Why is the "revue" dead?- Page 2

[bk]

Posted: 5/8/17 at 9:46pm

The revue is certainly alive and well in LA because I keep it alive :)  Last year we did a wonderful revue, L.A. Now and Then, and prior to that I did a revue based on my albums Lost in Boston and Unsung Musicals, and before that a revue called What If.  I love the form - no one really knows how to do them anymore - except me, of course :)

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/8/17 at 10:31pm

bk said: "The revue is certainly alive and well in LA because I keep it alive :)  Last year we did a wonderful revue, L.A. Now and Then, and prior to that I did a revue based on my albums Lost in Boston and Unsung Musicals, and before that a revue called What If.  I love the form - no one really knows how to do them anymore - except me, of course :)

 

I am sure that your investment is a fraction of what is required to put anything on in a Broadway house, and that the size of your venue is more in line with an off-Broadway house.  And what are your ticket prices?

 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/8/17 at 10:32pm

at the risk of repeating myself, the question the OP raised was revues on Broadway. There is no  debate that there is a niche market for revues elsewhere, in New York and otherwise. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/9/17 at 12:32am

HogansHero said: "at the risk of repeating myself, the question the OP raised was revues on Broadway. There is no  debate that there is a niche market for revues elsewhere, in New York and otherwise. 

 

"

Indeed, isn't BEACH BLANKET BABYLON still running in San Francisco?

THE FABULOUS PALM SPRINGS FOLLIES ran for 25 years! (800-seat house)

 

Posted: 5/9/17 at 5:45am

Bette Midler did a very successful 'Clams on the Half Shell' revue on at Minskoff on Broadway in 1975 - it was extremely popular. Maybe following her current success, she could revive the artform?

Updated On: 5/9/17 at 05:45 AM

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 5/9/17 at 5:47am

Can I get a weak vote for what the theaters and concert halls now call "Galas?" They grab all the star-power they can and shuffle them on and off the stage, singing one number. Like the recent New York Pops Gala or the Carnegie Hall gala that featured, among many others, Renee Fleming, Emanuel Ax and James Taylor. The galas usually honor some person or organization, although we all know that it's their biggest night to pull in cash, and there's usually some theme.

I try to distinguish a gala from a concert by multiple artists singing just a song or two, in place of a few singing enough songs and interacting with the audience enough so that we get to know them.

This 2014 City Center Gala, celebrating Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein, is one I would surely like to revisit after looking at the song list. Overture from Oklahoma, "It Might as Well Be Spring," Laura Osnes, "My Heart Stood Still," Kate Baldwin, "This Can't Be Love," Cyrille Aimee, "The Gentleman is a Dope," Heidi Blickenstaff, "Pas De Deux" from the Carousel ballet, "Soliloquy," Brian Stokes Mitchell, "This Nearly Was Mine," Paulo Szot, Kelli O'Hara singing "Hello, Young Lovers" for what she said was only the second time in public.

And about six more songs. I often enjoy this type of performance more than many Broadway shows.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 5/17/17 at 3:35pm

I was thinking, with the longer runs necessary to earn a profit these days, a really topical revue with timely sketches would probably become outdated before the show could even recoup. In the old days runs were so much shorter on average.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/17/17 at 5:50pm

OlBlueEyes said: "Can I get a weak vote for what the theaters and concert halls now call "Galas?" They grab all the star-power they can and shuffle them on and off the stage, singing one number. Like the recent New York Pops Gala or the Carnegie Hall gala that featured, among many others, Renee Fleming, Emanuel Ax and James Taylor. The galas usually honor some person or organization, although we all know that it's their biggest night to pull in cash, and there's usually some theme.

I try to distinguish a gala from a concert by multiple artists singing just a song or two, in place of a few singing enough songs and interacting with the audience enough so that we get to know them.

This 2014 City Center Gala, celebrating Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein, is one I would surely like to revisit after looking at the song list. Overture from Oklahoma, "It Might as Well Be Spring," Laura Osnes, "My Heart Stood Still," Kate Baldwin, "This Can't Be Love," Cyrille Aimee, "The Gentleman is a Dope," Heidi Blickenstaff, "Pas De Deux" from the Carousel ballet, "Soliloquy," Brian Stokes Mitchell, "This Nearly Was Mine," Paulo Szot, Kelli O'Hara singing "Hello, Young Lovers" for what she said was only the second time in public.

And about six more songs. I often enjoy this type of performance more than many Broadway shows.

 

What you described is not a revue.  It is almost always a one performance event with super high prices benefitting some good cause.  It doesn't have to worry about filling a theatre week after week, and selling enough tickets to meet its weekly nut and hopefully return its investment and catch on for endless runs in the hinterlands.

 

[bk]

Posted: 5/18/17 at 1:09am

Jarethan said: "bk said: "The revue is certainly alive and well in LA because I keep it alive :)  Last year we did a wonderful revue, L.A. Now and Then, and prior to that I did a revue based on my albums Lost in Boston and Unsung Musicals, and before that a revue called What If.  I love the form - no one really knows how to do them anymore - except me, of course :)

 

I am sure that your investment is a fraction of what is required to put anything on in a Broadway house, and that the size of your venue is more in line with an off-Broadway house.  And what are your ticket prices?

 

 

"

This thread title, since you seem to have missed it, is why is there revue dead.  I answered that revues are done quite regularly by me in LA - what has that do with Broadway, off-Broadway, ticket prices, or the price of a hernia?  The revue was, of course, an off-Broadway and LA staple for many years - 

 

[bk]

Posted: 5/18/17 at 1:11am

HogansHero said: "at the risk of repeating myself, the question the OP raised was revues on Broadway. There is no  debate that there is a niche market for revues elsewhere, in New York and otherwise. 

 

"

Really?  Is the word Broadway in this thread title - I must have missed it.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/18/17 at 8:53am

bk said: "Really?  Is the word Broadway in this thread title - I must have missed it."

What you seem to have missed is the content of the OP, which was about Broadway. It is not that unusual for people to post things here about Broadway with titles that don't mention broadway explicitly. In this case, the topic is rendered meaningless if understood more broadly. First of all, one need not go to the west coast to discover that the revue is not dead in smaller niches. And secondly there is no observable phenomenon relating to these efforts that pertains to viability on the big stage. All that said, you are of course free to hijack any thread you want to make it about yourself. Happens here daily.