The theatre needs a National Spokesperson again!
The theatre needs a National Spokesperson again!
#1The theatre needs a National Spokesperson again!
Posted: 7/30/10 at 12:13am
Back during the days of the ROSIE O'DONNELL SHOW (when the majority of America was arguably in favor of her), Rosie O'Donnell had a national platform which she used to promote theatre, specifically the Broadway musical. I was a large fan of the show and often visited its chatroom and message boards. It was thrilling to read comments from mothers all over the country about the performances they saw on Rosie's show. I would often read how Susan from Ohio wanted to take her family to see 42nd STREET and Gloria from Wisconsin was intrigued how TITANIC was accomplished on the stage.
Rosie O'Donnell was a producer's DREAM! She gave airtime to Broadway shows on a television show which was viewed by millions of married women -- a target demographic for family audiences. (She also arranged to get her live studio audience tickets to Broadway shows as well as their cast recordings.)
Her popularity in American households was so tremendous that she was asked several times if she would host the Tony Awards. The first to admit that she has no talent, her enthusiasm for Broadway masked whatever performance skills she lacked.
There is no question that because of Rosie, a wider audience was able to get a glimpse of Broadway (and hopefully visited the city to purchase tickets, or at least touring productions).
We all know what happened in the years since Rosie decided to discontinue doing her show, so there is no real point in discussing that. You either loved her or hated her then, and you either still love her or hate her now.
When THE ROSIE O'DONNELL SHOW ended, Broadway's "unofficial spokesperson" no longer had the exposure she once was capable of. Yes, Broadway still gets some national coverage on television, mostly from THE VIEW and LIVE WITH REGIS & KELLY, but no one has yet filled that void Rosie gifted us with.
While it would be gratifying to have another "spokesperson" on TV for Broadway, it is really the theatre in general which needs its cheerleaders. And it doesn't need to be somebody famous, it needs to be YOU!
If you're on this message board, a large part of your life is probably dedicated to the theatre. If so, hoorah! I'm so pleased that this artform has found you and that you have grown an appreciation of it. Now I have a mission for YOU.
SHARE
YOUR
APPRECIATION!
Search for theatre near your neighborhood. Find a show you think your friends and family would enjoy and INVITE THEM! If you are able, buy their ticket for them! If you are in a show and have a pair of comp tickets, tell your parents "Sorry, you'll have to pay for this one," and go to your local grocery store, find a couple, tell them you're in a show, tell them about it and invite them to come see it! Tell them that you will give them your comp tickets.
Do not choose friends, family, and neighbors that already attend the theatre. Invite your nontheatre-going co-worker. Your dentist. Your bartender. Seek out those have never seen live theatre before.
The truth is, Rosie O'Donnell was great and if the world ever gets another single National Spokesperson again, I'm not complaining -- but the greatest spokesperson for this artform that we love so dearly is US. Is YOU. It's the people we know directly that most influence us.
So INFLUENCE THEM! Take my challenge. Tell your friend that they'll have to wait to see the new Angelina Jolie movie on DVD because you're each taking your $10 and putting it towards a ticket to your local community theatre's production of OUR TOWN.
Yes, ticket prices to theatre are high, but there is affordable theatre out there. You just have to find it.
Amidst theaters struggling to find money & closing down and arts funding being cut from schools, the best thing YOU can do is share why you care about theatre not with words, but with action. And sharing it not with the people that already care, but with those you know who haven't yet experienced the magic of seeing a live performance.
Let's make this form of entertainment a social norm again!
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
Updated On: 7/30/10 at 12:13 AM
--Aristotle
#2The theatre needs a National Spokesperson again!
Posted: 7/30/10 at 11:04am
CapnHook, I totally agree with your message.
It is my goal to establish a performing arts center whose mission is to replace television one night a week for its regular audience members. In my opinion, the saddest part of the decline of theatre as a form of popular entertainment is that it has (generally speaking) been replaced by more anti-social media.
More small theatres with low ticket prices could not only help revive the popularity of the form, but also rekindle something of the community/neighborhood spirit that is dying out in may places. Thus, theatre could be used as a powerful social and economic tool, as well as an art form.
"We don't value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life's bounty is in it's flow, later is too late. Where is the song when it's been sung, the dance when it's been danced? It's only we humans who want to own the future too."
- Tom Stoppard, Shipwreck
#2The theatre needs a National Spokesperson again!
Posted: 7/30/10 at 1:21pmMy Facebook friends are probably sick of seeing my posts about shows I love, shows I'm going to see, and pics of the theaters and marquees. Some people have told me that they follow theater more because of my posts. I'm sure most people on here could say the same. I worry that my NYC friends, esp those in the business see my posts and roll their eyes thinking."... if I see one more pic of The Booth theater I'm going to unfriend him."
"The price of love is loss, but still we pay; We love anyway."
#3The theatre needs a National Spokesperson again!
Posted: 7/30/10 at 7:00pmHere, here!
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
#4The theatre needs a National Spokesperson again!
Posted: 8/5/10 at 6:52pmRosie is returning to daytime TV. Here's to hoping her show films in New York!
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
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