Drama Desk Reactions — Page 3

Miles2Go2 said: "
I think what Hogan is saying (and I know he’ll correct me if I’m incorrect) is that Drama Desk exists primarily to get free tickets to (primarily)Broadway shows asshows are required to give free tickets to voting members of award bodies.

And thus, if DD started mostly or only awarding non-Broadway properties, the League might decide it doesn’t make much sense to continue to require Broadway shows to put aside tickets for DD members."



That would be extraordinarily petty. Most off-Broadway shows set aside tix for the Drama Desk voters despite rarely winning, and they have fewer tickets at their disposal. Would Broadway shows, who have less to lose from setting aside tickets, really forgo the chance at getting Drama Desk awards/nominations simply because their competition is taken more seriously? That would be disgusting.

But also, if it's true that the Drama Desk favors Broadway out of fear, I can't help but wonder if they have any grounds besides their own imaginations. Has there ever been a precedent along these lines?

RaisedOnMusicals said: "Fiddler winning the Best Revival of a Musical was the biggest lock of the day. It's that good. I wonder why it's not selling out in spite of the fabulous reviews across the board. Do you think it's the fact that it's in Yiddish deters Gentiles from going (even though very few Jews today understand more that a few words of Yiddish, which by the way the same ones that Gentiles understand)?"

Yes, I think that's a major reason for it. Also, (1) it's off-Broadway, which lacks the pedigree of Broadway and the marketing budget of Broadway; (2) it was just on Broadway for a year in 2015-16 and that's touring now; (3) everyone and their brother has seen a production of Fiddler, and there are a lot of new shows they might like to see instead; (4) even Broadway revivals with rave reviews don't sell-out and recoup: only 9 out of 32 commercially-produced musical revivals have recouped in the past 10 years.

hak5 said: "Jordan Catalano said: "Well just keep reminding people that Hadestown wasn’t up for the award so this doesn’t mean The Prom has a chance against it."

and just why was HADESTOWN not nominated in this category ?!"

Hadestown was previously eligible for these categories for its off-Broadway production in 2017. It was only eligible for elements that were new for Broadway.

JBroadway said: "That would be extraordinarily petty.Most off-Broadway shows set aside tix for the Drama Desk voters despite rarely winning, and they have fewer tickets at their disposal. Would Broadway shows, who have less to lose from setting aside tickets,really forgo the chance at getting Drama Desk awards/nominations simply because their competition is taken more seriously? That would be disgusting.

But also, if it's true that the Drama Desk favors Broadway out of fear, I can't help but wonder if they have any groundsbesides their own imaginations. Has there ever been a precedent along these lines?"

Petty and disgusting maybe, but...

Whether they have less to lose depends on your perspective. A sold out Broadway show may be spending $600-1000 or more per member for these tickets and they get very little for their money, even if they win. I doubt any Broadway show has ever succeeded because of a DD award. As I said, there is a sentiment against giving these tickets to the DD folks who would not get them anyway and it does not take a lot of imagination to see how that constituency would grow if they started routinely giving awards to shows that are off-B and not clearly Broadway bound (i.e., without Broadway producers attached). They would also not get the "stars" to show up for the ceremony and parties, which is purpose #2 to join the group.

Regarding your question about purpose, what other reasons would there be? (I am focused here on those members who would not get tickets based on who they are anyway.)