'Live' commercials before theatre?!? What level of HELL are we descending to now?

[DG]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 2:34pm

The city of London is sending out actors to do a 3 minute commercial for London tourism before shows in Dublin and other places (soon to include NYC!)

I can barely tolerate ads at the beginning of movies - this may cause my head to come off and spin around in the theatre!
Article.

[Composer9]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 2:41pm

oy...just oy...

[ken8631]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 2:48pm

Looks like a one time thing in each city? It's not like every play will have commercials.

[Blanche]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:09pm

Eesh! Let's hope not!

[Blanche]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:09pm

Double post...ooops. Updated On: 5/10/06 at 03:09 PM

[DG]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:13pm

Ken - yes, this first time it seems like a one-shot deal. I would imagine that the feedback they get will determine whether or not they do it again. There has to be a first time for everything, but that rarely means it's the last.

I hope audience members complain - a lot.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:18pm

Next up product placement.

[DG]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 7:00pm

They're already doing it on the front of the theatres (American Airlines,) so why not during the shows. It makes me sick.

[sondwisenheimer]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 7:01pm

I know actors in L.A. who only do live theatre in order to book commercials, so this could be like killing two birds with one stone for them.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 7:03pm

Bring tomatoes to the theatre. It's time we brought back that old tradition right now!

That ought to end this crap in a hurry.

[sondwisenheimer]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 7:10pm

Come on, I like this idea - as long as it's thematically cohesive. You know, like "Meow Mix" before "Lt. of Innishmore," "Gravity Boots" before "Wicked," "Preparation H" before "Ring of Fire," "Monistat 7" before "The Vagina Monologues," "Sominex" before "Lestat," etc.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 7:13pm

I hate this. An overture should start a musical, not an ad.

[Becky2]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 7:48pm

Let's just hope this is a one time thing and won't catch on as some sort of trend.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 7:51pm

i saw a great new musical at the Gaiety last summer

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 7:56pm

So, wait, the commercial is performed onstage by an actor? That's weird...

[sondwisenheimer]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 7:59pm

That's right. In fact, starting next week, during the second act of "Festen," Juliana Margulies will turn to Ali MacGraw and say, "You know, sometimes I just don't feel fresh..."

Hey, you do what you can when the show is tanking.

[tabbynyc]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 8:06pm

Please No, NO, NO. I can't stand movie theaters for all the commercials!!

[DG]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 12:45am

What bothers me the most is that everyone is so brainwashed into thinking that this is just the way things have to be - that there really isn't an alternative - like saying NO!!! When it's all we're bludgeoned with - the constant pandering to monetary concerns - I guess it's too much too expect that there might be SOME things left alone. Soon - and much sooner than I would like - there won't be anyone left who remembers that some things existed for their own sake, not for what they could be sold for.

This is why people become hermits - because sometimes, too much really IS too much.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 1:30am

"I don't know why nobody has thought of it before, to have a live ad on stage for theater," said McLynn, who will perform before a production of "Saturday Night Fever" at the Gaiety.

Umm, maybe because it's an awful idea.
Updated On: 5/11/06 at 01:30 AM

[DG]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 1:48am

To paraphrase Malcolm from JURRASIC PARK - "Sometimes you spend so much time wondering whether you CAN do something, that you never stop to wonder whether or not you SHOULD."

[acrocksyo]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 2:25am

Amazing that we have sunk so low as to put commercials before a show starts, pretty soon we are going to start having product placement in musicals. "Hey is he drinking a Diet Coke with Lime?"

[dayjob]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 11:01am

DG - I TOTALLY agree....with pretty much everything you've posted on this thread. When I read that article yesterday I was livid.

I fully intend to "Boo" (maybe even bring fruit best12bars) like the old days of Vaudville. Don't forget theatre's roots! You didn't continue on if the audience didn't like you.

The advertisements are for the program.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 11:09am

It does seem like a pretty crappy idea - is anyone going to see this and think 'Yes, London is the place for me this summer!'?

...pretty soon we are going to start having product placement in musicals. "Hey is he drinking a Diet Coke with Lime?"

Did you ever see In My Life? I'm pretty sure that the product placement in that was slightly sledgehammer-like...

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 11:26am

even with commericials ticket prices will continue to rise.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 12:23pm

I don't really mind product placement, as long as it's not too obvious.

Although the commercials is a terrible idea. I get pissed at ads in the movie theater and now I have to sit through the same thing in something I paid more than triple the price for?