| The difference between commercial and not-for-profit poster art. | |
| Posted by: portenopete 08:25 am EST 11/30/17 | |
| In reply to: My Fair Lady poster - WWriter 12:48 am EST 11/30/17 | |
|
|
|
| Why do you find the image "inappropriate"? Because it didn't immediately telegraph what was being advertised? I can see that being "ineffective", but - putting aside whether or not it puts bums in seats - the image McMullan has created seems to me to announce very a traditional production of MY FAIR LADY. What I will be expecting from the LCT production- which I didn't need the poster to tell me- is a grand and expansive physical production, and that is conveyed rather handily by the vast Covent Garden piazza (more so than the real Covent Garden, which always seems pokier to me than its MFL version). I will be expecting a large cast and pretty scenery. And I'll be expecting a story about a whole class of people and not focussed on just one or two characters, although all the principles are neatly lined up down front. It's arguable that that is the best way to sell the show in 2018, but it strikes me as appropriate. Much like CAROUSEL's poster, which says "carousel" and 'CAROUSEL' to me quite boldly, albeit in an interesting new way, making me think of Greek and Roman legends and the persistence of patriarchal societies and the pain that construct has caused over centuries. (I'm not sure what about the MFL poster would bring CAROUSEL to mind, though?) Unlike you, I immediately recognize McMullan's style- although admittedly I confused him with Paul Davis on this board once and was roundly chastised- so as soon as I see one of his posters I go "LCT", even without a title. I expect that that is true for many LCT subscribers and regular theatregoers, who will make up much of the show's audience in the early months. It's not iconic or conceptually brilliant, but it does the trick for its venue and for a show that I find it hard to fathom most people do not have a pretty good handle on. (I know I am getting older, but the kids still know MY FAIR LADY, yes?) I can recall the posters for the other Broadway LADY's: Will Hirschfeld's original ever be bettered? The genius of Higgins manipulating a marionette Eliza, with God Shaw in the clouds smiling at his hubris as he manipulates a marionette Higgins. The 1976 revival also used a Hirschfeld, but a very prosaic one with the four principles front and centre in a medium close-up. The 1981 (?) Rex Harrison revival really focussed on him, yes? A silhouette of him dancing (in 'Rain in Spain', maybe) and standing as tall as the title. No mention of an Eliza. And the mid '90s Richard Chamberlain/Melissa Errico revival focussed on him mostly (billed above title alone, smiling handsomely at the viewer while she lurks behind looking at him). Interesting that they never went with spectacular Rene Magritte images that the design brought to Ascot. And CAROUSEL's one revival in 1993 had a spectacular McMullan poster that certainly bettered anything that had come before it and I don't recall seeing done more effectively, although telling a different story. That image of Billy Bigelow astride the bucking, black broncos of the carousel lit from the fires of hell and looking like he's in in the middle of either (a) the last note in 'Soliloquy'; or (b) an orgasm. It seems very much Julie's vision of him at the beginning of the play: powerful and dangerous and incredibly sexy. What a contrast to the image the National Theatre- who originated the production- offered: a serene night sky with a small planet Earth in the upper left hand corner with the word "carousel" written on it as if viewed from him in the heavenly stars. (An image that probably didn't look like it would sell in a commercial environment because when it transferred to the West End they replaced it with a suffocatingly boring shot of a horse. [Just checked that 1981 poster: Higgins has his hat on and his arms are in the air: it's his Ascot 'Rain in Spain' moment, I guess?] |
|
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | re: Looks absolutely approriate to me (with link to larger image) - Chazwaza 09:26 am EST 11/30/17 |
| Next: | re: The difference between commercial and not-for-profit poster art. - MarjorieMae 12:33 pm EST 11/30/17 |
| Thread: |
|
Time to render: 0.017574 seconds.