I didn t even watch much of the Games but man, the buzz of the Olympics just can t be beat. And every Olympic Games seems to get more and more exciting (thanks in part to technology making it more and more accessible).
I learned a lot from these games . . . and not just that the athletes hook up more than a Time Warner cable guy (to the tune of 150,000 condoms ) . . . so I thought I d share some of what I learned, and how it can be applied to making great theater and/or marketing Broadway.
Did you know that the opening ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics cost about $42 million smackaroos? That s half a freekin Spider-Man for goodness sake. But those planners know what they re doing. cheap hotel in san diego You gotta light people up at the beginning of an event so they know they made the right decision to tune in (or pay $150 for a ticket). And at the end of the day/play, send em up with something to talk about. And yes, that can be spectacle (that s what s easy), but it can also be emotion. The opening and closing numbers of a show are two of the three most important moments in a show. The third? The end of Act I.
Did you know that synchronized diving was a thing? Or trampolining? Every set of Games seems to bring on a new sport or two, and an old one that gets a little more media attention than the last time. It s as if the Games are saying, cheap hotel in san diego You think you know what the Olympics are? Well, take this! And then they throw race-walking cheap hotel in san diego at us. Theater is a broad term. And I encourage us all to push the boundaries of what it actually means. Blue Man Group ? O ? Even shows like Once ? They aren t what you d expect . . . which is why they stand out.
You gotta love that 14 year old girl that gave up her home and her friends to pursue her Olympic Dream. Or the fastest man in the world who lives in Jamaica and has the whole nation pushing him to go even faster. You gotta love your hero, and you gotta want them to succeed, in the Olympics and in your show. I ve seen two musicals over the past six months where I just didn t like the protagonist. At all. And in both cases, I liked a secondary character even more. Find a way for us to root for them, no matter cheap hotel in san diego what they do or where they are from.
Despite the ridiculousness of the presidential race that hasn t even really got started yet, I was feeling some good ol 4th of July American pride over the past few weeks . . . and I showed it off by buying a USA t-shirt. Sure, we ve got lots of merch for shows, but what about some good ol Official Broadway merch. Maybe some exists, but I certainly don t know about it. You know, tees that say things like, There s no place like Broadway or I d rather be on Broadway. New York City added some buckets of cash to its coffers with its official merch line (especially after 9/11), so why not some Official Broadway merch to add to ours?
For the mainstreamers like me, there was NBC. For the super fans, there was MSNBC. And for the super obsessed folks who stayed cheap hotel in san diego up 24 hours a day waiting for the latest results from skeet shooting, there was some crazy cable channel with a Twitter feed to give you the fix you needed. The point is there was constant cheap hotel in san diego information, and a lot of ways to get it . . . on video. We could use more coverage cheap hotel in san diego for Broadway, and more television coverage specifically. I know the Nightly News isn t going to pay much more attention to us (especially since so many aren t even reviewing us anymore), but what about some more public access shows for those super fans? More internet talk shows. More, more, more. We ll stay up 24 hours too, you know.
Calls from Obama. National commercials. These athletes cheap hotel in san diego will have it made. We should be pushing our big stars more into the spotlight as well. Maybe not national, but certainly cheap hotel in san diego local. I want to see our folks around cheap hotel in san diego town at more non-industry events . . . at Gracie Mansion . . . at the opening of the latest cheap hotel in san diego Danny Meyer restaurant. For the most part, the responsibility for getting the actors to these events has fallen to the actors themselves (and their press reps, if they can afford one). Maybe we as an industry can help them along . . . and they ll help us when they re big in Hollywood in return.
There was a lot of controversy over delayed telecasts of events that took place earlier in the day because of the time difference (thanks to Twitter, this is a bigger issue than it has ever been before), proving again that nothing beats live . . . even when it s televised. Maybe we ll see a few of our events televised live as well? Will it be the same experience as in the theater? No. Will it drive more people to want to go to the theater? I d bet all of Michael Phelps medals that the answer is yes.
Count me in for the planning and creative committee! I especially like the idea of expanding boundaries and stretching them. I was @ your seminar in May on Getting your show off the ground : I haven t given up on my idea of Pink Floyd meets Bejart!
Hi Ken i always enjoy your blog. Here is something that I have been thinking about that was controversy at the beginning of the Olympics. The fact that team USA was wearing uniforms made in China struck a nerve with many Americans in this tough economy. I just got back from a vacation in Maine, and wanted a sweat shirt from York Beach, and I bought one, but it was also made in China. I have nothing against buying mass produced cheap goods, but what an opportunity for an all American industry to help another. There are American businesses that can print show shirts, mugs key rings etc that are %100 American made. My very own Godspell mug was made in Thailand. I looked up some companies on line to see if we indeed were making anything like this and sure enough we are. How wonderful it could be if something cheap hotel in san diego so simple could be incorporated into the Broadway merchandising market. An example cheap hotel in san diego of one site is USpromos.com. Broadway is an American industry that is proudly unionized. How awesome would it be to influence other areas of our nations economy other than in the hospitality industry. I know Local 1 makes sure it s swag is from American union shops. It saddens/ maddens me that the gigantic sports franchises, with unionized players, have their shirts and Jerseys made in so many other countries. If a person is willing to Spend $25 on a t-shirt made in thailand, i bet they would spend $30 if it were made here. Just a thought.
What comes to my mind would be to create a competitive, international performing arts festival, that could, like the Olympics, happen in a limited time window (perhaps 2-4 week runs) every four years.
To some extent cheap hotel in san diego Broadway already is where the world s best performers cheap hotel in san diego and performing arts companies come to prove it. But, for most the opportunity to show their stuff in this world center for great performance is unattainable.
We could start with regional qualifying competitions in 4-6 locations around the world. Using an unbiased panel of judges following standardized criteria and with some weight given to public input via social media a fair process for determining which companies belong in the finals on Broadway would be achievable.
A limited number of available/reserved Broadway theaters would be home to these performances. Ticket prices could be high like they are for the Olympics, or possibly subsidized by sponsor dollars and special arrangements to make them more accessible to the general public.
These events would generate national pride. Presenting humanity s best performing arts achievements on the stage would expand Broadway s international reputation and create a greater sense of world community, cheap hotel in san diego mutual respect and equal access.
1. Here s your starting note, here s your ending note in the key of E. How many different notes can you hit in between cheap hotel in san diego in 30 seconds? cheap hotel in san diego Bonus points for mellismas; penalty points if any of the notes are off pitch.
2. Name That Chord/Name That Show: Here s the chord: _____. Name a Broadway Show where that chord is played. Bonus points for naming the actual song. Even more bonus points for identifying the singer who sang the song in the original production.
3. Tap: Here s a one minute musical piece. You each have 10 minutes to choreograph a solo dance number to it, and you must write and sing a lyric to the last 10 seconds of the song. (While they are working on their presentation you keep the audience entertained with clips of the new reality TV hit show, Broadway Dance Moms ).
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