So now that these immersive theatre productions seem to be becoming a thing on Broadway and in the West End, I'm curious about who pays the costs of the necessary renovations and who is paying to put the theatre space back to its normal configuration when these productions close.
I would assume that the productions would shoulder the complete costs for any specific renovations for their own show and then have to put X amount of money in some kind of escrow account to restore the theatres after they close, but I also know that there are no hard and fast rules on Broadway for anything.
And does the landmarking of these buildings play into these renovations at all? Are the interiors landmarked or just the buildings themselves?
For what it's worth, I heard that, when the Roundabout renovated Studio 54 after their own CABARET closed, they specifically set up the orchestra section with a flexible design so that the traditional theatre seating can be easily removed for a non-traditional set up, like they utilized for CABARET. And also I know that the auditorium at Circle in the Square is flexible and I've seen productions there in three quarter thrust, transverse, and proscenium stagings over the years.
Will more theatres get some kind of more or less permanent renovations to make them more flexible spaces for non-traditional productions? |
