Just saw the over-the-top “Today” feature on a certain shall-not-be-named Broadway show that has been in the news just a little bit this week (yes, I am purposefully avoiding Google alerts here) and I can’t help but write about what is happening on 43rd Street after all I walk by the theatre every day and I don’t live under a rock…
In complete honesty, I am quite conflicted about whole darn thing…I am writing this with the hope that it will help me sort through my thoughts. I actually don’t want to comment on what is happening – hence the avoidance of Google alerts. But I am going to post it on my blog, at least as I am writing this I think I am going to post it, and aren’t I then making a point to comment especially when I haven’t posted in so long (but that really is for other reasons). Do I even really have a comment on what is going on? I am not sure. See…CONFLICTED.
Personally, I don’t favor big high tech musicals which is why I haven’t seen the show yet, but I eventually will, but I can’t deny there is an audience for them – in fact a huge audience for them that is willing to pay quite a bit to see them. So shouldn’t someone produce them? And, even though it isn’t my cup of tea, I prefer my circus a la Cirque Du Soliel, shouldn’t we always be pushing the boundaries of what we do in the theatre and what we call theatre? Isn’t that our job as artists? And aren’t we supposed to fail as often as we succeed – isn’t that how innovation happens? But at what cost? What are the boundaries? And aren’t those same boundaries meant to be stretched and broken within reason?
I want to have faith that theatre professionals, DOL, OSHA, AEA and the other unions are doing their best to allow artists to push these boundaries while being responsible about safety and the working conditions. I want to believe the artists themselves are being responsible about this too, but from the outside looking in, it seems like that scale is out of balance, but I am on the outside so I can’t really pass judgment without actual information…
Do I think the 65M dollar budget is outrageous? Yes! Do I think the money could be put to much better use funding 10 of the city’s nonprofit theatres (or more)? Or producing 20-30 new plays? Yes (I have written about it before)! But, guess what? It isn’t my money, and it really isn’t my business to tell its investors how to spend theirs.
And what about the atmosphere in which performances will resume….
There is a microscope (justifiably in some ways and in other ways not) focused on the production. The environment evolving/revolving around the show now has some audience members waiting in anticipation of witnessing a tragedy – creating an even more “amped” energy that will heighten already high tension and create an army armed with cell phone cameras and flip-cams with hopes of capturing something on video. This further endangers the performers. As much as this crazy, amped atmosphere bothers me, I know that I am somewhat complicit in creating it. I followed the events as they unfolded on Twitter, have read almost every article written, I am a product of our 24/7 news culture, and yes, I have had an endless number of conversations about it, mostly about being so darn conflicted! Of course, I am not hoping something happens, in fact, I am praying that no one else even stubs a toe or gets a paper-cut, let alone is injured enough to require medical care of any kind, and I have to believe that the idiots who have posted ridiculous comments aren’t really hoping something happens or willing it to happen either (see Gawker, NY Times comments, numerous tweets), but I can’t deny my part feeding the swarm of energy around the show.
Perhaps, my conflicted feelings are related to my increasing disgust with reality TV and what I perceive as prevailing and still growing entitlement that we have a right to know and comment on EVERYTHING, even the “dirty” little details of what happens behind every closed door (see any recent scandal). There is a good reason for closed doors and a lot of them should stay closed. But, I can’t deny that I watch CNN and other news programs throughout the day and read all of the articles, follow the blogs, tweet, facebook, etc.; and yes, I do comment on well…almost everything, I just haven’t been as public about it recently.
In fact it seems to me that almost everyone I know in the theatre is embracing their inner -Riedel and putting it out there. I don’t deny them or the real Riedel (who I agree with far more often than I disagree) their right to do so, but how much negativity can we heap on our own industry without damaging our morale let alone our willingness to take a risk. How about a balance of the positive and negative? But how can there be a balance when in the theatre environment there isn’t an abundance of positive in a sea negativity. Again, conflicted. So much for writing this to sort out my thoughts and feelings.
An important footnote, the only thing I am not conflicted about is that each time I see the bootleg video of Monday’s accident, I find myself more frustrated it will encourage others to film the show. This high-tech voyeuristic ambulance chasing is just as distasteful to me as video or similar photos of a car crash. I certainly hope the person who shot it isn’t benefiting from it financially. If they are AEA should get on that when they have some time freed up. The widespread broadcast of this video creates a another direct threat to the safety of those onstage. The last thing they or any actor needs is to walk out on stage and be faced with a sea of digital screens and distracting little red “now recording” lights or perhaps I should say a larger sea as we all know there were some out there already. The magic of high technical spectacle in all entertainment mediums is that the audience is on the edge of their seats not knowing how things are done, so it easy to imagine during a performance an audience member overreacting to a stunt that is being performed with technical perfection and even easier to imagine that over-zealous audience member (or several) snapping a few pictures with a flash. One can only hope that the cacophony of light and sound cues are so intense that digital displays, red lights and flashes can’t be seen by the performers.
