Profits versus People
Profits versus People
logan2
Leading Actor Joined: 6/15/04
#0Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 7:46pm
Is anyone else, besides myself, pissed off at the producers of AVENUE Q? After reading the yahoo news article from Variety -
"Road presenters taken aback by 'Q's' Vegas play" I am hoping New Yorkers and Vegas travellers boycott the musical. Fat chance, I know. Why am I so angry? I live in Conroe, Texas - a small town about 45 minutes from Houston - I teach Junior High Special Education (which will give you an idea of my salary range - THANKS GEORGE DUBWA). I can't afford to fly to NEW YORK or VEGAS to see shows, I have to rely on the Broadway tours. And I am so appreciative of producers who take the leap of faith of touring with a show that might not make money (URINETOWN) on the road. At least I GET to SEE them! SO, once again to those producers I say a heartfelt and lump in the throat THANK YOU!!! HOWEVER, according to the aforementioned article, all the while the Producers of "Q" were making promises to Road Presenters throughout the country that the show would indeed tour, characterizing their musical as the sweet little show with heart - they were in secret "parallel" deals with Vegas entrepreneur Steve Wynn that gives him total North American clearance on the show for unspecified years in return for a MONSTER (and not one made of felt) PAYDAY!!! Isn't this the show that used the Tony campaign slogan of VOTE WITH YOUR HEART - while they themselves were voting with their pocketbook?!? Why were they so secretive? They didn't want to lose any Tony votes. So I say F**K AVENUE Q! I'd like to shove a stick up the producers and work them like a puppet! Meanwhile, I will joyfully wait for CAROLINE, OR CHANGE to be done regionally and the tours of HAIRSPRAY(coming soon to Houston) and WICKED. The AVENUE Q number on the Tony's SUCKED anyway - I thought it appropriate that the song they sang was IT SUCKS TO BE ME because I sat there thinking, "It certainly does!!"
#1re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 7:47pmBlame the producers...not the authors.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
logan2
Leading Actor Joined: 6/15/04
#3re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 7:53pmAt the end. Although I do beleive the producers acted unethically, I don't see how it could make you this angry. The Vegas deal was never a 'certain.'
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
logan2
Leading Actor Joined: 6/15/04
#4re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 7:58pmAt the end of my post I did not blame the authors for the Vegas deal. All I said was I didn't like the song that was sang on the Tony's.... I also think I made it pretty clear why it makes me angry and you even said it was unethical....
#5re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 7:59pmunethical to a certain degree. but business is business.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
sabrelady
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#6re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:02pm
And pigs is pigs.
Let's not be over run by them either.
Frankly, I really don't think you missed all that much in fact their greed may have saved you son heavy disillusioning about the TONYS and the state of musical theare in general.
#7re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:06pmVery true, a bit on the hypocratical to be the Play with Heart and then turn its back on the people. But that is in a sense this country's politics. I can't blame the producers, in this society, for doing what is more profitable. It would have been nice to see them, but hey, look on the bright side, you do get to see hairspray, and that in its own is better than many people outside of New York will even have the opportunity to see.
#8re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:14pmAnyway, Avenue Q might be looked down upon in some cities because of the material. Don't tell me puppet s** would go over well in Topeka.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#9re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:15pmIt is very much a Las Vegas-esque show.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#10re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:19pm
Wha? Las Vegas is about glitz, the more the better. Or at least it was the last time I visited, which was admittedly a few years ago. Avenue Q is a small show. I really wonder how well it will do in Las Vegas.
But I don't have any ill-will towards the show. I thought it should have won Best Musical on its own merits, tour or no tour. The fact that the road producers are so outraged about this now only exposes how bankrupt they are.
The Avenue Q campaign encouraged voters to go with their hearts instead of their wallets. And now there's outrage about money? Ha!
#11re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:20pmThe whole thing, from beggining to end, has been ironic.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
logan2
Leading Actor Joined: 6/15/04
#12re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:26pmPuppet sex might very well go over well in Topeka. As I said before, I live in a small Texas town and the amount of perversion that flourishes is mind boggling. The superintendent of a nearby school was just removed because of "sex parties" with other teachers....so I think puppet sex would sell tickets. I don't know what part of the counrty you're from StickToPriest, but your Topeka remark shows a certain amount of smug condescension. Studio execs are always making that claim, that people in the Midwest will be too shocked or too stupid to accept something.....
Hank
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#13re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:28pm
Continental has some cheap flights between Houston and Newark (both hubs) and LAS (I once conected at Houston, going from EWR to LAS). Southwest and America West have some good deals too, and NY and Vegas are great places to visit for other reasons as well
Anyway, most tour sites are 2000 seats plus theatres, and a show like Q just wouldn't be the same there.
#14re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:28pmNo..I'm from Texas, also, and I doubt people here would warm to it.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#15re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:32pmI think it makes a lot of sense to go to Vegas over touring. Its true, many places have people who would frown upon Avenue Q for a lot of reasons, whereas you can't really get more "everything is okay" than in Vegas.
logan2
Leading Actor Joined: 6/15/04
#16re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:35pmOkay, if your also from Texas, your doubting that people would warm to it is just plain wrong. Perhaps you would just not warm to it. Hedwig and the Angry Inch flourished in Houston, as did the all nude PARTY at the Bein Venue theater in Houston as do most gay and risque theater events. So your continuing condescension is mind boggling. It's Sondheim people have a hard time WARMING to.....
#17re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:38pm
I really like Avenue Q..I think it is intelligent and new. But when Topdog/Underdog played in Dallas many people left the theater.
And whatever you do....don't diss Sondheim.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
logan2
Leading Actor Joined: 6/15/04
#18re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:45pm
what does puppet sex have to do with TOPDOG/UNDERDOG?
Also I hear people walked out of BOUNCE in Wahinton D.C.... guess that means our capital isn't ready for the INCREDIBLY CONTROVERSIAL avenue q.....or maybe BOUNCE just sucked...
How can I not diss Sondheim when it makes you so sorry and me so grateful....
#19re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:46pmAlthough it makes me mad...i have to applaud you on the sorry/grateful comment...it made me laugh
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#20re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:48pm
Wow, you mean to tell me producers leveraged one deal to better another deal that they took instead, all at the expense and detriment of the good people of Houston?
Is nothing sacred anymore?
What next: actors leaving shows to make more money elsewhere?
Where? Does? It? Stop?
logan2
Leading Actor Joined: 6/15/04
#21re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:08pmNot just to the detriment of the people of Houston, but to the detriment of people everywhere. And what angers me is the secretiveness of the whole thing, coming from the producers of a show which is supposedly about being open and fair.... What pisses me off the most is the fact that the producers apparently don't have faith in their own show. "Don't tell the Road Presenters the truth, we might not win a Tony" - "Let's take the money and run because no one in middle America will pay to see our show" This type of behavior does not suprise me at all coming from the Weisslers or a Hal Prince..BUT THE WHOLE POINT OF MY THREAD WAS IT IS IN DIRECT OPPOSITION TO WHAT THESE PRODUCERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE REPRESENTING - THE SWEET SHOW WITH A HEART AND A MESSAGE FOR ALL - not just N.Y. and Vegas...
#22re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:22pm
Yes because marketing strategies are always in direct correlation to the behind-the-scenes business activities of the companies.
Congratulations to everyone at 'Avenue Q' for getting their MONSTER PAYDAY for a show most people thought didn't have a chance against the heavyweights.
"The muse is a tough buck" -- Harlan Ellison.
logan2
Leading Actor Joined: 6/15/04
#23re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:29pmWhy does this response not suprise me coming from a poster who uses a wrestler picture.... I'm gonna have to mull that one over and over and over...
#24re: Profits versus People
Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:35pm
News flash: personal attacks don't equal adult debate.
And I've been here for two YEARS posting under my real name.
What credibility do YOU have, joining today to post the same thread TWICE, word for word, complaining dubiously about a business decision that, in all sense of reality, doesn't directly concern you, unless your martyr complex is really this well defined.
While we're judging one another's credibility that is.
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