Broadway Musicals to DVD - ITW, PP, OK, BFO, JCS, J&TTD, etc

[CapnHook]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 9:38pm

On DVD already, we have INTO THE WOODS, PETER PAN, OKLAHOMA, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, JOSEPH & THE TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, CATS, etc.

Recently announced (though still not officially announced) is THE BOY FROM OZ.

Do you feel that there are (or were) past shows that financially would have done well, if released to DVD; AND the producers were in a position to do so?

Also, WHY did other shows get a DVD release? What were come deciding factors?


It is a puzzle to me why Disney wouldn't want to release their shows to DVD. They certainly have the money, the marketing capability, and a huge fanbase. A great deal of people wouldn't buy the DVDs because their musical theatre - they'd buy them just because its a Disney item. There is a HUGE market for Disney DVD collectors.

The only reason why I would think Disney wouldn't do a release is because it might impact ticket sales to their shows. Well - AIDA is now closed. Why not release it?

Disney is growing interest in Broadway, and musical theatre in general. Touring soon is ON THE RECORD, with a possible Broadway landing. Coming in 2005 is MARY POPPINS, and in 2006 is TARZAN, and then in 2007/08 is THE LITTLE MERMAID (all tenative plans as of now, except for POPPINS which does come next year).

At their Disneyland themepark in CA, a stage musical of ALADDIN opened and closed, and playing now is SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARFS.

So Disney obviously recognises the theatre fanbase. The golden question is: why not score some dough on DVD releases...even when their show closes?

And what about non-Disney shows? Why have producers given the go-ahead in the past?

DISCUSS!!

[aces25]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 9:42pm

Don't forget JEKYLL & HYDE and SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 9:43pm

Previously, without the Chris Columbus movie coming, I thought Rent would be an awesome musical to put out on dvd, but i think that once the movie is released, the dvd wouldn't be as popular as the movie.

Aida would be a great idea. Disney can do anything. Please do this!

I'd love to see 42nd Street out on dvd...the only version out right now is the actually movie, upon which the musical is based, and while it is a classic, I think the Broadway show has more...."ummpff!"

I think Fosse was a good idea to put onto dvd, and they did a fantastic job. I love watching it.

And I can't wait for the Boy From Oz!

Anyone else?

[CapnHook]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 9:48pm

Yes, there was also PUTTING IT TOGETHER, several plays and concerts, KISS ME KATE, PIPPIN, and I think that's it...

(I'm not including made for TV movies, or movie musicals, or performance clips - ala Broadway's Greatest Treasures).

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 9:54pm

Les Miz and Sweeney Todd

[Matt_G]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 9:56pm

Wait, we're talking OFFICIAL releases here, right?

[ps27b]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 9:58pm

Would you tell me more about the possible Boy From Oz DVD - was it filmed before the show closed or is it going to be a movie version of the show? Thanks.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:00pm

LES MISERABLES was never released onto DVD. There is a concert version and a non-musical movie.

We're talking about releases of shows videotaped as a stage performance - the show in its entirety.

Updated On: 9/14/04 at 10:00 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:00pm

the London Taboo...

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:02pm

Sunday in the Park with George...

[PleaseChangeMe]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:03pm

There is also Passion and Follies in Concert.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:03pm

Passion

[CapnHook]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:04pm

The point of the post wasn't to name all the released DVDs, but to discuss why releases have happened, and why they haven't!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:44pm

Very few Broadway musical DVDs have ever been able to repay the cost of their filming and distribution to the home DVD/video market. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to do a professional multi-camera pro-shoot of a stage show. In addition, the union costs of filming it in the US are generally prohibitive -- which is why Victor/Victoria and 42nd Street were filmed in Japan and even a one person show like "Elaine Stritch at Liberty" was filmed in London (as were Kiss Me, Kate and Oklahoma). There are significant royalty considerations as well, with releases and contracts that must be negotiated for every performer with Actor's Equity and royalty fees which must be paid to the composers, book writers, directors, designers, musicians, conductors, orchestrators and stage managers, who either get a percentage of sales or a very large flat fee. Add in the cost of actually pressing, manufacturing and distributing the DVD to a very limited market of potential buyers interested in plunking down $20 or $30 for a DVD of a Broadway show and it's a losing business proposition for any company that might potentially be interested in selling such a product. Only the very largest of hits (that have already grossed hundreds of millions wordwide and run for many years) have a large enough potential audience to make such an enterprise have even the remotest possibility of being profitable.

There's also the fact that once a DVD of a show is out there on for the general public to rent from their local video store for $3, how much does that damage the potential market for the stage show in the years to come? If someone has seen a show for free on HBO, Showtime or PBS or rented it for next to nothing, what would be their motivation one or two or five years later to plunk down $90 or $100 to see the road company of that show when it comes through town? Yes, the real fanatical Broadway fans will want to see it live, but what about all those thousands of others who might have paid for a ticket, but now don't feel they have to since they feel like they've already seen it for free on tv? This is something producers of every Broadway show think very seriously about before allowing their show to be taped and shown on tv and/or distributed on DVD -- if you say yes to a few thousand dollars you can get by selling the rights for a DVD release, are you perhaps forgoing many more thousands, even millions, by touring the show on the road for the next decade or more (not to mention local regional companies and community groups may be more hesitant to book your show to do themselves if they think that a large chunk of their potential audience has already seen it on tv or video).

The shows that have been filmed and distributed, for one reason or another, felt that it was a good deal for them to do so -- for various motivations. For the Sondheim shows that are on DVD -- Sweeney Todd, Sunday In The Park, Into The Woods, Passion -- Sondheim himself wanted a definitive record made of each show with a cast and production he felt proud of and represented the show well for posterity's sake. He's a very wealthy man, so, for him, the financial considerations were entirely secondary (not to mention, few of those shows were likely to make millions on the road). I'm not sure, but I imagine he and his collaborators worked out a very modest royalty deal with the distribution company that made the video/DVD release financially tenable.

For "Cats," by the time it made it to DVD, it had already run for nearly two decades in NY and London and played nonstop everywhere in the world for a generation. Lloyd Webber and his partners had seen the show and its various companies gross over a billion pounds wordwide and frankly, at that point, the show was finally showing signs that it was beginning to have run its course (though DVD or no DVD, it was still going to take in millions for years to come). I think Webber, like Sondheim, wanted to have a definitive record of the show and as the 20th anniversary in London was approaching, decided to OK the DVD release.

Boy From Oz also makes sense as a DVD release. Hugh Jackman is done with it, which means there's no real money to be made from any tour -- the show was savaged by the critics and without Jackman, it never would have run let alone paid back its investment. I can't imagine a lot of regional groups or community theatres wanting to do it. The show has no financial future (in North America, at least), so why not make a few more dollars off of Hugh Jackman in the show with a DVD release?

It wouldn't surprise me if Disney decided to release and market its shows on DVD at some point, considering the company is the master of all media -- some big, super-hyped concert of AIDA with Headley and Pascal with Elton John on piano et al filmed live in Egypt and televised worldwide etc etc...... that's the sort of stuff they do.....

Other shows are much more modest affairs and as such have to be a lot more careful about signing away all the rights for nothing more than a few showings on Showtime and a DVD release. For most shows, a DVD release is an awful business deal for them -- in exchange for six figures or so, they could be potentially costing themselves millions in royalties and bookings over the course of the next decade or two.

Updated On: 9/13/04 at 10:44 PM

[luvWICKED416]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:59pm

Is JCS with Lisa Brescia??????

[CapnHook]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 2:30pm

Thanks, Margo.

It all makes sense, but I was puzzled as to why some DID get released, and others not. The BFO DVD came by surprise.

Are there any recent/current shows you think that DO have a remote chance of getting a DVD release?

[Matt_G]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 2:37pm

Of the current shows, I could see AVENUE Q being released at some point. It's not your typical Broadway show and it has the ability to reach a larger audience than the typical theatre fans.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 2:39pm

I could see AVE Q, but if their plans for a TV show or movie take form, it won't happen.

What about WICKED? They have Universal for marketing and DVD production, and it does have appeal for WIZARD OF OZ fans.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 2:43pm

The other reason I say AVENUE Q is because they are not touring the show. They are putting it in Vegas so, like Margo said, it wouldn't cut into their ability to travel the show.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 2:48pm

LOVE Avenue Q.

I'd like to see Beauty and the Beast preserved... but in the "Palace" version, not the "Lunt" version.... such astunning design....

[Matt_G]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 2:50pm

The show did lose something in it's transfer over there. That was the first Broadway show I ever saw at the Palace and was blown away by it.

[joeyjoe]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 2:52pm

there were many older shows taped for the Broadway on Showtime series back in the late 70s and 80s, among them The Me Nobody Knows, Purlie, Eubie!, as well as some straight plays such as The Gin Game (with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy)... i wish they would release those...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 3:03pm

Wicked looks like it's going to playing to capacity audiences on Broadway and on the road for many years to come -- the Wizard of Oz appeal is a universal and a potent one. There's certainly the possibility of a film version somewhere down the road, but considering the millions its raking in right now (and it hasn't even started touring yet), I doubt we'll see the show available in any other form (a film version or a DVD of the stage show) for at least a decade or more.

Perhaps, "I Am My Own Wife" will be filmed once it finishes touring so that Jefferson Mays' extraordinary performance can be preserved (same with Tovah Feldshuh and "Golda's Balcony").

"Movin Out" is probably a possible candidate for filming once the tour winds down in a couple of years -- dance shows such as "Contact" and "Fosse" get filmed frequently because they require such incredibly skilled professional dancers, they can't be done by amateur, high school and/or college groups around the country, so the only possible income stream for the producers of such shows once they finish their national tours is from tv licensing and DVD sales.

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 3:07pm

In regards to Wicked:
I've heard talks of a movie version, so I don't think they'd release it on DVD if they're making a movie of it. Plus, I think it will be on Broadway for a while, and they probably wouldn't want to release a DVD while it's still being performed. They usually wait 'til it's closed or it's at least been on for a really long time.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/14/04 at 3:30pm

Thre are also the "My Favorite Broadway...." concerts.