DIM ALL THE LIGHTS- Page 2

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 5:01pm

Now people are yelling about Ken Page...

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 5:41pm

My thought is to just make it a monthly thing. Maybe dim the lights at the end of the month for all of the people we lose that month in the theatre community.

It doesn't really take much but the flip of a switch or two (I worked in two theaters where we dimmed the lights) to dim the lights. Most theaters now have the ability to program the video marquees. Maybe just put a list of names of the people we have lost on them while dimming. If there are big names included, they can display those names separately or even put their picture up. Just my opinion.

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 5:49pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Now people are yelling about Ken Page.=

That's the best way you could phrase that?  How insensitive.

 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 5:56pm

uncageg said: "My thought is to just make it a monthly thing. Maybe dim the lights at the end of the month for all of the people we lose that month in the theatre community.

It doesn't really take much but the flip of a switch or two (I worked in two theaters where we dimmed the lights) to dim the lights. Most theaters now have the ability to program the video marquees. Maybe just put a list of names of the people we have lost on them while dimming. If there are big names included, they can display those names separately or even put their picture up. Just my opinion."

 

You seem to be missing the point. Who decides whose names go on "the list"?  Thousands of people have worked "on Broadway" (tens of thousands if you include those who have retired or switched careers).  Does Mary the Broadway usher for 25 years make the list?  Does Stan the box office worker make it?  How about Artie the guy at the ad agency? Broadway is a large community.

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 6:19pm

Doesn't the "In Memoriam" at the Tony Awards serve the same purpose, allow for more people to be honored, and provide an opportunity for more people to observe the tribute?

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 6:21pm

Maggie Smith but not Ken Page? Weird.

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 6:24pm

It's just ridiculous that they were smart enough to come up with a "group" concept and then NOT include Ken Page.   How  dumb are these people? 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 6:59pm

Proposal:

Live cameras focused on every theater as they go black once a year during the "in memoriam" section of the Tonys. We take in the dimming/blackouts one by one as someone sings an appropriate song, and a ticker of every name from the previous season, from biggest to smallest, runs on the screen. Give the audience little tea-light candles so we can cut back to a sea of lights in the audience and a spot on the soloist as needed.

Thoughts?

Updated On: 10/9/24 at 06:59 PM

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 7:07pm

Menken Fan said: "Doesn't the "In Memoriam" at the Tony Awards serve the same purpose, allow for more people to be honored, and provide an opportunity for more people to observe the tribute?"

I think it's the nature of live theater. Since there are big venues with live performances anywhere from 4-7 days a week people see an opportunity for a real-time tribute that can be witnessed by everyone who was part of the industry the person was part of.

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 7:38pm

JSquared2 said: "uncageg said: "My thought is to just make it a monthly thing. Maybe dim the lights at the end of the month for all of the people we lose that month in the theatre community.

It doesn't really take much but the flip of a switch or two (I worked in two theaters where we dimmed the lights) to dim the lights. Most theaters now have the ability to program the video marquees. Maybe just put a list of names of the people we have lost on them while dimming. If there are big names included, they can display those names separately or even put their picture up. Just my opinion."



You seem to be missing the point. Who decides whose names go on "the list"? Thousands of people have worked"on Broadway" (tens of thousands if you include those who have retired or switched careers). Does Mary the Broadway usher for 25 years make the list? Does Stan the box office worker make it? How about Artie the guy at the ad agency? Broadway is a large community."

 

No, I am not missing the point. In my comment I said "all". It was a suggestion.

 

[smidge]

Posted: 10/9/24 at 9:57pm

BroadwayBen said: "It's just ridiculous that they were smart enough to come up with a "group" concept and then NOT include Ken Page. How dumb are these people?"

Are you saying the dimming will honor them as a group? The article does not say that. A date has been scheduled for Adrian Bailey and dates for Gavin Creel and Maggie Smith are pending.

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/4/24 at 7:07pm

Broadway League Stepping Away From Light-Dimming Announcements

 

https://deadline.com/2024/11/broadway-light-dimming-tributes-1236166730/

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 11/4/24 at 9:27pm

MezzA101 said: "Broadway League Stepping Away From Light-Dimming Announcements



https://deadline.com/2024/11/broadway-light-dimming-tributes-1236166730/"

I ask this question in all sincerity and good faith, in search of a genuine answer:

What would we lose if The Broadway League ceased to exist? What service or value do they provide to theatre artists or audiences? Because it seems like every time they're in the news, it's for cocking something up.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/4/24 at 9:35pm

Alex Kulak2 said: "I ask this question in all sincerity and good faith, in search of a genuine answer:

What would we lose if The Broadway League ceased to exist? What service or value do they provide to theatre artists or audiences? Because it seems like every time they're in the news, it's for cocking something up."

This is the key problem with how the League has positioned itself:

It has no value to theatre artists or audiences.

It is the trade association of producers, general managers, theatre owners, and road presenters, and it's the collective bargaining agent on behalf of those people. "Broadway League" is a very fancy name, but its former name "The League of American Theatres & Producers" is more apt. It makes money from member dues, so it must negotiate contracts that favor them and it must cater to them. If it did not control 50% of the Tony Awards, it would have no relevance beyond the group of (high powered) people that it serves.

Because the League represents theatre owners, the light-dimming announcement fell on it (because it's also the intermediary between the various owners). Simply from a PR perspective, it's smart to remove itself from that situation, even if it changes nothing.

Sure, the League has some public facing benefits beyond the Tonys (it runs IBDB, and educational things like Kids Night on Broadway, The Jimmy Awards, and Broadway Bridges) but its primary goal is to serve its dues-paying members.

Updated On: 11/4/24 at 09:35 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 11/5/24 at 2:15am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "It has no value to theatre artists or audiences.."

I think the League is best positioned outside of the dimming business which has, as I have said before, become something that was never intended and, I suspect, something that may now return to its origins (or be canned entirely, to no one's benefit). 

I respectfully disagree that the League has no value. If the goal is to market and promote Broadway as a brand and as an item that should be high on the to-do list of many visitors and tourists (as well as us locals), it is of very real value to everyone who earns a paycheck from that effort. Have bad errors been made in the messaging around some portfolios? Yes. And the League suffered greatly under the inane obliviousness of a person who should never have been in charge and the organization is still not all the way back to where it once was. I think it is a positive step that the owners' committee is being divorced from the League. Let's pray the sentiment of the original gesture can survive the intrusion(s). There is a lot going on on the main stem right now that reeks of dysfunction.