| re: This could well be the death of Encores. | |
| Last Edit: ShowGoer 02:11 pm EDT 03/17/22 | |
| Posted by: ShowGoer 02:07 pm EDT 03/17/22 | |
| In reply to: re: This could well be the death of Encores. - Phaedrusnyc 01:33 pm EDT 03/17/22 | |
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| Well, then they need to decide which is more of a nightmare: a) the PR fallout from breaking supposed promises about anti-racism, or b) the PR fallout from audiences mostly hating the shows and not buying tickets, the latter of which will almost certainly result in c) the demise of Encores, which is where this thread started. I think you make good points, and am sure all you say is true to a degree – but that said, everyone seems to be under the impression that there was also a commitment, as well as pressure being brought to bear, regarding having more success with ticket sales... and much as you say in your own post, I'd argue it's even more impossible to square the mission of getting more butts in the seats with alienating your core constituency of theater lovers and not luring in many new ones by doing shows few have heard of, which didn't have large followings to begin with, in revisions that bare scant resemblance to the original versions and are by all accounts nearly unanimously worse. I also don't see why they can't have it both ways; perhaps, do 2 out of 3 shows the way they were written originally, and maybe do 1 show with a less drastic but still somewhat new angle (Encores "Off Center" already tried something like this with a rewritten version of Lippa's Wild Party – not one of their finer efforts, but sandwiched inbetween the worthy "Runaways" and the rapturously received revival of "Little Shop of Horrors" – the latter a true event precisely because, in addition to Jake Gyllenhaal, it recreated an original star performance from a quarter-century earlier, from Ellen Green.). If next season represents largely a return to form and format, perhaps they can retain some of their subscribers and the series can yet be saved; but if in the name of representation next season is announced as consisting of, say, a downbeat production of "Raisin" that removes any comedy, a version of "Bring in 'da Noise" that de-emphasizes the tap dancing, and a production of "Man of La Mancha" featuring public school children, I think it's safe to say that no one need bother showing up to work since there'll be hardly any people showing up to watch. The competing impulses must be dizzying, but they're clearly going to have to make some tough decisions, because whatever they were hoping to achieve, this clearly isn't working for them, and was never the way to go about it. |
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