So, I was browsing here on the sosh yesterday and a Facebook friend posted something about the revival…I’m not sure if that’s an apt description.. of “1776” that’s opening on Broadway shortly.
He felt the casting and choreography was overshadowing the piece for the most part. The gimmick of casting all women of every variety just overwhelmed the play in his opinion… “1776” is , to me, more a play with music than a musical.
Full disclosure. This production and some others of late remind me of college lab theses, for better or worse.
Anyway, the comments are what interested me more than anything.
Sigh. This post is another of many sad examples of a white and mostly male reaction to the loss of centrality.
I find it weird when white dudes say this kinda stuff about other white dudes because which is which? Hard to say by the looks of it.
(Clutching pearls) Heaven forfend, should new and creative ideas be employed in the retelling of an oft-told stories. Let’s tell them the way they’ve been told for years, decades, centuries.
Buy your tickets NOW for Sclerosis Theater’s production of ________!
Lots of snarky, reductive, unavoidably precious replies and stuff about being a hater and a misogynist yada yada.
While we are in the midst of the musical theater version of “Alive” and chewing on each other, I find myself more planted in not suspending my disbelief, which feels stranger by the day. I’m not inclined to eat the fat lady still strapped to her seat.
The reality of the theater industry is what I’m interested in since the pandemic started. Well, before then too.
Unfortunately COVID is still here and bound to get worse in the coming months.
A little salt peter on the reformation(as Jesse Green describes whatever we’re going through).
Sit down John.
For actors, auditions for theater now consist of pouring your guts out into an iPhone after you drag your green screen and tripod into a safe space while hoping that your dog doesn’t bark.
There’s no interaction, no live, um, people.
Which is weird because that’s how ya do theater… with live people except on some Sunday matinees when the jury is out.
There’s a walling off on the creative side, while casting peeps are eating pita chips and judging auditions in the Meta. Fast forward, rewind, skip.
And actors hope that their Wi-Fi is strong enough to upload so you might have a chance at being cast that way.
On the other end of the table. TV? iPad?
https://www.actorsequity.org/resources/Tours/
There’s approximately a one to one ratio of non union tours/union tours… including non equity tours of 2 shows currently running on Broadway, and several shows that ended their union runs and went back out non union. The Equity list is misleading as several of the shows are proposed and not currently running. And a non Equity tour of “Hairspray” is headed for Broadway they say.
The artistic director was fired for cause by the Board of this Tony winning regional theater and a feeding frenzy of identity politics ensued which resulted in the Victory Gardens Theater folding and renting out space to other shows while essentially disbanding.
Sorta like Sears turning into Halloween stores.
“The Devil Wears Prada” isn’t gonna happen.. a multi million dollar musical where several critics were wondering why the central character of Miranda Priestly turned into a racist because of the casting.
“Music Man”, “Come From Away”, “Beetlejuice” , “Phantom” closing..
Now, of course shows close. But, this is different. Most of these shows would have struggled to survive longer, but they can’t sustain the volatility of weak advances and high weekly nuts. Money is the reality on this end.
And, here’s the thing…they will ALL be replaced by shows with smaller casts, fewer musicians, cheaper sets and cheaper costumes.
The American Theater lists are based on a survey of theaters that are members of Theater Communications Group; in the 2019-20 season, respondents reported planning to stage 2,229 full-run shows; this season, even with the first-time addition of audio and streaming shows, as well as productions on Broadway, the count is only 1,298.
That was sorta buried in this article about Lynn Nottage, who in the midst of a Broadway reformation of equality and altruism still wonders if Michael Jackson is a pedophile. She hopes not.
And then the direct deposit royalty check from “MJ” hits.
Anyway, regional productions have basically been cut in half since the pandemic and “We’re Back!” Celebrations.
That, my friends, is fucking staggering.
I don’t need to go on salt petering, but you get the drift.
So what are the theatrical unions doing while the industry is undergoing the equivalent of Hurricane Ida in Fort Meyers?
Equity cannot afford to staff in person auditions, and the outlook for the foreseeable future is pretty dire. Less shows =Less actors working = Less money coming in to the union.
So, I guess what we’re left with is a rather misguided push for equality and social justice which is not bringing in money to the theater industry, certainly nowhere near what it was before the pandemic.
It’s also not working if the point is to raise the social consciousness.
- Roe v Wade gone.
- More anti-LGBTQ freedoms taken away by the day.
- Gay marriage in the guillotine.
We were better off before the reformation it seems to me.
A chunk of audiences are feeling more obligated to see a show instead of really wanting to I think. Because they feel they should.
It hasn’t been a subtle push for inclusivity, nor inspiring for the most part… and somewhat contemptuous.
It’s hit like a sledgehammer.
There’s such a desperation in the air that a character actress went into “Funny Girl” on Broadway the day after she was hired. They asked if she’d go on while she was driving back from Massachusetts for the matinee with a book in her hand.
Of course she said yes… with 10 actors out of the show with Covid and the responsibility of cancelling the show on her shoulders.
That’s dangerous. And unprofessional for an actress to be holding a script making her debut in a show on Broadway.
But..
I grew up emulating Diana Ross, Joni Mitchell, Barbra Streisand, a slew of mostly women of all races and expression, and played “Dreamgirls” til my cassette got stuck and loving “Chorus Line” even though I’m clumsy. By the way, none were revivals.
That was my inspiration that led me to a long career in theater working my ass off to lead with my talent.
That was 50 years ago.
The kids I coach today are hyper aware of their ethnicity, their gender and sexual orientation.
They edit themselves based on what they have no control over..
It’s like their imagination is being compartmentalized.
They are losing how they belong.
And so is theater.
I guess they’ll have to wait for the next reformation.
Robert DuSold 
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