The thing is, these producers must have some sort of passion for theatre, misguided though it may be. If they didn't, they could have just as easily lost their millions in the stock market or investing in a "cute" card shop on a small-town main street.
A love of theatre with expendable income does not a producer make.
Yes, we live in an era when "anyone with 10 million dollars" can get a show on Broadway. That doesn't make them smart, savvy, or artistic.
I'm not saying that this is anything new, but there used to be a difference between a producer and an investor. Investors or "angels" would put up the money, and they might, MIGHT make a stupid suggestion or two along the way, during production. They were not the Hal Princes and David Merricks, however. They were dumb rich people with checkbooks and a love of theatre (or at least chorus girls).
They are a necessary part of of Broadway, though. Without them, nothing would be on the boards. But the big mistake was confusing them for Hal Prince and David Merrick, or allowing them to make any sort of on-hands producerly decisions.
They may be there for the duration of the creative process, but merely putting in time doesn't mean you know anything or have any worthy insight. That's another American "entitlement" on display ... "I've worked here ten years, so I should be the one to get the raise and the promotion, and I"m the one who knows what's going on!"
No, you don't. You know what's going on only if your smart, not if you've been hanging around for years. In the theatre world, you can't be a producer simply by osmosis. It's a rare person who can facilitate and guide a production. Someone who understands the "show" and the "business." They are not the director or the creative team. But they put the right people in the room together to get the job done, and if something isn't working, they fix it. The "talent" of a producer, other than hiring the right people and raising money, is knowing HOW to fix it when things go wrong ... and something almost always does. That separates the real producers from the checkbook writers. Producers used to keep the "angels" at bay. They used to keep the money people satisfied that the work would be done and their investment was in good hands, but they also kept them far away as possible from the actual production process.
Not anymore. It's a different game now. Everyone with money and a love for theatre thinks they're Hal Prince.
And these kind of comments only expose them for who they really are.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Updated On: 7/6/11 at 06:36 PM
