I certainly understand why shows are not on DVD. But to those who say it shouldn't be recorded just because the theatre is a LIVE experience - shame on you.
Yes, the great thing about the theatre is that it is live and anything can happen. BUT...
For a family of four to go to New York and see a show, it'd cost a minimum of $1,000. That's at least $100 a plane ticket, $100 a theatre ticket, $100 for lunch and dinner, and $100 for a hotel. Of course theatre tickets may be less, but the plane tickets will probably be more. And if the family drives, it'd be more expensive, adding gas, food, and more hotel money.
THAT is not why shows should be on DVD. It's only the spark.
It costs that family at leats $1,000 for a trip to Broadway, so I'd imagine trips would be few for the average middle class depending on location. I know our family doesn't go every year. We probably go every other year - IF that. I never got to see the Sam Mendes revival of CABARET on Broadway. I never got to see the short-lived PARADE on Broadway and the score is one of my favorites. I never got to see RAGTIME, the ASSASSINS revival, BIG RIVER, CAROLINE OR CHANGE, GYPSY with Bernadette Peters, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, NINE, THE BOY FROM OZ, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, nor URINETOWN. And I never got to see CATS nor LES MIS before they closed, neither. All because my family can't afford $1,000+ to get to New York.
There is no reason why this kid who is stuck in North Carolina can't also enjoy the wonderful Broadway casts in original or revived shows. So I make do - I see national tours, I get cast recordings, I watch the Tonys, I see regional theatre, and I read scripts. But, for example, I'll never get to see how Bernadette did as Mama Rose. The show closed by the time I got to New York.
There was also this show called CATS. I never got to see it on Broadway, but I knew it was a famous show and had a record for being the longest-running. One day, I saw on a shelf in a video store a DVD of the production. I bought it. I didn't like it. But at least I knew what the fuss was about.
One day in theatre class in high school, we saw the DVD of INTO THE WOODS. I never heard about the show before, but I fell in love with it. The next month, I discovered a new revival of it was coming to Broadway. A few weeks later, I actually got to go to New York and see the production.
I now own almost every single Broadway show that was recorded for DVD. Would I have preferred to see them live? Hell yes! But it wasn't an option for me. But because of wonderful people such as Lonny Price, I am able to get a taste of what I am missing.
Now that I'm on my own, it's easier for me to get to New York as its only less than $400 for a trip by myself. But being a poor college student, it's still a rare occasion.
So shame on the greedy New Yorkers who say shows shouldn't be on DVD. You're in the city. You don't have travel expenses. You can subway to midtown and get rush tickets for $25 every week. You can get TKTS ticket for $50 every day. Broadway isn't just for you.
The second issue is cost. It cost $500,000 to record a show onto DVD and distribute it. Producers are lucky to make half of it back. So why do it when you know you're going to lose money?
The third issue is taking money away from the current production. Problem solved. Like I already said, record the original casts and sell them a few years after the show closes on Broadway. The producers will know the right time. Either sell them in time for the tour so you get the revenue from those theatre-goers or wait til the sales won't detract from the show at all.
I've spoken with many Broadway directors about putting shows onto DVD. Very very few said they don't consider it because the theatre should be a live experience. They know not everyone can come to Broadway. And the bottom line is they want their work seen. So do the actors. The problem is all financial.
Therefore, to Ms. Oprah Winfrey, please record Color Purple for DVD!
"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
