. I think Hugh, Deb Cox, Antonio, and there may be other exceptions... but Disney stars are not needed or wanted on the Broadway stage.

[Dare2DefyGravity]

Posted: 1/7/05 at 11:58pm

I don't see why people are continuing to say that the review shows are becoming bad for Broadway, Mamma Mia! and Movin Out are huge money makers on Broadway, some of the biggest draws every week. And some that may be coming up, such as All Shook Up, will do alright because of the universal appeal of Elvis Presley...

[Lucifer]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 12:40am

Also I think that some recent musicals that are original have this kind of Disney-esque sound... is it just me? I feel like since we're a target audience who grew up w/ classic disney, the music style has changed to that

[bjivie2]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 1:03am

I would say that jukebox musicals are hurting Broadway the most. At one time, we will have like 5 of these running at the same time soon. It's ruining the medium of theater. While they make money, we have less and less musical theatre writers out there. If we challenge people to be creative and do their best work, that is when we'll get the best theater.

As far as casting stars, I have no problem with that, because Broadway just needs to get people in seats, and as AndyHardy said, it's called showBUSINESS. If they ruin the show, that's another thing, because I'll hate them for eternity. But casting people like Brooke Shields to keep Wonderful Town going is fine by me.

[ElTico68]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 1:05am

Hm... I hope I can put what's on my mind into written words that make some sense... (and yes, I'm editing first)

People gripe about "what's bad for Broadway": unqualified pop stars, music reviews, unoriginal shows, large extravagant shows. But at the end of the day, they keep Broadway alive. Is it the BEST theater in the country (like it used to be)? Probably not. But it's work for artists, and the one place almost anyone who has any acting ambition aspires to be in one day.

You want "good theater"? Go to the off-Broadway, off-off-off-Broadway (dare I say "outside of New York) productions, where you have smaller theaters whose goal is not money and having a show that will run for years on end, where it truly is still a labor of love.

Believe me, I have nothing against Broadway or the large productions. I love them and look forward to the scarce opportunities I have to go and see a show.

I see it like the movies: you have your big A-list movies, with $20 million paychecks for the stars, movies that for the most part, are average at best. That's what gets the masses into the theater. Then you have the indies for the interesting work, the more challenging work that the big studios dare not touch.

Anyway... I hope that makes sense. It makes sense to me.

A question for you all: you know what's wrong with Broadway, what are you going to do about it? From what I gather, a lot of you are young and and college, so the future on B'way is on your hands.

[jo]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 1:08am

I am getting wary of the trend of Premium tickets taking over almost all of the good seats. It used to be that they referred only to a few rows in Center Orchestra. Now, they are creeping to other parts of the ground level and maybe Front Mezz, too. It's starting to feel that you can no longer see any show fairly close if you are willing to pay only the regular top price of approx $ 100 or so.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 1/8/05 at 1:09am

ElTico: most brilliant person on this board.

Everything you say is true. It's SO true.

And just to let you know, I plan to usher in the next generation of musical theatre shows, writers, directors and performers. I'm going to be the next Hal Prince. I swear to you. Mark my words!! (www.contemporaryclassics.org)