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| re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... | |
| Last Edit: JereNYC 10:56 am EST 02/14/19 | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 10:53 am EST 02/14/19 | |
| In reply to: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... - Michaels 11:40 pm EST 02/13/19 | |
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| I imagine that most audience members at THE CHER SHOW have no idea who Stephanie J. Block is and don't care if they're seeing her or Dee Roscioli or anyone else. They've come to see "Cher." And hear all the hits. In a case like this, where the star of the show is the character, not any particular performer, the producers don't feel a need to haul out spotlights to highlight the cast change. As long as they've fulfilled their contractually mandated responsibilities to let the audience know, that's all they're going to do. When it does matter, producers do step up. At HELLO, DOLLY!, Scott Rudin went to extraordinary lengths to inform audiences that they were seeing Donna Murphy and not Bette Midler. Murphy's name was even on the tickets. And there were signs placed outside the theatre proclaiming that Murphy was on that day. The situation you describe here is hardly the Weisslers trying to cover up Donna Murphy's absence/departure from WONDERFUL TOWN, the one time in recent history I can recall that producers were actually called out on trying to purposely mislead audiences. I almost always especially seek out the board in the lobby on my way into the theatre to see if anyone is listed as being out of the show. Many times I don't care, but I'm just curious, so that's me taking responsibility for my own curiosity. If such things matter to you, I'd advise making doing that a habit. It's tough if you can't make it to theatre until curtain time and you need to rush in to take your seat, but, again, if such things matter to you, it might be worth planning to arrive 10 or 15 minutes earlier than you might otherwise do to allow yourself time to pause in the lobby and check the board. |
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| re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 07:25 am EST 02/15/19 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 07:24 am EST 02/15/19 | |
| In reply to: re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... - JereNYC 10:53 am EST 02/14/19 | |
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| When the practice of including a full cast for "this performance" began, it became much harder to ascertain replacements. In general, it used to be more common for shows like "Rent," and even"Les Miz"'s later iterations, when it seemed as if there was fluidity among the leads. But I noticed the insert at "Great Comet," even though everyone was in but a single swing replacement, and of course "Hamilton," which I saw in the first two months on B'way. I have begun to rather appreciate the inserts, and depend on them, but agree with all of the other posts: they obfuscate change outs in known but not star performers. | |
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| re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 11:35 am EST 02/14/19 | |
| In reply to: re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... - JereNYC 10:53 am EST 02/14/19 | |
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| "In a case like this, where the star of the show is the character, not any particular performer, the producers don't feel a need to haul out spotlights to highlight the cast change. As long as they've fulfilled their contractually mandated responsibilities to let the audience know, that's all they're going to do. When it does matter, producers do step up. " I must strongly disagree with your implication that it "doesn't matter" in this case, as it seems to me that many reviews cited Stephanie J. Block's performance as one of the highlights of the show. In fact, it seems to me that her performance and Bob Mackie's costumes were the only aspects of the show that received almost consistently great reviews. |
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| re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... | |
| Posted by: Delvino 07:27 am EST 02/15/19 | |
| In reply to: re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... - Michael_Portantiere 11:35 am EST 02/14/19 | |
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| Having heard two interviews with Block about her extensive preparation for the role, I agree fully. Seeing what she's carved out of so much research would be part of the appeal. It's not really the same as, say, a different Jean Val Jean, though we all know plenty of people who have strong feelings about such roles and who plays them. A performance like Block's in this show is a unique synthesis of actor prep and chemistry with the other players. | |
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| re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 12:33 pm EST 02/14/19 | |
| In reply to: re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... - Michael_Portantiere 11:35 am EST 02/14/19 | |
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| Sorry if I gave the implication that it "doesn't matter." Of course, it matters, which is why AEA mandates that producers must inform the audience in, at least, 2 out of 3 acceptable ways. What I meant to highlight was that audiences know Bette Midler and her attendance at any given performance of HELLO, DOLLY! was likely a factor in the ticket purchase. General audiences probably don't know Stephanie J. Block and I doubt that many of them bought their tickets especially to see her. She's what I call a "New York Name," someone that we know here at ATC and someone that regular NYC metro area theatre goers should know, but not someone that a member of the general public elsewhere or a non-regular theatregoer is going to recognize. So, given that, I would not expect any special effort on the part of the producers of THE CHER SHOW to alert audiences when Block is out of the show, other than what they are required to do by AEA. The original poster did not say how many people he saw trying to reschedule their tickets in order to see Block. I wonder if there were any at all. |
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| re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 02:06 pm EST 02/14/19 | |
| In reply to: re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... - JereNYC 12:33 pm EST 02/14/19 | |
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| *Sorry if I gave the implication that it "doesn't matter." Of course, it matters, which is why AEA mandates that producers must inform the audience in, at least, 2 out of 3 acceptable ways. What I meant to highlight was that audiences know Bette Midler and her attendance at any given performance of HELLO, DOLLY! was likely a factor in the ticket purchase. General audiences probably don't know Stephanie J. Block and I doubt that many of them bought their tickets especially to see her. She's what I call a "New York Name," someone that we know here at ATC and someone that regular NYC metro area theatre goers should know, but not someone that a member of the general public elsewhere or a non-regular theatregoer is going to recognize. So, given that, I would not expect any special effort on the part of the producers of THE CHER SHOW to alert audiences when Block is out of the show, other than what they are required to do by AEA.* I understand all of that. But what I meant was that especially in this case, where the performance in question is one of the few aspects of the production that was almost unanimously well reviewed, it would have been a nice courtesy for the signs and notices to say that the role normally played by Stephanie J. Block would be be played by someone else, rather than announcing the understudy or cover in a way that doesn't actually name the performer who's not performing. I realize this is not specifically mandated by Equity, but I do think it's a courtesy that should reasonably be expected by an audience. I also realize this situation is not new. As I'm sure I've mentioned here before, years ago I purchased a ticket for LAUGHTER ON THE 23RD FLOOR only to arrive at the theater and find a notice in the lobby reading that "at this performance the role of Max Prince will be played by [ACTOR}," without also stating that this was the role normally played by Nathan Lane. Does that "normally played by" type of notice ever happen anymore, or is it a thing of the past? Or do they only do that for the big, name-above-the-title stars like Bette Midler? |
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| re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 02:28 pm EST 02/14/19 | |
| In reply to: re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... - Michael_Portantiere 02:06 pm EST 02/14/19 | |
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| Some of the theatre lobby boards have 3 columns: "The Role of" "Usually Played By" "Will Be Played By" I agree that those are the most useful. I thought these were fairly standard, but I guess not. |
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| re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 03:51 pm EST 02/14/19 | |
| In reply to: re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... - JereNYC 02:28 pm EST 02/14/19 | |
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| *Some of the theatre lobby boards have 3 columns: "The Role of" "Usually Played By" "Will Be Played By"* Thanks, I wasn't sure if any of the boards were still like that. |
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| re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... | |
| Posted by: mikem 03:52 pm EST 02/14/19 | |
| In reply to: re: I believe theaters are becoming more evasive regarding performer absences.... - Michael_Portantiere 03:51 pm EST 02/14/19 | |
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| The Beaumont still has that. I'm not sure if others do. | |
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