Here Comes GODSPELL!- Page 2

[wonkit]

Posted: 5/14/11 at 4:42pm

Not-for-profit organizations don't pay taxes, and volunteers can claim a tax deduction for the time they provide (under certain circumstances), so there is a pool of cheap labor available and a little more money in the till, I suppose. And the organization has the ability to offer a tax deduction to contributors which this production cannot do with its "investors." This is all ego. It may succeed but is not a model that many productions will find attractive enough to emulate.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 5/14/11 at 5:27pm

I find the story about the investors interesting and it will certainly be interesting to see how it all plays out. Certainly more interesting than a revival of this boring show.

Prepare Ye the Way of the Bores.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/14/11 at 6:12pm

Not-for-profit organizations don't pay taxes, and volunteers can claim a tax deduction for the time they provide (under certain circumstances), so there is a pool of cheap labor available and a little more money in the till, I suppose.

Only if they are VERY lucky. It takes a loooooong time for any not-for-profit organization to get to the point where they can find a reliable pool of cheap labor or volunteers. Not paying taxes is nice, but it doesn't boost the budget so significantly.

And the organization has the ability to offer a tax deduction to contributors which this production cannot do with its "investors."

Yeah, I think I addressed that. Large contributors get the real tax incentive. It's more difficult for the smaller contributors depending on their earned income and gross contributions. But I'm not saying one is the same as the other, only that the idea of collecting from a larger pool of smaller contributors is not unlike the not-for-profit model nor does the idea seem in any way to me egotistical. No more egotistical than the idea of selling small quantities of stocks. I wonder how much derision there would be if the same principal were applied to getting Road Show on Broadway. I don't see any evidence that Ken Davenport is making it all about him. I think he has an idea and he's giving it a try. So what?

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 5/20/11 at 12:26pm

looking forward to this.

Set to open Nov 6th, 2011, at the Circle in the Square theatre.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/20/11 at 12:39pm

Two responses:

1) Where did you hear that?

2) I'll believe it when it happens.

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 5/20/11 at 2:24pm

i work for someone involved in the revival. The show is moving forward as planned and expected.

[ajh]

Posted: 5/24/11 at 8:37am

In this day and age would this show really find an audience? There was a recent London Fringe revival which completely abandoned the "clown" concept that the original productions used, and yet the piece still felt dated and twee. There are some good tunes but the book is a mess. Unless, or even if, they have an astoundingly strong cast I think this could look painfully thin on a current Broadway stage.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/24/11 at 9:03am

The show is soppy, saccharine, sentimental, trite, phony, with a faux-hippie air pervading throughout. I'm sure there are LOTS of people who would love it.

The only way to make it remotely palatable would be to cast it with amateur (not those horribly professional) children, under the age of 10. Because that's the mind-set of the piece.

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/24/11 at 9:20am

"...but the book is a mess."

That may be the most wonderful, fantastic comment I've ever read.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 5/24/11 at 1:20pm

It would be a little less twee and dated if they went with the production concept they were offered that bears no relation to the sugar-coated, Hair-lite, outdated clown material. An urban adaptation would take over that stage like sparklers on the Fourth of July. But like a stubborn mule (a Biblical allusion to Balaam's ass might not be out of place here), Davenport refused to hear it out.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/24/11 at 1:35pm

An "urban adaptation?" What do you mean - the tired old street kids, rapping and r&b-ing their way through kind of thing? you really think that would add some kind of freshness? Update: that's been done and it's already old.

Or do you mean a Madea-style version? That I would see.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 5/24/11 at 9:43pm

...if I say both, will you shoot me?

[canthumthetunes]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 7:30pm

Nonsense. Davenport's a smart guy; there's no way he hasn't worked out what happens in the possibility of a flop. Anyway, this is just a theatrical extension of the incredibly successful business model that just about every art form has taken up the last decade - kickstarter, etc. As a DIY artist, I'm excited to see how it influences investing, whether the production works or not. Opening up investing opportunities could help get Bway out of this really unoriginal rut it's fallen into...

[labwyfan]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 7:53pm

I agree. I think he's a smart guy. And the press of having 500 or so folks update their Facebook status telling people to go see the show and getting their friends to do the same and so on, and so on....might be how to market a show nowadays. It works with movies, why not Broadway?

And unlike Kickstarter, there is a chance of getting SOME of your investment returned. Maybe all of it and maybe more if it's a hit. Updated On: 5/25/11 at 07:53 PM

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 8:17pm

@newintown.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/151197-Godspell-Revival-Will-Play-Broadways-Circle-in-the-Square-This-October

I was one day off. Opening Nov 7th at circle in the square.




called that sh*t.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 9:56pm

I guess Oklahoma won't transfer now.

We already have doubled the amount of revivals that this season has - Godspell, Evita, Dancin' & Annie.

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 10:16pm

I dont think annie is next season. They are planning a fall 2012 opening. I believe at the lunt-fontanne.

[massofmen]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 10:28pm

wow..this is awesome..no one is making any new musicals just revival after revival..anyone taking a chance on something new and fresh next season?
anyone...anyone?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 10:55pm

Do sparklers take over stages on the 4th of July?

[newintown]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 9:37am

"Davenport's a smart guy..."

With only five Broadway shows to his credit, one of which was a mega-flop, and none of which ran even 5 months, I'm not sure that's verifiable. And Off-Broadway, he's done only low-end fare for tourists who couldn't get Broadway tix. Altar Boyz, a silly little piece that makes Forever Plaid look like Shakespeare, is the closest thing he has to a legit success (which he shares with 7 other producers).

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 10:26am

wow..this is awesome..no one is making any new musicals just revival after revival..anyone taking a chance on something new and fresh next season?

No, there will never be any more new musicals. Ever.

[egghumor]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 10:41am

A Broadway production of GODSPELL. Wow. exciting. It could just rival the run of LUCKY GUY.

[Annas_Priest]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 2:16pm

The marquee is already up.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 2:40pm

Last time, as I recall, they cancelled the day before the first rehearsal. I'm still skeptical...

[Jon]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 3:00pm

Hmm... thake a nice little Off-Broadway hit from several decades ago, and mount a Broadway revival...

It worked so well for Charlie Brown and Little Shop, right?

Why not Nunsense on Broadway? - Oops - I guess that would be Sister Act.