Today, Jessica Vosk will take her final bow as Elphaba in Broadway’s Wicked. Ending one of the great runs this character has seen since its opening in 2003.
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I want you to imagine something. Imagine huge crowds of people filing into a special venue to witness a display by professionals working at the highest tiers of their field. The tickets were expensive, the seats aren’t quite comfortable, the drink prices are outrageous. Specialized, high-powered lights illuminate the playing area and loud music fills the air. The professionals emerge, dressed in specialized clothing and equipment, and begin their hours-long display. The action is intense, sometimes exciting, sometimes heartbreaking, and about halfway through, there is a break for everyone to recover and chat. When it’s all over, the crowd will cheer for a job well done and grumble if their expectations weren’t met, but they’ll probably go to a similar event in the future. Those same fans will gather around their televisions once a year in a celebration of the best of the best, usually with friends, food and drinks at the ready.
Now, here’s my question: did you picture a Broadway show, or a sporting event?
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A good story has an introduction, a buildup of tension, an unforeseen climax, and a resolution. An impactful story includes a lesson to be learned so that the audience can take away more than just a satisfied hunger for some laughs and jaunty tunes. The fantastic stories—Tony-worthy shows—speak to the audience, so they not only walk away with a nice break from stress and responsibilities but are indoctrinated with a fresh perspective on life.
If Dear Evan Hansen were written in the Murphys’ perspective, it would be next to normal. Having directed both musicals on Broadway, that feeling may have crossed Michael Greif’s mind countless times during his current position at the DEH stage. Both shows tackle the issues of mental illness and how it affects the environment surrounding the person suffering. If you take out the music and instruments for a moment and analyze what you’ve got left, they are words you hear every day; words which deal with severe depression, anxiety, manic bipolar, post-traumatic stress, and even schizophrenia.
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The Stage Door. To some, it means a chance to meet their favorite performers of theatre. To others, it means an opportunity to thank them for a beautiful show! And it’s a nice gesture to the public of having one’s playbill signed but the actors they saw. All in all, it’s a wonderful experience that one has of their Broadway experience.
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Selecting a “best” of creative work is about as futile as picking the “best” Beatle.
Yet we are here at awards season for Broadway and off-Broadway, and most lovers of this art form are paying close attention to who gets nominated and who wins.
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A couple of years ago, I attended a production of RENT that was touring through my area. I was sitting towards the front of the mezzanine area and behind me were a group of younger men and women who were very excited to see the show.
As the show began, and pretty much throughout the entire performance, they all proceeded to sing or speak dialogue from the show. Seldom is a minute go by where I didn't hear their rendition of various moments in the script.
When the show ended and we got out to leave the theatre, I took a dollar out of my pocket and offered to the girl behind me.
"What's this for?" she asked.
"I wanted to make sure I paid you for the performance," I said with the most amount of snark I could muster.
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I’ve noticed something of a trend at the Winter Garden Theatre over the past few years. Three of the last four productions that have played there have been musicals based on movies with iconic central characters. The one production that did not was about icons, but of a very different sort. The historical figures depicted in “Wolf Hall” are iconic, but not from movies, not from being embodied by a singular actor. Rocky, from “Rocky,” Dewey, from “School of Rock,” and Beetlejuice, from “Beetlejuice,” are very closely tied to the actors who played them originally, actors who were a big part of why the movies were so popular that they were adapted into musicals. As each one of these musicals has come to Broadway, most recently “Beetlejuice,” taking up residence in the Winter Garden this spring, I’ve had the same apprehension: the material may be good for the musical theatre treatment, but who’s going to get stuck toeing the fine line between doing his own thing and imitating an icon?
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It’s one of my favorite films. And now it’s going to be presented on stage in a musical format with music by Sir Elton John, lyrics by Shaina Taub, and book by Paul Rudnick.
And just announced, Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Director Anna D. Shapiro, a 2008 Tony winner for her direction of August: Osage County, has been named as the director.
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Now I am not one to judge before a product is released and reviewed but this just feels wrong. I am personally not a big fan of Spears but there is just something about a musical with her music coming to Broadway. I will be the first to admit I was wrong if it turns out to be a hit. It seems we are starting to see a trend of musicals coming out with the music of popular artist.
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Last week, it was officially announced that a Michael Jackson musical would be making its way to Broadway next year. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” is set to open its out-of-town tryout in Chicago on Oct 29th with plans to move to New York in Spring 2020.
However, should plans for the upcoming show be altered considering the detailed sexual abuse allegations in a new documentary?
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I don’t take calling for boycotts likely. I don’t think they should be thrown out casually because if they are effective, they can have a lasting impact on everyone involved. While they target those at the top, they immediately impact those at the bottom. I’m well aware of that which is why this has weighed on me.
But after seeing the behavior of Scott Rudin and his representatives over the past month, and seeing the way they have threatened community theatres across the country, I’m fed up.
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