Promoting the "Broadway Experience"

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 9:16am

I've been thinking of suggesting a marketing campaign for the League of American Theatres and Producers. More Americans need to get the message about what a great opportunity for family fun seeing a Broadway show offers.

"America, go see a Broadway show because:

It's a great time to eat hard candies, especially hard candies that come in crinkly wrappers. A nice crisp paper bag full of these candies taped up in crunchy cellophane is just the thing to bring to a Broadway show. You can open it up during one of those boring quiet musical interludes.

It's a great time to talk to your kids. Studies show that with our busy lifestyles, we Americans spend far too little time talking to our children. A Broadway show offers almost three hours of perfect, uninterrupted talking time. A show like "Les Mis" has lots of quiet ballads that are an ideal chance to try to explain the plot to your little one. If you don't understand the story yourself, don't worry. Just make something up. What's important is the one on one communication. And wouldn't your child appreciate a nice hard candy?

It's a great time to do some text messaging. It's tough to keep in touch with friends and family these days, and cell phone screens can be difficult to see in bright sunlight. A darkened theater is the perfect environment for this. The screen will be bright and clear, and you can get all your texting done with ease.

There's also some singing and dancing on stage, but who cares about all that?"

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 09:16 AM

[keen on kean]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 3:19pm

LOL!

I have a suspicion there already is such a campaign in place, given the behavior that is encouraged!

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 3:31pm

I almost forgot to mention, nothing goes with text messaging like a delicious wrapped hard candy.

Also, Broadway shows are just the antidote for today's fast paced, hurried lifestyle. You can show up whenever you like; ten, fifteen minutes after the show starts - no problem. Your usher will happily direct you to your seat in the middle of a crowded aisle while the big opening number is just finishing up.

And remember America , Broadway's restrooms aren't just for intermissions. Use 'em anytime, all the time!

[sidjones09]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 3:31pm

Needs more sarcasm!

I love it.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 3:50pm

I saw JOURNEY'S END last Wednesday night. I was sitting in the front row of the Orchestra. The father and son to the left of me were munching on Reeses pieces before the show started (at about 7:55), so I went up to the usher and asked if eating was allowed at the seats, and she said that if it was an item that the person purchased at the theatre, they were allowed to eat it at their seat. I told her the kind of candy it was, and she said that it was indeed on sale in the lobby. The show began, and the men kept crunching away, crinkling the bag the Reeses were in. The son's cell phone was turned on for the entire act, the light shining bright in the dark theatre. At intermission, the men got up to use the facilities, and in front of their seats were the wrappers from their candy and a bunch of the pieces of candy smashed into the carpet from the soles of their shoes. The lights started to flash indicating that intermission was about to end, and the men had not yet returned. Well, eventually the lights went down and Act II began. Five minutes into Act II the usher had the nerve to seat these men, in the middle of the scene, noisily, in the front row.

Not to mention that a cell phone in the Orchestra rang at the start of Act I (six rings, not silenced). You could tell that the actors were distracted. The phone was loud and this was a very quiet scene. Toward the end of Act I, an alarm (a watch alarm or cell phone alarm) started beeping and continued to beep for a minute. Whose ever it was didn't want people to know it was theirs so they decided to just let it beep for a whole minute. Again, you could see the actors were trying their best not to be distracted. The same alarm went off again twice more during Act II for a minute at a time. Not one usher walked down the aisle trying to locate where the alarm was coming from.

As this brilliant piece of theatre was being performed on stage in a historical monument of a theatre, this is what the paying audience members and hard working actors had to put up with, and nobody in charge seemed to feel it was important enough to take action and assure it didn't continue throughout the performance.

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 03:50 PM

[Anakela]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 4:21pm

You forgot how it's so much fun to show how many times you've listened to the cast recording and/or seen the show by singing along with the folks onstage. Bonus points for also doing dance moves and singing along, extra special bonus points if you're doing both *and* are seated in the front row.

And also, how there's a very special prize given to the first person out of the theatre every night, so you should absolutely be out of your seat before the curtain call. Your best bet in fact is to get up in the minutes before the show ends, and stand in the aisle on your way to the door, where the ushers will do nothing while you and your party just stand in the aisles distracting everyone seated around you.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 4:33pm

"And remember folks, while the excitement of a Broadway show might make you want to have loud, boisterous group conversations with lots of shouting and laughter, this sort of thing is not appropriate during a show.

Please save this type of activity for the designated times: The "Overture" and "Entracte".

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 4:33pm

Oops!

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 04:33 PM

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 5:57pm

Now im a little sad, because its all so true... WHat has happened to "culture?"

And you forgot the fact that people can where whatever they want... Daisy Dukes, Sweatpants, Hawaiian Shirts, etc...

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 05:57 PM

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:02pm

It's also the best place to eat a three-course meal. Screw Sardi's and other high-price restaurants! Bring whatever food you want, and eat it whenever and however you want. Chips, salsa, sandwiches, prime rib, whatever. Prop your feet up on the chair in front of you while your at it.

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 06:02 PM

[ashley0139]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:14pm

Anything to get the butts in those seats.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:21pm

Anyone out there remember a multi media show by the Mc Graw Hill Building called the New York Experience ?

How about something similar called "The Broadway Experience"?

You do not get butts in the seats by constantly raising prices & pricing people away from Broadway.

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 06:21 PM

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:38pm

And you forgot the fact that people can where whatever they want... Daisy Dukes, Sweatpants, Hawaiian Shirts, etc...

When I go to the theatre, the fact that some people are wearing sweatpants does not interrupt my enjoyment of the show. I think the dress code concern is a dead argument. With all of the real distractions we have to deal with (cell phones, talking, eating), I think people need to start getting past the clothing conformity wish. It's gone. People don't want to look like everybody else. They want to dress like themselves. Asking people to dress a certain way when they go to the theatre is imposing ones views too much on someone they don't even know. Let's worry about the distractions that take away from our enjoyment of what's going on on stage -- the reason we are there to begin with. We do not attend the theatre to be part of a fashion show.

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 06:38 PM

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:45pm

What ever happened to class?

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:47pm

I agree partially with Wanna Be a Foster, but I think it crosses the line if someone comes in with huge holes in his or her shirt or painting pants, or something like that.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:49pm

"Pick your battles."

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 7:05pm

There's also some singing and dancing on stage, but who cares about all that?

For real. What's up with that?