[NEohioPAL] From the New York Times; straight shows down, musical theatre up

Thu Dec 18 05:38:39 PST 2008

While Swzartz isn't exactly 'new' I'd like to point to Wicked as a counter
to "newer composers are not writing songs that you can sing while walking
out of the theatre the way R&H did" (the office manager at my day job will
randomly start humming selections); Rent as well.

I'll freely admit that I am a theater fan, but generally prefer musical
theater; I'll also admit that I can loose interest more quickly than I
probably should. One of the reasons why my preferences skew toward the
musical end is because a significant number of the straight shows I've seen
recently have had absolutely lethargic pacing, in my very personal opinion,
whereas musicals tend to be a bit snappier by nature, the orchestra also
adds an energy to the show not usually present in straight shows.

On the other side, I caught a performance of 'Boeing Boeing', mentioned in
the original article, when I was in New York [for the first time] back in
October, and it was absolutely fantastic; as was Cleveland Play House's
Noises Off. Another CPH presentation from a couple years ago, "I Am My Own
Wife" still ranks as one of my favorites.

I know this sounds funny with the Nth National Tour of Rent on the horizon,
but I also think some of the straight shows are being overperformed... In
the greater Cleveland area, over the course of a few weeks not long
past Noises Off was on two different stages simultaneously, and I would
think that there was some impact to each show's audience size as a result.

Theater (straight or musical) like all media is a conduit for social
commentary as well as entertainment; if a show is not entertaining; as in my
case pacing detracts from, or if the commentary is inartfully wound into the
script or overemphasized it reduces the desire of all but the most committed
fans to partake in the festivities. How many different productions of
Dickens are on stage right now? How many offer the audience anything new or
innovative? Why should we expect the audience to keep coming if we're giving
them the 'same old, same old'?

GLTF is an unfourtinate example, between "A Chrismas Carol" and last
season's production of "The Crucible" last season: While "The Crucible"
was well-reviewed, it was in my personal opinion hands down the worst, and
least enjoyable play I have seen in a very long time. That show, combined
with what I perceive to be a lackluster season surrounding it, was the
primary reason I decided not to re-up my subscription for this season, and
am taking it on a "show-by-show" basis

Happy Holidays,

Lincoln
(24, a guy, primarially an audience member)

On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 4:10 PM, Christopher Fortunato <learnedhand at live.com
> wrote:

> I think I have to agree with Robert Hawkes.  Robert's ouevre is in straight
> shows.  I acted opposite him in the Seagull and his Dr. Dorn was marvelous
> to watch on stage.  Don't forget, actors in the cast are watching the show
> like the audience.  And I was blessed there to watch some fantastic actors
> in that cast.  It's still with me five years after the fact.
>
> It's too bad that plays may not be as appreciated as musicals.  I've done
> both.  I am more in the plays category or I get cast as a non-singing person
> in a musical.  (But I can sing.  I just did not go to BW or similarly
> situated training.)
>
> It's really too bad that the audience would reject a good Tennesee Williams
> or Arthur Miller play for a musical.  I enjoy both and when I go to NYC
> occasionally, I want to see both.  I find it encouraging that local venues
> like Porthouse, the Cleveland Playhouse and Beck stage both for the variety.
>
> I was also surprised to see the numbers so disparate between plays and
> musicals.  I expect the musicals people are flocking to are older and tried
> and true.  Newer musicals today do not get the play on radios for the songs
> most likely because newer composers are not writing songs that you can sing
> while walking out of the theatre the way R&H did.
>
> > Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:31:41 -0800
> > From: alitivity at yahoo.com
> > Subject: Re: [NEohioPAL] From the New York Times; straight shows down,
> musical theatre up
> > To: learnedhand at live.com; rhhawkes at gmail.com
> > CC: neohiopal at listserve.com
> >
> > I think a point is being missed here. Musicals were in their Hayday, on
> film and in the Theater back when the world was at war, and times were
> tough. I believe it is no coincidence that they are back in full force now,
> when we are at war and times are tough. People want to have a break from
> their daily troubles, and Musicals do that for people.
> >
> > Al Damond Phillips
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Tue, 12/16/08, Robert Hawkes <rhhawkes at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > From: Robert Hawkes <rhhawkes at gmail.com>
> > > Subject: Re: [NEohioPAL] From the New York Times; straight shows down,
> musical theatre up
> > > To: "Christopher Fortunato" <learnedhand at live.com>
> > > Cc: neohiopal at listserve.com
> > > Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2008, 10:57 PM
> > > Jeez, don't get me started. No disrespect to musical
> > > plays of actual honesty
> > > and substance, but this trend (a trend with a fraternal
> > > twin in the
> > > film-going population - ask John Ewing at the
> > > Cinémathèque) would seem to me
> > > merely a symptomatic eddy of the larger tidal shift, in the
> > > last 50-60
> > > years, as pop culture moves from the juvenile periphery to
> > > the adult center
> > > of our culture as a whole. We all know that it's harder
> > > and harder to get
> > > folk to sit still at a live theatre performance, accustomed
> > > as they are to
> > > the rapid jolts of TV and garbage-y movies, and what tends
> > > to draw them in,
> > > if they do come, is...well, let's just leave it at Easy
> > > Access - which,
> > > let's be frank, is what most musicals provide.
> > >
> > > I'll stop.
> > >
> > > Ho ho ho, everybody. Stay safe on New Year's Eve.
> > >
> > > RHH
> > > _______________________________________
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