Riedel on other musican residencies following Springsteen — Page 2

darquegk said: "The thing that made Springsteen work isn’t the appeal of a superstar doing an unplugged show: it was the way it was a culmination of Springsteen’s legendary raconteur performances into a full-on theatrical one man show with music.”



i completely agree with this. Springsteen on Broadway was a singular experience that would be nearly impossible for anyone else to do, especially a younger artist. Bruce has always been known for his stories in concert, and the combination of integrating his autobiography with his songs, made for a brilliant evening in the theater. I have seen him many times over the years in nearly every kind of a venue, and this was truly one of the best things I’ve ever seen him do. He bares his soul up on that stage, and takes the audience along for a thrilling ride in the process. It is a show that has such universal elements, despite it being his life story, that it works on every level. With almost any other artist, it would just be a pale imitation.

Seconding ColorTheHours' motion. And by the same token, I'm tired of always hearing about making Broadway more accessible. Don't get me wrong, it should be, and I'm the first to fight for it, but people who complain about it on the Internet tend to pick their battles, and by and large, they don't pick the right ones. More specifically, I'm tired of people complaining about the price of tickets and that all shows should be filmed without even bothering to learn about the cost and why that's unlikely to be feasible.

You want theater to be more accessible? Stop treating Broadway like it's the only source of theater. Support local theaters and the arts scene, petition for more governmental support and funding for the arts, fight for change in how licensing companies operate so newer shows are licensed sooner and shows in general are cheaper so companies are more likely to put them on, encourage more work from new playwrights and new companies so the overall talent pool is bolstered, etc.

Theater is more than Broadway. Yes, I get that that's an elitist viewpoint for some people; doesn't make it less true.

Updated On: 11/23/18 at 03:52 PM

I would love to see James Taylor. He's heading back out on tour with Bonnie Raitt, and they're doing an extended stop in Vegas. It could be interesting if he had some rotating guests (in my dreams it's Carole King, but that's probably not likely).