when a show dies what happens to everything

[Eliva1]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 12:03am

What happens to costumes and sets when a show has finished the broadway and touring runs?

[gypsy101]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 12:09am

i believe i read that most flops (or just unimportant shows) have their sets and costumes incinerated.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 12:20am

Yeah for shows that don't tour almost everything gets tossed. Sometimes costumes are donated to costume collections that can be rented. Donating that stuff can be a ta right off. Successful shows like Wicked will put stuff into storage as backup for the other shows running new productions (see Brazil).

[Eliva1]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 3:04am

SNAFU said: "Yeah for shows that don't tour almost everything gets tossed. Sometimes costumes are donated to costume collections that can be rented. Donating that stuff can be a ta right off. Successful shows like Wicked will put stuff into storage as backup for the other shows running new productions (see Brazil)."

Are you serious

 

 

[Doody Fisher]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 3:09am

Eliva1 said: "SNAFU said: "Yeah for shows that don't tour almost everything gets tossed. Sometimes costumes are donated to costume collections that can be rented. Donating that stuff can be a ta right off. Successful shows like Wicked will put stuff into storage as backup for the other shows running new productions (see Brazil)."

 

Are you serious

 

 

are you 7 years old?

 

 

"

 

[Eliva1]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 4:01am

I just cannot believe they are not in a museum,

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 5:41am

Because there is a museum that A: is dedicated to Broadway and B: would be able to store/display everything from every show?

 

 

[devonian.t]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 6:41am

Given 

 

a) the general acceptance of the need to recycle

b) the need amongst community arts groups for more support

 

I am amazed that we don't feel more shame at the chronic waste involved in destroying sets and costumes on such a grand scale.

 

Just as other production bonds exist, I think there should be one covering ethical disposal of materials at the end of production.  This would obviously have to accommodate designers' rights- but it's time for a re-think on the waste we produce!

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 6:50am

I agree and think this every time I see a show being moved out.  My school and so many others would treasure the items that they'll just be tossing.

[atuomala]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 7:57am

From what I have been told by someone who works in theatre, props and wardrobe are usually returned if they are rented or donated to costume/props rental shops in the city. The physical set is broken down and tossed in the garbage/recycle. A lot of props eventually trickle down and wind up at the BCEFA Flea Market. A production also uses extra props as an additional way of raising money for BCEFA by putting them in the market signed by a principle cast member. The marquees and posters in front of the theatre are archived by the theatres themselves, so they are not tossed out either.

[KCW]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 8:04am

From what I know, there are two ways to get items:

Network: Somehow get to know cast members, technicians, producers, creatives. The more the better, put some leverage in. Use these connections to get small things, ask if they can ask to get that fake dagger that gets thrown out every night or the crumpled paper prop that is recycled every other week. At the end of the run you can try to get bigger things for example a railing or some curtians.

 

Look: Dumpster dive at the end of run, I know a member here did this for In the Heights and found the milk carton that Unsnavi smells in the first song. If you prefer to keep clean, look at the flea market. I think someone here got the Phantom's chair there as it was being replaced.

 

These are the ways that I know of to get items but it is a shame that so much must be wasted. Here are articles on the subject of the recycling initiative:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/theater/15davi.html?referer=&_r=0

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/theater/26gree.html

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 8:40am

The cost of moving a set is incredible....and there are implications to WHO can move the set....union stuff.  

 

I would love to have the set from Pippin....but what do I do with it from the time I have it "gifted" to the time I can actually USE it?   Most schools do not have the storage.  I doubt it would even fit in my storage area.

 

 

Updated On: 3/7/16 at 08:40 AM

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 9:05am

"Most schools do not have the storage.  I doubt it would even fit in my storage area."

 

It is too bad schools could not get items (lack of storage space) because the "arts" in schools do not have big budgets and can use the help.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 9:18am

It goes in the trash. Have you been to NYC? Where would we put the sets of all the flops gone by?

[Tom5]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 11:37am

If there was even a remote chance that the show would go on tour or there would be one or more regional productions (which could happen years later) everything unique to the show (For example original materials laboriously created in the prop room) would have to be held on to somewhere. Maybe the producer or director's apartment!

[Kad]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 11:47am

Most major set pieces are designed specifically for the dimensions and technical capabilities of the venue. Most companies in the country don't have the means to house or use them.

Transporting and storing these pieces is very costly- who would be paying for this if they're just going to sit in boxes for decades? Even if there were a museum, it wouldn't be interested in keeping set pieces from every closed show, or even able to do so.

Theatre isn't meant to be held onto forever in any place but your memory.

 

[veronicamae]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 2:06pm

Theatre is a hugely wasteful industry. The Broadway Green Alliance was born of the need to try to be more environmentally friendly when it comes to designing shows.

A lot of costumes go into TDF's costume collection and can actually be rented by non-profit theatre companies.

This is a good read: http://www.broadwaygreen.com/faqs/

[Julie Yard]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 6:02pm

All show props go to heaven!

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 6:13pm

I know this from having worked on ALL of the WICKED productions world-wide. Our Dragon and Oz head goes into storage if a show closes. There are two different stage designs. One for a sit down, where the dragon is a marionette, one that is adjustable where the dragon is automated. So yes, I am serious. Successful shows like WICKED store and save pretty much everything.

 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 7:51pm

I remember after seeing Christopher Plummer in his musical Cyrano.I walked by the stage door and some props were in a garbage can by it. I got a phony letter with sealing wax attached. I took it but doubt if I still have it.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 8:21pm

I have several pieces from the original sets for HELLO DOLLY in my dining room. I stopped by the theater the day after closing and they let me take what I wanted.  The staircase wouldn't fit in my hatchback. 

Updated On: 3/7/16 at 08:21 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 8:31pm

You should have enlisted the a help of people around you to help you take it home.

[amoni]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 8:33pm

Paper Mill's recent "A Christmas Story" used the original Broadway sets.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/7/16 at 9:04pm

I think it's fine whenever a closing show can make "green" choices for its discards. But with a pile of trash bigger than the state of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean, I don't really think the several dozen shows that open on Broadway every year are a significant source of planetary waste.