Hello, again, dear readers and welcome to yet another post. As discussed in a previous post, shows often go to great lengths to leave audiences with a personal memento of the experience that they have had at their shows. This post now looks into new lengths into which shows cater to those who may not be able to go to the theater. Throughout the years, in regards to distance and, today especially, price, there are those who find going to a Broadway show to be extremely difficult. Fortunately, producers have become aware of this and now are looking for ways of bringing the show to audiences across the States and/or globe. There have been two prominent ways of doing this: the live cast recording as well as filming performances for widespread distribution.
The live cast album has become more prominent in the 21st century. In this essence, sound engineers will be brought into the theater, equipment installed, and a performance, or in many cases a couple of performances, will be recorded legally and include elements that cannot be captured in a recording studio, such as audience reaction, some dialogue, and such. Shows that have done this include the Broadway productions of Brooklyn and, very recently, On Your Feet: The Gloria & Emilio Estefan Musical, as well as the 2014 West End revival of Miss Saigon, the 25th Anniversary tour of Les Miserables, Oliver, and The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall across the pond. Through these recordings, actors have been less confined to the studio, and more susceptible to giving a performance of the character on stage. This way, through listening to the CD, audiences can picture witnessing the performance. There is, however, a more literal way of broadcasting the performance.
As seen above, as early as the 1970s, producers have looked to bring at least a small piece of the action on stage to audiences around the globe. Lately though, audiences have gotten more than a small glimpse of what they're missing on stage. Through film and television, a more broader audience has been given access to live performances. Notable means of doing this on television have included PBS' Great Performances (Billy Elliot, Cats, A Tale of Two Cities, Memphis, Cyrano de Bergerac, Macbeth etc) and Live From Lincoln Center (South Pacific, Contact, Act One, A Light in the Piazza etc) as well as pay-per-view and cable (Jekyll & Hyde & MTV's presentation of Legally Blonde The Musical). In most cases, the exclusion being the Live from Lincoln Center series, these programs have been preserved on home video & DVD. However, for those that have become more the fan of the big screen than the small screen, producers have also shown an intrigue in bringing live performances to cinemas. This has been the case mostly with performances from abroad with the 25th anniversary concert of Les Miserables at the O2 Arena as well as the performance of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, the Australian production of Love Never Dies, as well as the UK's National Theater Live also joining in showcasing live performances. In an intriguing twist, Cameron Mackintosh has announced that the 2014 gala performance of Miss Saigon will also be playing in cinemas in the US prior to the production coming to Broadway. This would prove a risky move had it not been for producer Ken Davenport who offered a free performance via the Internet of the Off Broadway production of Daddy Long Legs. The live stream would prove successful, boosting sales for the show still running Off Broadway) as well as the cast album. Perhaps broadcasting their show should be something more theater producers consider doing.
Theater should continue to be accessible to those that may not be able to make the trip to Broadway every year. There is no proven fact stating that broadcasting shows legally hinders a show's ability to recoup an investment or lose some luster. In fact, it just may help out the show in the long haul. As the theater world becomes more open to this idea, it shall be interesting to see just how broadcasting of performances evolves. Until the next time, readers, this is Mike signing off, ghost light lighting on.
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