Bootlegs during Quarantine

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 11:20am

I know bootlegs are a touchy subject on this board, but I've seen a few Broadway actors and writers mention that they've been watching bootlegs of shows during their self-isolation periods.  Also, playwright Jeremy O. Harris posted this tweet about a change in the online Broadway culture surrounding bootlegs.

I just wondered if you guys had any thoughts - it's an interesting discussion to be had.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 11:34am

I don't see a problem with a brief bootleg moratorium during the Quarantine.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 12:03pm

Even BWW's own Alan Henry said this!

https://twitter.com/AlanHenry/status/1243921766352859139

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 12:21pm

I’m sure full pearl-clutching over this will be back in effect when theaters reopen.

[Impossible2]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 1:07pm

There was a new and excellent bootleg of the original London cast of Six up on youtube a few weeks back.
 

Updated On: 4/3/20 at 01:07 PM

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 2:05pm

The Hadestown bootleg is awesome. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 2:41pm

I've watched several bootlegs already and am planning on watching more during quarantine.

[FlyHigh523]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 3:57pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I’m sure full pearl-clutching over this will be back in effect when theaters reopen. "

Hahahaha, yup. Funny how the people who had the most to say about bootlegging are quiet now. 

[stoptheworld38]

Posted: 4/3/20 at 10:48pm

I watch bootlegs pretty often cause I don’t get to go to NYC very often. However, I generally try to resist/avoid watching bootlegs of shows currently running on Broadway until I’ve seen them once, cause I don’t want it to take away from the experience of seeing it live for the first time if/when I eventually get the chance.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 12:00am

FlyHigh523 said: "Jordan Catalano said: "I’m sure full pearl-clutching over this will be back in effect when theaters reopen. "

Hahahaha, yup. Funny how the people who had the most to say about bootlegging are quiet now."

No, they are still bad. My takeaway from this thread is this. People are using the Broadway shutdown as a justification to do something they shouldn't be doing regardless, just to make themselves feel better about doing it in the first place. 

Look, I am beyond pissed that Broadway is shutdown, I've got bills to pay and having trouble collecting unemployment. I know as well, that the posters here, just like me enjoy seeing shows too. But, many of the posters here are also ones who complain when someone takes out their phone during a show either to record or check texts etc. You really can't hav it both ways. 

 

And, I think it's great that younger people all over the country have fallen in love with Broadway. But, just because you can't get there to see shows doesn't justify it either. It's a show after all, you're not going to die from not seeing a Broadway show.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 1:44am

The quality bootlegs are not the ones shot by amateurs on a phone.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 8:48am

Fly high....are you insinuating those normally against bootlegs are gleefully sitting at home watching them?

I'm not. I dont enjoy them so I dont think its we'd worth my time to search got them. I certainnly will never pay for them.

I'm also tired of beating this dead horse of a discussion.

[inception]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 11:15am

After reading this thread, I did a search on google for "Hadestown bootleg" which immediately brought up a youtube video of the whole show filmed in London. While I'm sure producers could just as easily do their own google searches, id there any simplecway to report these illegal recordings?
There should be some sort of black list for people caught recording shows. They should be evicted from a theatre, and then at the very least be barred from attending any other bway show.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 12:01pm

inception said: "After reading this thread, I did a search on google for "Hadestown bootleg" which immediately brought up a youtube video of the whole show filmed in London. While I'm sure producers could just as easily do their own google searches, id there any simplecway to report these illegal recordings?
There should be some sort of black list for people caught recording shows. They should be evicted from a theatre, and then at the very least be barred from attending any other bway show.
"

That won't happen for several reasons. One, if I see someone with their phone out during the show, regardless of the reason, I have to tell them to put it away in an a way that causes either zero interruption to the folks around the culprit or as minimal as possible. Second, it is bad for business. That said, they wold never do what you suggested. The notion of delivering high end customer service is a notion across the board no matter which company owns the theatre. Therefor, banning a potential customer is not only a silly notion but one that would cost both the owners of the theatre and producers money. It doesn't matter if it is one person or say forty people. And, no one would be willing to keep list of who can and can't come in either. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 12:39pm

Islander_fan said: "inception said: "After reading this thread, I did a search on google for "Hadestown bootleg" which immediately brought up a youtube video of the whole show filmed in London. While I'm sure producers could just as easily do their own google searches, id there any simplecway to report these illegal recordings?
There should be some sort of black list for people caught recording shows. They should be evicted from a theatre, and then at the very least be barred from attending any other bway show.
"

That won't happen for several reasons. One, if I see someone with their phone out during the show, regardless of the reason, I have to tell them to put it away in an a way that causes either zero interruption to the folks around the culprit or as minimal as possible. Second, it is bad for business. That said, they woldneverdo what you suggested. The notion of delivering high end customer service is a notion across the board no matter which company owns the theatre. Therefor, banning a potential customer is not only a silly notion but one that would cost both the owners of the theatre and producers money. It doesn't matter if it is one person or say forty people. And, no one would be willing to keep list of who can and can't come in either."

You'd be surprised.

 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 1:23pm

So in 2016 I ran across a bootleg of Waitress. I was intrigued and bought a ticket. I ended up making 6 trips to the diner before the show finally closed. 

Same with Dear Evan Hansen. So many shows where a bootleg snippet got me to buy a ticket. Can't tell you how much money I've probably forked over because I saw a bootleg of that show.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 1:26pm

Bootlegs are a necessary evil, lets not re-litigate this ****.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 1:27pm

I highly doubt that. As front of house we get the most banal asinine issues brought to our attention all the time. We can smell audience BS from a mile away. As an example, ticket takers move at rapid pace to get everyone in. One of them  accidentally didn't catch a woman who brought in a cup from Starbucks into the theatre. I told her polity that she had to throw it away. Her response was that the usher at the door said it was ok. I can assure you, the usher at the door didn't say it was ok. They just didn't see it. Big difference. Or people who have vertigo buying tickets in the balcony thinking it wasn't going to be as high as they initially thought, only to get there and realize they were wrong. We try to give them a lower down seat if possible. But, if there is a chance that that may be the case, why would you buy a balcony ticket if that is a potential issue that could come up. It's like in order to enter the theatre you have to have an IQ less than your shoe size. 

But, I am curious what makes you say I'd be surprised. I don't mea that in a snarky way. Genuine curiosity was/is the tone I'm gong for.  

[copskid949]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 4:42pm

My personal take is that I usually refrain from watching them unless the production itself is defunct, or I just want to examine a cool moment for the purposes of “Wow, I’d really like to examine why/how this choice was made.” However, given the current circumstances where we currently have no idea if certain things will return, I’ve watched a Beetlejuice bootleg twice. But something I can say for sure is that, if I could, I would pay to see that show a lot more based on what I saw, and you can bet I’ll go see the tour when it rolls through.

Yeah bootlegs are illegal and probably against the best wishes of most creative teams, but I seriously have to agree that social media just makes a show stronger. I mean, of course it’s better to watch something live than pretend you’re there through somebody’s phone. Anyone watching a bootleg would LOVE to be able to get in that room. Sometimes you just really want to connect over something, and in the streaming age you’ll see a lot of people, teens especially, gravitate towards a medium where they aren’t trapped by financial/geographical situations. And I think especially while the physical world is shut down, maybe that’s okay?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 5:34pm

Plenty of actors have been sharing clips of themselves or their friends for years on social media now, especially in the past three weeks. The area will always be gray, no matter how many people here want it to be black and white.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 6:14pm

TheatreFan4 said: "Bootlegs are a necessary evil, lets not re-litigate this ****."

How - in ANY WAY - are the NECESSARY????

[Kad]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 6:21pm

Personally, I would rather know that the artists involved in what I am watching have A) consented to being filmed and B) been adequately compensated for having their work recorded and distributed in perpetuity.

Especially now.

A lot of fantastic stuff has been pro shot and been made available to stream- and from places other than Broadway. Just because you can’t see what’s on Broadway this season doesn’t mean you’re deprived of decades and decades of theatre.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 9:50pm

If the show is closed, I say bootlegs are not a big deal. If the show is still running, that is a problem because the show might lose business if people can watch it for free on YouTube (or whatever their "supplier" is).

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 9:54pm

inception said: "After reading this thread, I did a search on google for "Hadestown bootleg" which immediately brought up a youtube video of the whole show filmed in London. While I'm sure producers could just as easily do their own google searches, id there any simplecway to report these illegal recordings?
There should be some sort of black list for people caught recording shows. They should be evicted from a theatre, and then at the very least be barred from attending any other bway show.

 

 

"Any simple way to report these recordings?"

I have to share my experience being in a bootleg PRODUCTION:

Many years ago I was in a local production of INHERIT THE WIND at a now defunct theater. We knew something was fishy when we were given photocopied scripts at the first read-thru. The production turned out to be fairly good and we settled in for a one-month run. 

The producers were so happy with the show--especially  with the young actor playing Bertram Cates, that they invited the NEW YORK TIMES to review it for their Long Island section. The review was very good--not glowing, but good--and when we got to the theater for a performance a few days later, there were police in front of the theater who would not let us in. It seems that the people at Samuel French read the Times' review, found that this was an illegal production and had it shut down. That evening's performance was canceled but obviously everything was worked out by the following night because the show went on with the producers insisting that it was all a misunderstanding and the royalties had been paid upfront--probably at the same time that they paid to have the scripts photocopied.
"

 

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 4/4/20 at 10:16pm

A lot more bootlegs are popping up. On YouTube, new boots of both Beetlejuice and Waitress appeared on my homepage