I fear the other side of star studded productions, especially where both major roles are huge star names, is that people *only* go to theater when it's a big star they already know and love. There are so many star-driven productions, most non-theater people couldn't even see them all in a given season. So they save up the time they will give to theater, and the money they will spend, on a few or a handful maybe, of huge star driven shows, and never have to see any non-star-driven theater productions to satisfy any love for theater that's blooming in them, and never want to bother.
I'm not saying don't do it... as an economic prospect alone, it's the only way many shows even happen and have a chance at being profitable. But I don't think it's anywhere near an automatic thing that stars doing theater bring new people to see theater and those new people then see other theater that doesn't have stars they love already in it. |
