Remakes and Revivals

[AndiV]

Posted: 12/9/05 at 3:56pm

this is a quote from Naomi Watts;

Even though she is starring in a remake of a classic Hollywood movie, she said, "It's weird there are so many remakes at the moment. There's a great lack of good material and new ideas. It's emblematic of our times. We've run out of ideas, which is sinful. We're going to burn out."

i have heard many a debate about so many revivals on Broadway, but maybe it's across the board. i hadn't really thought about it, so this quote was very interesting to me...

thoughts?

[wickedfreak]

Posted: 12/9/05 at 3:59pm

I think that reivals on broadway are a very good thing! If they were not there, sooo many people would not get to enjoy so many wonderful shows....as for movies I think that it will be kind of the like the reality TV craze which is sort of starting to die down....It is just a phase in the movies.

John

[greenegirl87]

Posted: 12/9/05 at 4:02pm

I too love revivals, but I think there needs to be a good balance between original shows, revivals, and jukebox musicals, and right now I think that there definitely are a lot of revivals and jukebox musicals. But it is kind of the supply and demand thing, right now, that is what is selling on Bway. Even Wicked, an "original show" is based off of very familiar material. Same with Spamalot.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 12/9/05 at 4:30pm

Wicked is an original musical. Almost everything has an origin from something else. The problem is the jukebox shows are a lazy way producers hope to make a quick buck. With one or two exceptions, they have been proven that even the King of rock & roll's music isn't enough to make a show stand on its own. As for revivals, there is no reason that there shouldn't be any. Not everyone was around to see A Raisin in the Sun or The Pajama Game or Cabaret, etc. But anyone can go rent the original Oceans 11 or Cheaper by the Dozen. Hollywood remakes are almost ALWAYS inecessary.

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 12/9/05 at 4:36pm

I like Jukebox Musicals...but thats just me.

and when Lionel Ritchie finishes his....you better believe I will be there to see it cause I love his music.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 12/9/05 at 5:18pm

There are hardly enough Revivals, considering there weren't enough Nominees for this section at the Tonys last year, and probably won't be next year.

And the last few years have seen an absolute BOOM in the amount of new musicals opening on Broadway...

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/9/05 at 7:25pm

I posted a couple of thoughts about this on another thread not too long ago...

We have more remakes and revivals today for many reasons but here are the top 3 (in my not-so-humble opinion):

1) Lack of creativity (from writers), tied together strongly with fear of trying something new (which mostly comes from producers and “money” people)

2) This is 2005. We have twice as many Broadway shows and Hollywood films to revive and remake today as we did 50 years ago. So, more to choose from = more to redo.

3) Technology --- We've become a slave to it. We are more concerned today with our aural and visual technological advancements than ever before, and it's sacrificing the STORY as a result. This is true for Broadway and Hollywood. We'd rather see the freaky spectacle than the well-told tale. Ironically, we (as a society) were advancing faster in technology 75 years ago than we are today (think about the changes that came so quickly: talking pictures, amplified sound, color film, etc.)... yet society was more interested in the story then. Today we have great advancements (not coming as quickly as they were 3/4 of a century ago), but they have eclipsed basic story telling. And that's a real tragedy.

[jv92]

Posted: 12/9/05 at 9:20pm

With 3 new revivals last season, maybe the genre is getting less and less popular.