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| Originality. | |
| Last Edit: GrumpyMorningBoy 03:29 pm EDT 07/06/17 | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 03:28 pm EDT 07/06/17 | |
| In reply to: What are the ingredients that turn a smash hit into a long running hit? - broadwaybacker 05:50 pm EDT 07/05/17 | |
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| I still think I have damn good taste and could probably predict a long-running hit with just a read through and a piano. But I'm terribly over-confident. In addition to the smart comments others have offered below, I'd say that a huge hit needs to be genuinely original. It needs to look and feel like nothing we've seen before. It needs to not be too challenging to sit through. (It's pretty astonishing that LES MIZ's 3-hour running time doesn't fuck up its box office) It needs to not be reliant on a big name star in the title role. --- It's certainly true that having little-to-no language barrier hugely helps shows like CATS, CHICAGO & LION KING. Thematic 'safety' with high school & church groups also helps in a big way; that'll keep HAMILTON safe for a very very long time (and arguably kept RENT, HAIRSPRAY and AVENUE Q from playing longer). But if I were going to get formulaic, i would go for: - killer marketing - splashy visuals that aren't too expensive (more song & dance numbers, less helicopters) - very little language barrier - happy ending - downtrodden protagonist who rises to great heights (a 'cinderella story') - show-offy vocals that turn your big numbers into emotive solos that people belt across the USA And yet, look at how few of those components add up to give you HAMILTON, the most unlikely Broadway hit in two decades?!? Originality is where it's at, folks. And originality busts right through the formulas. - GMB |
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| re: Originality. | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 09:39 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: Originality. - GrumpyMorningBoy 03:28 pm EDT 07/06/17 | |
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| Excellent points, and one comment regarding "killer marketing". I've noticed, and recently and especially with respect to Hamilton, that smash hits don't rest on their laurels regarding marketing/advertising. Sure, they have the cash to market like crazy, and they do, even when it's almost impossible to buy a ticket. I remember walking through Penn Station about a year ago and the walls and electronic ads were dominated by Hamilton posters. I've seen the same thing for Wicked and Book of Mormon. | |
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| re: Originality. | |
| Posted by: Carol2 (carolmusical@gmail.com) 09:19 am EDT 07/07/17 | |
| In reply to: Originality. - GrumpyMorningBoy 03:28 pm EDT 07/06/17 | |
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| Smart points, GMB. Thanks for the thoughts. May I quote you? : ) Carol d.g. |
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