I have returned from my long absence. So much to catch up and so many thought! First off the Tony Awards are coming up and I have only seen one show! American Idiot and I loved it. Apparently people think it won’t get the Tony for Best Musical and I think they may be right. It was such a great show though and I really hopes it wins. Go see it!
I am really going to get better about blogging. It won’t be every day and probably won’t be as long of posts but it is back.
Tomorrow there is so much on the Capital Fringe Festival and my show, The Diary of a Dancer.
The Oscars are by far the Creme del la Crème of the awards shows. They, like the Tonys, have had declining viewership over the last several years. The Oscars took it head on and tried to figure what their problems were and how to fix them. First, they added more movies to the Best Picture category. They noticed that the Best Picture nominees were often leaving out some of the year’s biggest blockbuster movies. Should we add more Plays and Musicals to the Best Play and Musical categories respectively? I am not sure that would solve our problem. Usually our blockbusters do make it onto the nominee list.
Another thing the Oscars did was embrace social media. With their average viewership age at 49.5 they tried to use social media to accomplish a couple of things. The Oscars streamed the nominees live on the Facebook page bringing in 170,000 unique visitors. Then there was my favorite the Oscar iPhone application. You could pick your predictions then see how you faired. They also upgraded the site this year. The goals of all this was to of course get viewership up. But to also enhance the experience and hopefully make people continue the conversations after the awards show was over.
This was the best year for the Hollywood Box Office so let’s see how that relates to their new strategies and lets borrow what we can.
Mary Martin was born in 1913 and was a singer and actress who struggled for many years, as do many actresses. She sang in many clubs and on the radio and landed her first show in 1938 in Leave It to Me! She was lucky in originating the roles of many famous musicals. She was Ensign Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. Martin is probably most known for her title role in Peter Pan, which she played on Broadway and later on TV. Mary toured the country in Annie Get Your Gun and won the special Tony Award for “spreading Broadway to the rest of the Country.” She also won Tony Awards for Peter Pan, The Sound of Music and South Pacific. Martin often turned down the roles for the movie adaptations of musicals because she didn’t like the disconnect of the audience that movies had.
I am always looking to learn more about theatre and there are many ways to do so. The American Theatre Wing presents the Tony Awards every year but they do more than present the Tony Awards. They actually have one of, if not the best educational materials about theatre and Broadway. They have videos, podcast and more. If you are bored at work or at home take a look at what they have to offer. And if you are as busy as I am then just book mark it and come back. There are some really great video here. Happy Friday!
David Merrick, whom I actually have heard of because he is a famous producer (but I didn’t really know more than his name), used to be plastered all over the Great White Way. But there was much I didn’t know, like the fact he is from St. Louis. Hmm. Rocco Landesman, David Merrick . . . Jared Neff. I digress. He was born in St. Louis and attended Washington University and then studied law at Saint Louis University.
Merrick was famous for his publicity stunts. When I was given the assignment I was told of the story where Merrick got seven people to come see his show Subways Are For Sleeping and give him quotes about how much they loved it. The seven people had the same names as the seven most well know reviewers in New York City. 7 Out of 7 Are Ecstatically Unanimous About Subways Are For Sleeping the full page ad read. The ad actually helped the musical stay open for about 6 months, and it turned out he actually had the idea for the stunt years earlier but could never find someone with the name Brooks Atkinson, so he had to wait until Atkinson retired from the New York Times to carry out the stunt.
When director Gower Champion, the original director of 42nd Street, died on the morning of August 25th, 1980, Merrick, who produced the show, kept his death a secret to everyone involved in the production and the press so that he could announce it later that night at the curtain call of the opening night performance.
Although Merrick was known to be extremely hard to work with, he won 11 Tony Awards and often was the sole producer of his shows. Some his most famous shows were the original production of Gypsy with Ethel Merman and Hello Dolly with Carol Channing. He produced so many shows that he was often his own competition for the Tony Award. Merrick passed away in 2000 and leaves us with many great shows and even better stories.
So I have decided to make Wednesdays an “Ask my friends” segment of my blog. I have the best friends all over and they are so smart and have so much to share. So why not have them share on my blog. I have lined up a couple of people but how fitting is this first post. It is from my friend Jackie Carl at the Tony winning Signature Theatre. I asked Jackie to tell me all about being at the Awards. Jackie wears many hats at Signature including Special Events and Rentals. I met her a couple of months ago and was very impressed and LOVED her sense of humor. Here is what she said about the Tony night …
“Ever since Eric [Schaeffer, Signature’s Artistic Director] announced to us that we were receiving the Regional Theatre Tony Award, Signature’s offices have been completely abuzz with excitement. We have been super busy with press and praises – we even were sent an entire chocolate leg (yes you read that right!) which we gnawed on in the office for about a week! Like Jared mentioned, a bunch of our board members chipped in and bought about 20 tickets for staff members. Eric just took names of people who wanted to go and pulled from a hat about every hour during the day and announced over email who was the proud winner! I was one of the first ones picked! And not to have anyone left out, our company manager, again with funds donated by our board, planned a great Tony Party at Capital City Brewing Company down the street for staff and other theater friends here. They even had a red carpet laid out!
Now I know just being in NYC is an ongoing party, and Signature wanted to make sure it stayed that way. Saturday Night we all got together at INC Lounge at The Time Hotel. Staff, Board Members and other friends from the Industry were there. I don’t know if I got to see everyone, but know that Mark Kudish, Flo Lacey and some of the cast of our last show, Giant were there. The next day, after a morning Bloody Mary and lox and some shopping on the lower east side, it was time to start primping! Doors were closing at 7 and I was NOT going to be late.
I WAS GOING TO THE TONYS! I could write for pages about my excitement, disbelief and pride that were beaming from every inch of my soul… but I won’t. I will just tell you that I cried like a baby through the entire performance. Cried. Thank God my purse was big enough for some emergency make-up.
Despite my emotional upheaval, the show went on. Our tickets were in a block in the orchestra left around rows L-R- not too far back. It was pretty cool seeing the celebrities getting in and out of their seats to announce/accept the awards. At one point, I just turned to my co-worker to say something and saw Liza Minelli walking up the far aisle! Again, I had to pinch myself. Our award was the first to be given out. They played a little film tribute to Signature then Eric and Maggie went up to receive it. Eric’s speech was short and very sweet.
I have to brag a bit for Maggie [Boland, Signature’s Managing Director]. She is old friends with Clinton Kelly from What Not To Wear, and he had a team of people dress her for the night! I sat next to her husband and he said there was about 10 dressers, make up artists, and hairstylists in her room! Every woman’s dream! Of course she is lovely and doesn’t need all of that attention – but she looked fantastic!
After an hour of awards, we were going into the telecast. That’s where the real fun began. I’m sure if you’re reading this blog, you probably watched it live or at least YouTubed it by now. I re-watched the opening number on YouTube yesterday to see the treacherous Bret Michaels setFAIL.org. I didn’t catch it live because I was enraptured by the great Stockard Channing. However my phone blew up with texts from friends and family watching concerned over his collision. I heard he fractured his nose and cut his chin, but I’m sure he’s still “smoking hot.”
Other things missed by viewers at home were NPH doing some hilarious magic tricks during the TV breaks. He’s totally converted me to watching his sitcom. Million Dollar Quartet also performed… and talk about “smoking hot!” The one actor was the spitting image of Jerry Lee Lewis. They had an amazing energy and had everyone dancing in their seats. One “take away” we got from the performance were plastic Rock of Ages lights that were shaped like lighters. That’s what they had us wave during Constantine’s number. Also there was a great advertisement for The Addams Family coming to Broadway in spring of 2010 with Nathan Lane and Bebe Newerth!
Like I said I could go on, but it’s been about 20 minutes since I last looked at my pictures. All in all, it was probably one of the best nights of my life – seeing so many inspiring and talented artists. And indeed what a proud moment for the DC Theater community! Next to Normal looked great and Alice was well-deserving! We are so lucky to live and work in a community that understands the importance of theater. And it’s obviously paying off. The actual award will sit on everyone’s desk here in the office and then end up as a permanent fixture in our lobby. Stop by and see it!” In the photo John Hance, Sarah Valente, Maggie Boland, Jayson Raitt, Karma Camp, Eric Schaeffer
Okay, I have now gotten over the sound issues. Now I move on to my other issue. It is not with the Tonys but with theatres around the country. I think we should not have performances on Tony night. It is a time to celebrate the art. Why not say we are closed Sunday night because of the Tony Awards. Move the schedule around and have a student matinee. Imagine how the viewership would grow if they did that. So if you have the power to adjust the schedule, remember to move your schedule next year to accommodate the Tonys.
The second part of today is about Washington DC. What a night to shine. Several shows on the Awards had ties to DC. And after Glory Days we needed that. Next to Normal made a stop in DC at Arena Stage which is also where 33 Variations started. West Side Story had its out of town try outs in DC. And if you have been reading my blog you know Signature Theatre won the regional Tony Award.
Stay tuned for tomorrows blog. I have decided to have guest bloggers on Wednesdays. Just to shake it up a little. We will call it “Ask My Friends.” So don’t miss it.
Hear are my thoughts on the Awards. First off, we had another great party this year. People from three different local theatres were represented and there were even four non-theatre people present.
The sound! I twittered it last night and I will say it again. If you work in sound you should send you resume to the Tony Awards NOW! It was awful. I realize this it can’t be easy with 100 plus live performers especially in the opening number . But it was bad from the very beginning. The camera shots were not that great either. It is time to take a serious look at the Awards. This is as close as most of America ever gets to Broadway and is suppose to help boost sales. Is this really what you want everyone to think of when they think of Broadway? All I could think of was sound problems.
Moving on; Shrek. What a shame. Okay I didn’t like the show when I saw it in NYC, but there are some good numbers, but from the song they picked last night you couldn’t tell. And the number they choose didn’t even have Shrek in it. If I was watching that show I wouldn’t go see it and with 65% attendance last week one would think they would want a better song.
Next to Normal was great. They did their best number and it came off really well.
Billy was okay. Most people didn’t like the number they choose but I thought it was okay. There are no great numbers from the CD that I thought would be better.
My last thought about the show for today. Cut the large screen behind them. It doesn’t look good on camera and didn’t feel the stage. Take the money spent on that and put it toward sound.
I just wanted to write a little bit about the Tony Awards. I have a Tony Party every year and I gather with great friends and watch the Awards. I hope you all do the same. Gather with your colleagues and friends and enjoy the show that celebrates what we all do.
I wish Next to Normal the best of luck! And send out good wishes to the Signature folks. Maybe I can get one of them to write a special blog about the Awards.
It is time for the Tony’s. Last night I was having dinner with a good friend and he reminded me of one of my goals when I was in college. It was to have a Tony by now or be working for a producer that would be up for a Tony. Sadly, I haven’t done either. But that is okay. I set high goals for myself. My goals sometime seem unreachable but I say why not try.
By setting high goals I was managing the backstage of the Fabulous Fox Theatre before I graduated college. I got into the 14 week Commercial Theatre Institute and learned from some of the best Producers on Broadway and I even have a very small part in a future Broadway show. Not too bad for only being 27. Yes, I would like to have accomplished more but I feel good about where I have been and where I am going. I am very happy at the Shakespeare Theatre and hope to further my career more there in the next couple of years.
My new goal is to have a Tony by 2017. Seems so far away. Wish me luck!
I have to give a Shout Out to the Board of Directors of Signature Theatre in Arlington. As many of you know Signature won the Regional Theatre Tony Award this year and they will be presented the Award on Sunday. I am not sure where it started but one Board Member bought a couple of extra tickets to Tony Awards to be given away to the staff and then more Board Members started to follow suit. I believe that most of the staff now has tickets to the 2009 Tony Award Ceremony in NYC.
I think that is great! What a way to build morale and support the staff. I think Signature is well deserving of the Tony and the Staff is well deserving of those tickets. Congratulations to all my friends at Signature! And bring me back a Playbill.
Yesterday I talked about a couple of ways to use Twitter. Now let’s focus on Twitter and Broadway. There are four specific examples of Twitter on Broadway that I know of and I am sure there are more.
1) ROCK OF AGES – An Off-Broadway musical that moved to Broadway and now is nominated for the Best Musical Tony Award. They use Twitter to show off ads and discounts. Nothing was of interest to me. I “un-followed” them pretty fast. Maybe if you live in NYC and love the show you would be interested in following them but I found the information useless.
2) NEXT TO NORMAL – Again a Best Musical nominee that started Off-Broadway then came to Washington to return to the Great White Way. They have used Twitter in a whole new way. They have the characters Tweeting their inner thoughts in order of the show and it is lasting several weeks. I think this is an interesting way to use Twitter but I really don’t get much out of it. It is being drug out so long that I am not sure where we left off and would have to go their site to see the whole story. I personally would rather just listen to the CD.
3) TONY AWARDS – This I find be a better use of Social Media. I think I like it more because it covers all the Broadway shows with focusing on the Tony Awards. I think it could go a step further with talking about when shows are going to be on TV. Like the Next to Normal cast being on the View.
4) KEN DAVENPORT – I saved the best for last. I love his tweets. He uses Twitter to talk about his day. Meetings he goes to and thoughts he has about certain issues with theatre and he posts articles. The brilliant part is he slips in things about his shows. So you don’t even realize you are getting ads sometimes. He doesn’t just send you ad after ad but slips them so you don’t even notice.
How could you use Twitter to best promote yourself or your show. Why would people want to follow you and I mean REALLY follow you. Make it interesting.
I have returned from my long absence. So much to catch up and so many thought! First off the Tony Awards are coming up and I have only seen one show! American Idiot and I loved it. Apparently people think it won’t get the Tony for Best Musical and I think they may be right. It was such a great show though and I really hopes it wins. Go see it!
