Is "gentle" theater gone forever?- Page 2

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 5/20/24 at 8:01pm

Mother Play is a hit- so is Mary Jane. The play about Putin's rise to power is still playing- and so is Appropriate. There is plenty of quality theater around. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/21/24 at 12:45am

@Curtains Having read everything you have written in this thread, I am having trouble understanding your purpose. It seems that you have come here and posted a declaration. The foundation of all of your posts is that Broadway is "ruined." This is not a subject that you give any inkling you want to discuss or from which you hope to learn. You declare that you have created this thread to "tell" the rest of us the way it is. 

The problem is that you have only one thing to share and it is that you and only you can define the "truth," that your opinions and tastes are the only ones that count. I do not question the legitimacy of your personal opinions - that you genuinely believe what you say - but they cannot possibly form any sort of intellectual foundation. 

You are not the first here to confuse your own opinions with any consensus conclusion. Some here may agree with your opinion (many more certainly do not) but even they are unlikely to buy into the notion that they must believe you because you know some truth that they must accept. That sounds like a cult or a religion. 

You are also not the first to predict that Broadway has been ruined, but it might chasten you to know that The Fabulous Invalid has survived each and every one of your doomsaying predecessors. 

[inception]

Posted: 5/21/24 at 5:36am

Over on the Opera reviewing site Parterre there is a daily "on this day in history" post where in the comments section one member of thst website daily lists Broadway openings & closings going back to the 1800's.  It is interesting to read how many shows in the early 20th century through to the 60's opened & then closed with fewer than 25 - some less than 10 - performances. 

I wonder if the way things were financed at that time contributed to that.

But, even in the so-called golden age there was plenty that failed to find an audience. 

Edited for typos

Updated On: 5/21/24 at 05:36 AM

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 5/21/24 at 9:09am

I've been re-reading William Goldman's The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway, published in 1969. He also bemoans the lack of audiences for "straight plays." And the decline of Broadway writing from the "golden age" of the 1940's. Just reminding us that the planet spins and the world goes round.

Updated On: 5/21/24 at 09:09 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/21/24 at 11:02am

inception said: "Over on the Opera reviewing site Parterre there is a daily "on this day in history" post where in the comments section one member of thst website daily lists Broadway openings & closings going back to the 1800's. It is interesting to read how many shows in the early 20th century through to the 60's opened & then closed with fewer than 25 - some less than 10 - performances.

I wonder if the way things were financed at that time contributedto that.

But,even in the so-called golden age there was plenty that failed to find an audience.

Edited for typos"

I'm not an expert on this time period so this is a combo response & followup questions:

• There have ALWAYS been flops and awful shows. It was easier for a bad show to disappear quickly back then without recordings and internet and the line. It's much easier to reach an audience nowadays because you don't have to rely on print advertising and newspapers and things like that, and you're not relying on mail order or cash sales at the box office. Nowadays, you can record B-roll on Tuesday and release it on Wednesday.
• Shows were cheaper to capitalize and to run (the unions were so weak, among other things). Sometimes one or two people would be putting up all the money and making the decisions, so there was no "we owe it to our investors to try to build an audience and run this as long as we can." Did a separate LLC exist for shows that weren't a joint partnership? Or was it all just being run out of a producer's bank account?
• In the Vaudeville days, New York was just one stop on the road. The low-tech nature of most shows meant shows could be loaded in and out quickly and could fill a hole in a theater's availability. There was no such thing as automation or lighting programming/cues or sophisticated amplification. If you traveled back in time to the 1940s, it might be kind of shocking and would take some getting used to.
• a greater number of shows came back as replica Return Engagements shortly after closing (ranging from Show Boat to West Side Story). Now, there are other revenue streams. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 5/21/24 at 11:47am

I'm still kind of waiting for OP to define "gentle theater", like I kind of have a sense based on the shows mentioned where it's maybe just characters talking without big dramatic stakes, but if so I think we still get that a good amount.  Like would Cost of Living, Clyde's, English, Jaja's African Hair Braiding, and Case for the Existence of God all be gentle theater?  Band's Visit seems to fit the bill but what about Kimberly Akimbo (which does have more dramatic tension in the plot but still feels more "gentle" as a whole compared to a lot of other current shows)?

[bear88]

Posted: 5/21/24 at 9:17pm

I’m not the OP, but Clyde’s and English - two plays I have seen in the last year or so - would certainly seem to qualify. The former, if memory serves, was one of the most produced plays in the country last year (ETA: it was second during the 2023-24 season). English won the Pulitzer Prize. The Band’s Visit, among recent musicals, certainly falls in that category.

Updated On: 5/21/24 at 09:17 PM

[kdogg36]

Posted: 5/21/24 at 10:10pm

chrishuyen said: "Band's Visit seems to fit the bill but what about Kimberly Akimbo (which does have more dramatic tension in the plot but still feels more "gentle" as a whole compared to a lot of other current shows)?"

Kimberly Akimbo is obviously a gentle work, a gentle work with dramatic tension. If the OP is asking "why aren't there more works on Broadway without dramatic tension?" then we can obviously dismiss the question as nonsense. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/21/24 at 11:00pm

Maybe the OP meant "gentile theater."

In which case, we're due for Ruben & Clay's Second Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show or a revival of Amazing Grace.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 12:44am

Doesn't the fact that you saw an example of something this week disprove it being gone forever? Like, you just saw it. It is obviously still here.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 8:24am

chrishuyen said: "I'm still kind of waiting for OP to define "gentle theater", like I kind of have a sense based on the shows mentioned where it's maybe just characters talking without big dramatic stakes, but if so I think we still get that a good amount. Like would Cost of Living, Clyde's, English, Jaja's African Hair Braiding, and Case for the Existence of Godall be gentle theater? Band's Visit seems to fit the bill but what about Kimberly Akimbo (which does have more dramatic tension in the plot but still feels more "gentle" as a whole compared to a lot of other current shows)?"

I do think the OP was talking about a very specific sort of play that is definitely not in vogue on Broadway. These are plays that are small casts (often 2-3), usually featuring older characters, usually in a domestic setting but sometimes in some other regular day-to-day place. The stakes are low, there is little social commentary (and if there is, it's usually a pretty anodyne "despite our differences, we're all still people" sort of thing), there are generally no gimmicks or flourishes- straightforward naturalistic drama and plots that are often things like “person A and person B meet, there is light friction between them, but then they open up and learn from each other.” There is a general sense of sentimentality and civility - there is little vulgarity or anything that would offend. They don’t ask much from the audience other than to sit and enjoy the company of these characters. 

Updated On: 5/22/24 at 08:24 AM

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 9:03am

I’ve heard shows like that called “geezer pleasers” or “blue-hair shows,” as in “we can’t program this season of new and challenging works without adding at least one blue-hair show to appease the people who actually fund us.”