Kerry Butler: "Lincoln Center, make a deal with unions and broadcast your archive recordings" — Page 3

I think a valid question about this, though, is will people continue to go to the theatre if streamings are regularly available? I mean, I'm obviously not talking about most folks on the board here or a lot of other regular theatergoers. But for the casual theatergoer, if they suddenly have the option to watch these archived recordings now from the comfort of their own home, will they get back to going to the theatre once this all is over? I love the idea of the archives being available, but it could actually end up strangely doing more harm than good to the future of theatre if we make it too available.

HogansHero said: "It is fantasy land to think that there is a huge audience for the archival recordings. Sure, folks here would be ecstatic, but it wold mostly go unnoticed. Want to excite kids about the theatre: give them something relatable. I have long felt (and expressed here many times) that showing films of stage shows often does more harm than good. I have loosened my feeling on that for the pandemic, but make no mistake not very many people are watching these things. It's to keep US from going crazy, but that's it."

This is a valid point. Outside of a few huge hits maybe (like The Producers) the audiences probably aren't lining up to watch the OBC of Bright Star, or Billy Elliot. or whatever else you can think of. Which, of course, would make the whole venture even less financially viable. Which is why I said it sucks knowing these things exist and that most people will never get to see them.

Kad said: "I don’t think streaming recorded productions would diminish the hunger to see live performance. It’s live performance, it can’t be replaced. And, honestly, I have yet to see a single recorded production that captures the feeling of seeing a show live.

As a potential revenue stream for theaters that currently have literally no revenue to speak of, sure! But frankly, the impression I get is that a lot of people want things streamed at low or no cost, which just isn’t viable (and kind of undercuts the “I miss theater and want to support it!” sentiment). "

For you and me it would not diminish/replace/etc. But the concern is that most people have never bothered to go to the theatre and they will in fact think this is it. And assuming they like it enough in this second class form, and that a demand for such things builds, we end up with more of these and less of the real thing. And ultimately the theatre loses the battle and is itself diminished.

As a revenue source during the pandemic, I support showing anything that can bring in a few drachma. But bear in mind that when you speak of theatres in this context, you are talking about non-profits, not commercial Broadway, and most non-profits had already at least teased this idea before anyone had ever heard of covid-19.

This is all tough stuff, and pronouncements and edicts here don't go very far in solving the insoluble issues revolving around this.

Kad said: "After reading that post on the other board, I do regret and apologize for asserting that their recordings aren’t broadcast quality.

I don’t think streaming recorded productions would diminish the hunger to see live performance. It’s live performance, it can’t be replaced. And, honestly, I have yet to see a single recorded production that captures the feeling of seeing a show live.

As a potential revenue stream for theaters that currently have literally no revenue to speak of, sure! But frankly, the impression I get is that a lot of people want things streamed at low or no cost, which just isn’t viable (and kind of undercuts the “I miss theater and want to support it!” sentiment).

"

The only proshot that comes close for me is Newsies. And even that isn’t capturing the “live theatre experience.” The show prompted me to get into musical theatre with a performance of Newsies Jr., and being on stage, seeing the lights, the behind-the-scenes stuff, made me feel like I was IN the proshot. It wasn’t meant to capture the audience’s perspective, but rather the actor’s.

Would there be a streaming platform interested in buying these shows, though, even if the unions and all agreed? It would make zero sense for Lincoln Center to put them out there for free (I mean, I would love it and it would be so nice of them, but there would be zero money made off of it for them unless they had a contract with a service that was going to pay them to broadcast their shows).

qolbinau said: "A piece on the Hamilton filming suggests it cost them 'less than 10 million $'. While perhaps more elaborate than a filming needs to be, reading this it is clear to me why the economics of filming these shows just don't seem to make financial sense for most shows. That's very expensive.

Also, interestingly it was Disney's push that got it out sooner.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/movies/hamilton-movie-disney-streaming.html"



The cost of filming a show is much lower than that - for example, An American in Paris cost $930K to film in London, and Broadway's Memphis was around $1-2M

Updated On: 6/25/20 at 12:43 PM

Sorry to jump in and perhaps just confuse things.

I don't know if the insular world of Broadway will survive to the middle of this century. The communications revolution might claim it just as the Internet and streaming has already claimed so many.. The Boston Globe and The Washington Post were on the ropes before Trump saved them. Streaming in one night can grab a number of viewers equal to a year of live theatergoers. (don't hold me on this. I couldn't find my slide rule). I'll bet that the presence of Seth and Christine Pedi on the daily Sirius Broadway channel has increased interest in Broadway.

That the film experience does not equal the live is a good thing for live theater. Yet undeniably the films that I've seen of Bandstand and The King and I. deliver a half to two thirds of the pleasure of the live viewing. The film viewers are not paying the same price as a for a live ticket. There is value.

It's very possible that only three or four of Broadway's best will account for half of the annual film revenue. But the great increase in scale of of viewers and upscale pricing of shows in demand will compensate.

I would also refrain from releasing the shows to the public until after it had closed, or if a run-forever show, until it had been on Broadway for two or three years.

Right now everyone with intellectual property rights in the play or musical get nothing for those rights after the show and tour are over. I'll bet they would like to license those rights for real money, or just sell all their rights outright to whomever is putting on the show. Everyone has a price. Roundabout, for example, has put on some memorable revivals, but they are always looking for money and I think that this has cut back on the number of musicals that they could perform. As in zero Broadway musicals.were planned this season.

In fact it would be extremely useful to study the history of Roundabout's She Loves Me..How did they procure all the needed rights and how much did it cost. How much, if any, profit have they made/expect to make off the streaming of the show.

She Loves Me was not promoted much, and it would be very interesting to see if can turn a profit. Would Roundabout have liked to have streamed from the last weeks of Cabaret when Emma Stone took over as Sally? When she played Sally, I've never seen so many seats promoted to premium in such a short time.

as per usual, especially on threads like these...HogansHero is the voice of reason...

I just want to chime in as someone who lives in "flyover country." I definitely will still attend live productions of shows I've seen filmed onstage. For instance, I still drove four hours to see The Light in the Piazza national tour even after the Live from Lincoln Center broadcast.

I acknowledge that I am not your modal theatregoer here in the Midwest, but I think that here to the more casual theatregoers it's more about the experience of going to the theatre and sitting in the audience than the show itself. A lot of people attend our local touring productions because it's something to do around here. I know people who have season tickets and display no interest in the shows they see outside of attending performances. The Phantom of the Opera tour came here last season and it was still well attended despite the existence of the filmed stage production with Ramin Karimloo.

Similarly, I know people who see the same shows over and over when they go to NYC. Or shows that they have already seen on tour in our area.

So, what I'm trying to say is, I think there would still be interest in live theatre even if shows are filmed and broadcast.

Updated On: 6/26/20 at 09:13 AM

I agree with OlBlueEyes. I would gladly pay an "on demand" fee to see many of the archived recordings. Why can't BroadwayHD or some other streaming service strike a deal? I agree that all involved should be paid fairly, but to have these recordings sit on a shelf gathering dust, especially during times like these, makes little to no sense. Regardless of the obstacles, it could be worked out.