At a recent Broadway show in a venue that seats about 670 people, only about 40 percent of those seats were occupied, and upon leaving, Read the full post.
May 8
2008
06:05 PM ET
'Glory Days'... Just Passed You By
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fading pop stars were doing broadway before american idol rejects did
This was the most pointless post ever. Everyone who cares already found out the show closed yesterday. Youth musicals and American Idol contestants on Broadway are two topics that I’ve seen addressed in numerous places, so if you’re not going to bring anything new to the table, why bother writing?
Broadway was forever changed in the 80s and has become ‘event’ theater more than anything else. I think there will always be an audience for musicals but unless they can translate well to the Las Vegas strip then they would be best placed off-broadway and on tour.
I think we just need to remember that Avenue Q and Spring Awakening are both fairly new shows. It’s not like there’s been a huge drought or something. I still can’t believe they didn’t update Chorus Line with a few modern dancer struggles and kept the dated 70s stuff (albeit classic, I know, I love it, but seriously?).
Anyways, I saw 13 here in L.A. and it is a lot of infectious fun. Are they keeping the L.A. cast NineDaves? The male and female “leads” (it’s very ensemble) were quite, quite good.
Did anyone else hear that Julie Taymor (“The Lion King,” “Across the Universe”) was talking about staging a “Spiderman” Broadway musical, starring Evan Rachel Wood? I’m not kidding. That’s either going to be an enormous special-effects-laden success or a colossal failure . . . if it ever gets off the ground.
i heard Bono was composing that spider man musical- as much of a marvel fanboy I am, and i do love Julie Taymor– i really do hate Bono so i dont know…
Well, you mention Spring Awakening, which was only a year ago. And In The Heights is doing well this season. The “youth musical” (can Rent still qualify for that description a decade into its run?) will be fine, as long as it’s GOOD. Glory Days wasn’t.
I’ve seen Passing Strange 6 times. I could barely sit through Spring Awakening once.
This is where I am coming from… can American Musical Theatre continue? Yes. Is it important to find the new direction it should take (ie ALW and Stephen Sondheim’s shaping of the 80s)? Yes. The structure of In The Heights and Spring Awakening are based on the same old structure. Passing Strange is based on a rock concert. Not in the way Mama Mia or We will Rock You is… it is litterally a rock concert. It is one of the most amazing shows I’ve seen in almost 30 years. Why? Because you don’t feel like you’re watching a broadway show. You feel like you are watching a 2 1/2 hour music video – a musical with a story and a story with a musical. Will people go? I don’t think so. They aren’t. It is too new. It does not fit in the “type of musical” check-box. It does not appeal to “Eric F”s wife because it isn’t cats or Spamalot – but it might appeal to Eric – Go see it, see something new. GO
If they put the male cast in their tighty-whities, it would have been a huge hit. I’m just saying!
hey Andryroo, you obviously don’t get to a lot of theatre because there’s nothing new about Passing Strange, in it’s structure, maybe i applaud you trying to pimp a good show. Don’t make it sound like something it’s not, yes it’s a concert within a story, but it’s a tried and true way to tell the story telling. I do say that the performances are awesome if the book’s first act is just one long this is my life type of monologue with story in it, the second act makes up for it with a strong “cliche” but still effective ending. But you’re totalling overselling the piece.
The interesting thing about Spring Awakening was that it was not selling well…until it walked away with Tony Awards. When I saw Spring Awakening in January, the audience was packed with teenagers, parents who probably had no idea what they were getting into, and a bus load of senior citizens. A different audience than it had when it first opened.
I feel like the same exposure will be necessary for shows like In the Heights and Passing Strange (I’ll be back next week, cast!) to find a long-term audience.
…and to To Andyroo, I think you’re underselling Passing Strange. That particular angle of the classic ‘artist finds himself’ tale is absent on the stage (and yes, I see alot of theater). I still think the show has a fresh perspective and the entertaining format. The theater and opera junkies who I saw the performance with were pretty amazed by the performance.
passing strange is gonna win best musical at the Tony’s this year in case you dong know…
I saw Glory Days at Signature Theatre in DC/Arlington before it moved to Broadway. I enjoyed it, but I always saw it as more of an Off-Broadway show than Broadway. Maybe if it had started there it could have lasted longer and built an audience before moving to a Broadway-size venue with Broadway-sized expectations.
Part of the problem was the publicity. I live in NY and follow what’s on Broadway fairly closely. I hadn’t even heard of this show or about its opening. A show like “In the Heights” (which had some mixed reviews) not only had an off-bdwy run to build up an audience, but also a big advertising campaign. Without well known actors and any advertising to speak of, how would they have gotton an audience?
I never liked Rent. I didn’t think it was that good to start off with. I think the glamour is gone from musicals. Now the producers put anything together and throw it against the wall to see if it will stick. There’s no quality to it.