Discussion+of+ShowBusiness+-+Adelman

2. We spent considerable time in class seeing a DVD about the development, rehearsal, and presentation of 4 Broadway musicals. Discuss some of the major topics that were introduced on the DVD. Next discuss what you learned from the DVD about the making and development of these commercial ventures. How did they differ one from the other? What were some of the unique features of each? What were some similarities that they all seemed to share?

The biggest thing that struck me from this DVD was the overwhelming amount of blood, sweat, and tears that go into producing a Broadway musical. I knew that getting on Broadway was tough, but the amount of work that these productions have to do to potentially be a flop was intriguing and sad. I think that this was one of the major topics of the DVD: the difficulties and hurdles that productions must overcome to make it big on Broadway. On top of the given difficulties of producing on Broadway, the DVD showed three plays that had additional hurdles to overcome: //Avenue Q, Caroline or Change,// and //Taboo.//

Of these three, //Taboo// seemed to experience the least amount of hurdles. After a successful run in London, Rosie O'Donnell tried to bring Boy George’s acclaimed musical to the big apple. Given its success abroad, it would seem as if this play would have done well; however, it seemed that Rosie’s overreaching style of producing may have hampered what could have been for the play, as many of the critics postulated.. Throughout the DVD, one can see shots of Rosie trying to make creative decisions and being very involved with almost all aspects of the play, perhaps not allowing her employees to do their jobs. It did seem though that the DVD tried to portray Rosie as a well-intentioned producer who loved the production – maybe just a little too much. One thing about this production that I really liked was how the actors talked to the audience before the show from a sort of catwalk above the entrance to the theater. I thought that was a very cool idea and something that I personally would have loved.

Compared to //Taboo, Caroling or Change// experienced significantly more challenges. //Caroline or Change// is not the traditional Broadway musical. In fact, it may not have gotten to Broadway if it had not been that most professionals on Broadway wanted a show like this to come. The plot for this musical is more depressing than that of most musicals usually on Broadway.. The DVD focuses mostly on the director, George C. Wolfe, who meticulously tries to direct his actors on how to portray the right emotions and tones. It also focuses on his relationship with Tonya Pinkins, a famous actress portraying the main character. It also showed the composer and how she made the score for the play.

This contrasted with the composers and creators of //Avenue Q//. Instead of being surrounded by different instruments practicing the score for the play, the DVD showed two young men sitting around a piano thinking about what vulgar words rhymed with other vulgar words. While //Taboo// got name recognition with Boy George and Rosie (two people that are not famous from Broadway, but by other means) and //Caroline or Change// featured a famous director and actress, the two composers for //Avenue Q// were relatively unknown at the time. Another problem that //Avenue Q// faced was that the musical appealed to a younger crowd that traditionally did not go to the theater because of cultural and socio-economic factors. This in conjunction with the relatively unknown creators of the play made //Avenue Q// seem like a long shot for success. The DVD follows these two men coming up with the songs and concept for //Avenue Q//, and how they are able to turn a very different, racy, puppet-based play into an instant success that would eventually win the Tony Award for Best Musical.

The fourth play that the DVD shows is //Wicked//, which seemed very different form the other three. Boasting the famous choreographer Wayne Louis Cilento and a star-studded cast, //Wicked// seemed like the musical that would do the best, especially since it could appeal to people who grew up with the //Wizard of Oz//. However even for this play that seems like it would do very well, the DVD still shows all the struggles that went into producing the musical. We see the musical open in California, and then all the tweaks that were made after a negative response. The DVD also shows all the work that the cast, choreographer, musicians, and director went through trying to get ready to open in New York. This really drove home what I thought was one of the main tenants of the play: no matter how awesome of a cast, crew, choreographer you get; no matter how much money you put into a production - it all comes down to a lot of luck. The DVD then ends showing all the many productions on Broadway that didn’t make it. This yet again makes it seem even more spectacular that three of the four plays shown in this DVD were able to make at least something of their productions.