I've always wondered...- Page 2

[thejcm]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 4:04pm

[i]Umm the broadway production isn't making a million dollars profit every week. Those are GROSS TICKET SALES, not profits. [/i]

My bad, I forgot to factor in overhead costs and whatnot. No need to get snappy.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 4:49pm

I don't think comparing the Evita flashback structure to Sunset Blvd's flashback structure is saying that one mimics the other. Flashbacks are one of the most common forms of storytelling. In Evita she is not telling her story, there is a completely separate narrator taking us through this, as opposed to Sunset where Joe is telling his own story through his eyes, which is why the poor actor playing him gets to barely leave the stage throughout. And as stated, Billy Wilder wrote the original screenplay as a flashback, so does that mean he ripped off others like Tennessee Williams who wrote The Glass Menagerie as a memory play (i.e. a flashback through Tom's eyes)?

[dg22894]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 5:13pm

What happened with Stephenie Block? Why was she dropped after the workshop?

[Neverandy]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 5:31pm

Idina was more of a name at the time. Stephanie was bought out,as would any other actor who creates a role in a workshop and is then replaced for a subsequent Broadway production.
The Kristen Rumor is just that-a rumor. The intellectual property debate in regards to actors creating roles and whether or not they should be compensated for their contribution,has been heavily debated recently.
BTW-if Kristen is getting anything-it is nowhere near 5%!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 5:33pm

Why would they have to buy her out?

[Neverandy]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 5:39pm

Equity requires it her to be bought out with four weeks salary. Chenowith is entitled to a percentage of the profits as well, but it is a group share of 1%. All those in the original workshop are entitled to it. Anything higher than that would have to be negotiated. Like I said-It is doubtful that she negotiated 5%!

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 5:44pm

They also share in 1.5% of the subsidiary rights, including foreign productions, stock and amateur productions, and the sale of the motion picture rights. But again, that is 1.5% divided amongst every actor who participated in the workshop, it can amount to a nice little chunk of change coming in to help float you through those times between jobs if the show is as successful as something like Wicked, or has a heavy regional life like shows such as Into the Woods or Secret Garden (both developed under the workshop code), but nowhere near what 5% would be.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 5:45pm

Thanks. I didn't realize there had to be a payout for people in a workshop who aren't cast in the final production.

[philly03]

Posted: 1/19/09 at 7:04pm

"Hal Prince wasn't involved with the original concept of 'Evita.' Rice and Lloyd Webber had already structured the show (and recorded it) long before Prince signed on to direct the initial stage production.

Not to mention the original film version of Sunset Boulevard starts with Joe's death as well. "

"I don't think comparing the Evita flashback structure to Sunset Blvd's flashback structure is saying that one mimics the other. Flashbacks are one of the most common forms of storytelling. In Evita she is not telling her story, there is a completely separate narrator taking us through this, as opposed to Sunset where Joe is telling his own story through his eyes, which is why the poor actor playing him gets to barely leave the stage throughout. And as stated, Billy Wilder wrote the original screenplay as a flashback, so does that mean he ripped off others like Tennessee Williams who wrote The Glass Menagerie as a memory play (i.e. a flashback through Tom's eyes)? "

No, I for one don't like the whole "Lloyd Webber rips someone off" comparison/thing, but I just thought that since Lloyd Webber has claimed that he had written something for SUNSET around the time of EVITa and got the rights in the '70s (or Hal or whoever) that he may have gotten the idea to show her death in the beginning. (And I also knew that the original Sunset opened with that A fan of the film + musical) When you think about it it really is a either a plot destroyer or intriuging..could go either way. Why see a musical that you know the person dies right off the bat?

The two "main" (Perhaps Joe isn't the main FOCUS) characters dead (although was Sunset entirely known with the musical version? I can't recall..)and powerless..! Of course he very well could have taken the idea from anything or perhaps they thought it was their own..just the Sunset/EVITA timing!

[dg22894]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 7:05am

Did Phebe Strole ever go on for Wendla?

[dg22894]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 7:05am

Did Phebe Strole ever go on for Wendla?

[kchenofan]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 6:21pm

If Kristin is in fact getting 5%, which I highly doubt she is, then all I have to say is she's one smart cookie and a heck of a negotiator. And personally, I don't think anyone at the time of the Wicked workshops was better suited to originate G a linda.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 6:27pm

Yes, Phoebe went on for Wendla numerous times.

[philly03]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 8:01pm

To TheatreFreak or whoever posted about the video-d performances: I've noticed some minor tweakings in the way they are shot, but I don't know why at all. But the only one of any released filmed stageshow is Jekyll & HYDE - The Musical with the Hoff & Coleen Sexton and it's the same show you would have seen if you had been in the audience.

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:08pm

Where do babies come from?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 1/21/09 at 12:45am

I like watching the set changes, and love to see how the director can creatively produce them, so I was disappointed about the fade-in fade-out of the Cyrano tape.

Also, so is this "workshop code" still done today? So everyone involved in the Adams Family workshop will get a percentage or is it only the people involved throughout the whole process? For instance, Gavin Creel was involved with most all of the "Spring Awakening" workshops, but then didn't get cast in the Off-Broadway production (probably due to age). Does that mean he's still banking off "SA," or what?

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 1/21/09 at 12:50am

Yes, the Workshop Code is still utilized quite often today. Equity views those actors involved in workshops as contributing to the creative process and thus has argued, and won, that they should receive some compensation for it. Each workshop that occurs brings in a different percentage, so an actor involved in multiple workshops for a show will get a higher percentage than an actor who only does the first or last one. If you want more information you can go to the document library of the Equity website and find the rules for Workshops, as well as the rulebooks for all other Equity contracts.