hairspray and other shows taping???- Page 2

[TIGGOSAURUS]

Posted: 12/14/08 at 5:23pm

I've bought both the movie DVD and the OBC CD of Hairspray and I love the show to bits in whatever form it takes, but a video of the current show would top it all. Same as a video of the Spamalot and Curtains OBC would make me very happy - especially as one of the many theatre-goers who have seen shows which they adore but won't get to see again (Lincoln Centre tapings or not - honestly, what chance does a foreign-based Broadway fan have of seeing these recordings?)

That being said, I understand why it doesn't make financial sense to release DVDs of stage musicals - if they struggled to recoup in theatres, the chances of the costs of DVD releases being met are VERY slim (unfortunately).

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/14/08 at 5:34pm

Please let Gypsy be taped. I plan on seeing it again, i've seen it twice, but I would totally buy a DVD of the show in a heartbeat.

I suppose "South Pacific" will be filmed if it ever decides to close.

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 8:56am

i am not sure what south pacific is but after watching the performance on thanksgiving.. i def dont want to see it. it looks like a bunch of weird ass sailors singing.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 11:32am

i am not sure what south pacific is but after watching the performance on thanksgiving.. i def dont want to see it. it looks like a bunch of weird ass sailors singing.

THAT ignorant remark begs a request from Broadway's history for you to find some OTHER hobby. That one remark speaks volumes about a whole generation of not learning nor caring about the history of something that has been around for decades BEFORE you ever discovered it.

SOUTH PACIFIC is a legendary groundbreaking musical. Its not about 'weird ass sailors singing'. It saddens me to see if you would judge something based on a TV performance clip on a goddamn parade, how else you're going to judge things in your life that aren't fully explained in detail to you.

I'm forever grateful there's a decline in people wanting children.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 12:06pm

Brody - that reply was excellent.

Wdwfreak - your post ranked as one of the stupidest on this board ... and that's saying a lot.

[LadyDramaturg2]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 12:28pm

re: wdwfreak, you know, Intelligence is a constant, and the Universe is Infinitely Expanding, so --

With respect to the Great Performances issue, I once asked PBS whether they planned to turn one of their broadcast performances (a concert) into a VHS/DVD for sale, and they explained that they COULD NOT DO THAT.

Why not? When the performances are first recorded, specific contracts are executed with not only every performer and creative involved -- but with the technical and stage crew who worked on that particular show, that LIMIT the extent to which the recording can be used. If the original contract didn't provide for royalties and residuals for everybody who worked on the show (a HUGE undertaking to write a contract like that), then it can only be broadcast the number of times specified in the original contract.

To try to go back and renegotiate these contracts after time passes is impossible, so if one particular show is a big hit, and people start asking to buy a copy, we're out of luck. Can't be done.

It's the sheer legal complexity that prevents most "shows" from being recorded, I've been told by my colleagues that do this stuff.