| re: Here is what Bobby has to say about the Roundabout production... | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 05:38 pm EST 02/07/18 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 05:36 pm EST 02/07/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Here is what Bobby has to say about the Roundabout production... - Michael_Portantiere 05:14 pm EST 02/07/18 | |
|
|
|
| Ha, yes, that was me. I wonder now if he's more interested in quality control than he was before. I certainly know that when I bring friends who don't know and already love a show to see a mediocre or bad production, they don't usually give it another chance, that is their one and only chance to appreciate or love it. When I brought my mom to the Roundabout Follies I was so frustrated because it would be her only chance to see it on stage. The point is, approving mediocre or misguided productions that don't sell what's amazing about the show properly (or worse, undermine what's amazing about it) does a lot of harm, just as having the show revived can do a lot of good in terms of exposure, relevance, new audiences, etc... It's a tricky balancing act. With a revival it can do one or two of three things - A) remind people and expose new audiences to the show and what makes it so great, B) present the show in a new context or vision, unrelated or intentionally very different from how it was originally presented or intended and bring a new view of the show or show people things about it they hadn't seen before (if it's good), C) degrade the memory of show and opinion of the material for new audiences and make people wonder what the fuss was about. It's really hard to know what will happen. For example: John Doyle's Color Purple (and Sweeney for most people, and Company for some) did B, but in my opinion his Pacific Overtures did C. Many disagree with me, but if his PO were my first and only exposure to the show I'd have been very confused and disappointed. Assassins did A & B, Threepenny Opera did C (luckily it's an enduring classic anyway). The Maria Friedman west end revival of Merrily also did C... in a very big way for me and the friends who didn't know the show who went with me to see it. The Roundabout revival of Follies very nearly achieved C, but the next revival (perhaps barely) achieved A. None of this is to say that revivals should be recreations of originals, or not try to find a new vision or presentation for the show that also works - I'm just saying it can be a risk, especially for a living author who wants his work performed and writes shows that are very challenging to sing and act, and often expensive to produce properly. |
|
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | re: Here is what Bobby has to say about the Roundabout production... - Michael_Portantiere 05:14 pm EST 02/07/18 |
| Next: | re: Here is what Bobby has to say about the Roundabout production... - Michael_Portantiere 10:47 am EST 02/08/18 |
| Thread: |
|
Time to render: 0.007453 seconds.