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| re: My thoughts | |
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CultOfByron 04:21 pm UTC 12/03/09 |
| In reply to: | My thoughts - rockfenris2005 04:13 am UTC 12/03/09 |
| > A lot of people are actively trying to make it happen. > That’s good enough for me. What you also have to remember > is how difficult it is to produce a major new work of > musical theatre these days. Revivals, “jukebox” musicals > and famous movie adaptations have all become the norm on > Broadway and in the West End for a reason. Anything else > is too much of a risk these days and shows like “Next to > Normal” are the exception and not the rule. Prove me > wrong. But this is based on my experience as a writer > myself and basically having to produce my own show if I > ever want to see it done. I think the writer Matthew Arnold developed a theory about why this is; there are eras of creative expansion and eras of contraction, and I suspect we're currently in the latter. It probably has a lot to do with the rate of development of technology vastly outstripping the creation of new and profound works. So what we get is reworking and refinement of an already existing 'canon' of works in a variety of different media. > Also, if you want to see a convincing and well done > spectacle these days, you have to spend in excess of at > least $15 million. “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark” is > rumoured to have a budget of US$52 million which is the > highest budget in the history of musical theatre. Andrew > Lloyd Webber’s sequel to “The Phantom of the Opera” will > probably cost just as much when you take into > consideration the back to back launches in London and New > York. And then you have Shanghai, Sydney and/or Melbourne > where it’s moving next. Again, this is all in a short > amount of time. So a cumulative effect of the success of similar previous musicals 'suggests' what type of shows/events are likely to generate more profit in the future. > With that said, I wish it wasn’t like this. Musical > theatre feels like it’s becoming too much of an impossible > dream. I think if we ever want the artform to survive we > have to do what Jim did back in college, a great intimate > and powerful little show like “The Dream Engine” which I > feel only ever relied on the power of words and music. > Perhaps if this dream becomes too impossible, we’ll return > to a golden age when it was all about substance more than > spectacle. There is a precedent for this in the world of football, believe it or not...! Disenchanted with the 'professional' game, a number of sports fans are turning to semi-pro local 'non-league' football as a cheaper, but no less entertaining alternative. This ...might... be what will happen with musical theatre as the great professional balloon floats ever higher... > In the meantime, I’m prepared to wait for “Bat out of > Hell” which, like everyone else, is battling against some > almost immeasurably impossible odds, but I do wish that > Jim wouldn’t devote himself entirely to this one project > because I want to hear the new music written and produced > by Steinman for some of the world’s most famous recording > artists. Example, Adam Lambert could do a thrilling > version of “Body” and I’d love to hear Susan Boyle and > Paul Potts record a duet version of “Not allowed to > love…” > > ...My 200 cents. I would also love some new studio output, but Jim must have his reasons for not doing so. My 66p worth, based on an approximate exchange rate of 33p to one Australian dollar. :D | |
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