Hunter Bell - On Opinions That [title of show] Is Too Insidery

From Playbill's THE LEADING MEN Column:

Q: What do you say to people who feel like there are insider jokes and references in the show that might go over people's heads?

Hunter Bell: I think the interesting thing is — and audiences hopefully will prove this — that people have been coming and having a great time who are not of the theatre, who just want to come and see a great show and see something original and new and different. Are there inside references? Totally. Do they cheat an audience from knowing what's going on or having a great evening? I'm hard-pressed to think that because somebody doesn't know who Betty Buckley is that it sends them spiraling and they just shut down completely. The people that accuse it of being insider-y are on the inside, and we get a lot of, "Well, I love it, but there's no way anybody else will get it." It's interesting that somebody can't stop with, "I love it." I think it speaks to the fact that Jeff and I did not set out to write an obscure, insider musical. We set out to tell our story, and it was about two guys writing about musical theatre. I've said before, if we were baseball fanatics, we'd be writing about statistics and talking about games. My brother is a television sports producer. Friends of his were here last night. They work producing NBA games and baseball games. They don't know about Mary Stout, but they do know about the bigger themes that resonate: how hard it is putting your stuff out there and achieving your dreams. People are smart. They have the internet. We got a letter from a kid in Iowa. He said he's coming to see the show in October, and he watches all our clips on youtube. The internet has changed what information is available. The New York Times is online. Playbill.com is online. You can read an update every day about David Hyde Pierce. It's not limited to the tri-state area. The internet has changed the game about what people's knowledge is. People are smart everywhere is what I tend to believe.
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Click the link below and scroll down past Derek Keeling to read the rest of this fabulous interview with Hunter Bell of [title of show].
Night of the Hunter

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Updated On: 8/5/08 at 06:21 AM

"We got a letter from a kid in Iowa. He said he's coming to see the show in October"

Will it still be open in October??


I have to say I am one of those people (like Hunter mentioned) who likes the show, but thinks non-theater people would hate it. It will be interesting to see how this show pans out...especially with the theater at a little more than 50% capacity.

Is the line in (tos) about "the festival, the festival!" from Into the Woods?

I love what Hunter says about baseball statistics.

I have been saying that specificity is what makes characters universal.

The theater references in [tos] are simply what makes an audience empathize with the characters' passion. They are what makes the audience CARE, not what alienates them.

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So what's the most obscure reference in the show?

Roma Torre?

All this crap about too many inside references makes me crazy! They are details specific to the character's world. When I saw THE COAST OF UTOPIA I didn't know half of the references they were throwing around, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the play and the brilliant performances. Now I am not comparing [TOS] with Stoppard's masterpiece, I am only using it as an example.

We took 4 out of towners, who have no show business connection whatsoever, to see [TOS] and they loved it! Did they know who Mary Stout was? Had they ever heard of Vicky Clark? Did they even know the existence of HENRY SWEET HENRY? Absolutely not! But, they still laughed and cried and enjoyed the hell out of it. Because the crux of the show transcends all the references. It's about reaching for the stars, beating down your inner demons and making your dreams come true. What human being can't relate to that?

I took a friend who has little to no theatre knowledge, and I think she enjoyed [tos] more than I did!

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So did they ask him "If it's not too insider-y, then why is no one coming to see it?"

They have a small advertising budget? Then they must be spending all of it on this site as they have had wall to wall ads on here for MONTHS.

"It is going to take time to cultivate an audience. And I for one hope it does. Frankly, I hope the same for every show on Broadway."

My thoughts exactly.

Especially when it comes to GREASE and THE LITTLE MERMAID.

I stand by my assertion that Hunter would hav ebeen justified by responding "**** 'em"

Word, jordangirl. Word.

And it's not just your opinion. When I took a couple out-of-town guests to see the show (for my 2nd time, mind you), they left saying that they felt like virgins at the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Why didn't someone tell us to wear eyeliner, bring toast, rice, a squirt bottle and an umbrella? they asked, completely turned off by the whole experience.

Apparently you've been neglecting your YouTube, I replied.

The "insidery" accusation begins to feel like self-hatred on the part of the accuser; "If I get this reference, it must be turning other people off, because anything I like wouldn't appeal to outsiders."

Meanwhile, people come. They laugh. They cry. They seem to like it.

But Jordangirl and Gizmo make up stories to continue their bizarre and stalkerish campaign of hatred against a show...a poor little show that never done nothin' to harm them.

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