BWW Blog: Sam Weber - Selling Out: the Costs and Benefits of Commerciality

Since you're on Broadway World, chances are you're the type of person who is familiar with the concept of artist merit. By that, I mean you're the person who appreciates the lengthy productions of Sunday in the Park with George just as much if not more (let's face it, way more) than you do a spunky production of familiar shows like Footloose or Grease (god bless those good old high school staples). You're also probably the person who, although you secretly live every time you hear "Defying Gravity", is so over those mainstream shows. Many college students would much rather revive Applause than they would something like Beauty and the Beast, but when you're breaking into the business or just starting out in production, finding the original artistic value in those "over-exposed" shows might be just what you need to build a reputation.

In a lot of my student projects, the topic of commerciality has been brought up time and time again. By the question of, I'm referring to the apparent dichotomy of artistic merit and general popularity. Especially for the budding arts student, producing a musical is the opportunity to put forth into the world some message or deep spirited tale - a la SNL's "High School Theatre Show" skits. While yes, emotional bearing and challenging norms with shows like Edges, or even further back in the day: Rent, can have powerful impacts on a community - they don't exactly draw a crowd. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, are shows like Grease or Footloose, standard high school fare that seemingly exist only for the sake of provided a lot of opportunity and putting a lot of seats in seat. The question, especially in my case where we are kind of beginning this new - for lack of a better phrase - Production Company, is whether to sacrifice more emotionally or socially fulfilling work for something that builds a brand. Seldom is there a happy medium.

In recent consideration, I'd have to say the early season of work (in context of my work) ought to be ~75% name and brand building, with the hope that one or two shows a season can be a bit riskier - hopefully contributing to an overall company known for quality first, and then innovation. It is called show business after all, and, in our case associating the people behind our projects and the name of the project itself with fun, great work is the foremost priority. That is not to say that this "selling out" (as I've actually been told our show choices were) is the only or best way to begin producing musicals in your community. A challenge I have faced, and I hope young producers out there will come to face, is thinking like an artistic director - think about brand and the season as the greater frame within which marketing, productions, and content must be considered.

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