+

Show Biz is Big Biz

Chapter 16

+Theatre as a commercial

enterprise

The Puritans believed that to pretend to be other than what you are is to lie or do the Devil’s work. Believed that actors were agents of the Devil because they

pretend to be someone else. This belief kept theatre from developing as a part of our

cultural mainstream.

The Calvinist branch of the Protestants believe that profit is a sign that the person making the profit is smiled on by God. As soon as Americans began to believe that profit was a

good thing and that theatre could turn a profit, it was introduced to the colonies as early as 1716 in Williamsburg, Virginia.

+ With these conflicting beliefs banging at each other created the belief that it is immoral unless it turns a profit therefore demonstrating that God is smiling.

Established two enduring truths of American Culture:

1. Theatre is immoral and should be prohibited by law.

2. Only good theatre is theatre that makes money.

“Cats” ran for 16 years and made millions. WOHOO!

“Waiting for Godot” lost money but was respected by great minds. TOO BAD!

+ Commercial theatre today Its single purpose:

Make Money!!

Actors, ushers, and stagehands make a salary.

Playwrights, directors, and composers receive royalties.

Investors earn a substantial return on their investments.

It a 50/50 chance when producing theatre. When it makes it big you get paid big. When it tanks big you lose everything.

Theatre is a risky business.

90% of theatre investors lose 100% of their investment.

Too much can go wrong, and there is no guaranteed formula for success.

+5 places commercial theatre is produced

1. Broadway The center of commercial theatre in the United States. Small section of mid-town Manhattan that is 3 blocks

by 14 blocks. Also Known As:

“Street of Dreams” “Great White Way” “If you can make it there, you can make it

anywhere”

+5 places commercial theatre is produced

2. Off Broadway Area located in the Upper West Side of Manhattan and

Greenwich Village. Place where serious drama could be produced. Smaller theatres at lower prices. Challenges audiences to think and feel deeply Less expensive to produce a play

+5 places commercial theatre is produced

3. Off Off Broadway Located in the East Village area of Manhattan. More challenging and avant-garde work is performed

commercially. Experimental theatre Actors such as Al Pacino and James Earl Jones got their

starts here. Taboos of society were challenged here.

Hair – sexual liberation “Viet-Rock” & “In White America” – exposed the

hypocrisy in American governmental policies. In recent times it has become almost as commercial

as Broadway and Off Broadway themselves and yet still challenges audiences.

Sometimes used as a spring board to Broadway.

+

Off Off Broadway

Off Broadway

Broadway

+Currently as of 2011 there are 40 theatres that make

up Broadway

+Touring productions

4. Touring Productions Happens when a production is a commercial hit on

Broadway and in order to make more money they make it available to larger groups of people nationwide.

First-class Tours Travels by plane. 3-4 week stay Larger cities

Chicago St. Louis Philadelphia

+ Bus-and-truck Tour

Travels by bus Scenery loaded in large trucks Split weeks or one-night stands Artists receive smaller salaries Medium size cities

Des Moines Helena Sacramento

+5. Cruises, Casinos, and Theme Parks

Usually musical revues Not dramas with a plot Usually involves quite a bit of spectacle Gives many their first exposure to professional theatre Usually the first professional job of many young singers,

dancers, and comedians. Not necessarily known as “great art” but usually very

entertaining.

+Theatre as a not-for-profit

cultural service

Many theatres in America are described as not-for-profit. Known as Regional Theatre or LORT

LORT = League of Resident Theatre Established in the 1960’s. AKA: Repertory Theatres and Resident Theatres

Described as “Bigger than Broadway”. Can produce plays with larger casts than commercial

producers can afford and usually produce new plays than challenge audience’s values and expectations.

Two Earliest Regional Theatres: The Alley Theatre in Houston, Tx Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

+4 sources of contributed income

Foundations A financial entity that has been created to protect

accumulations of wealth from heavy taxation. Monies are used for charitable ends:

Education Medical research The Arts

Gives away money for purposes that our society views as worthy.

+ Corporations

Charitable contributions are in a company’s best business interest.

Give money to theatres as a form of advertising. “Sponsored” or “Coproduced” by a corporation draws attention

to said corporation.

Individual Donors Largest group of contributors to not-for-profits. It looks good and you can claim it on your taxes.

Government Grants Money gathered from tax payers money. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

Largest and most prominent of all government arts agencies. Created in 1965 to disburse federal tax revenues to artists and

arts organizations.

+ National endowment for the artsSummary of Funds Available FY 2009

Appropriated Program Funds 128,200,000

Appropriated Balance, Prior Year 4,400,309

Nonfederal Gifts 1,280,485

Interagency Transfers 3,025,735

Total Program Funds Available 136,906,529

Total Program Support Funds Available 2,529,813

Total Salary and Expense Funds Available 27,575,904

Total Funds Available 167,012,246

+ Theatre as an amateur activity

Community Theatre Sponsored by local organizations and performed by

volunteers who do it for love, not money. Very low budget. Churches, service clubs, and civic organizations are

leading Producers. The personal relationship between audience and

performer creates an excitement that makes it fun. Amateur theatre is an activity, not a business.

+Theatre as an educational

experience

Educational Theatre Used to describe theatre presented in schools. Primary reason for being is to provide training to students

who wish to study theatre as an academic discipline. Unhappily, the administrations of most American colleges

and universities fail to provide the appropriate financial support for the academic discipline of theatre.

Most educational theatre has to be self-supporting.

+Theatre as festival and outdoor

drama

Festival Theatre Established in the 1930’s At times can be:

A commercial venture A not-for-profit cultural service An amateur event An educational experience

Defined not by how it does business but by the kind of theatre it present.

Focus on a particular kind of drama or playwright. Shakespeare Festivals Fringe Festivals

+ Outdoor Drama

Uniquely American Many Shakespeare festivals are produce in outdoor

theatres but are not considered outdoor dramas. Dramas based on historical events or religious stores.

“The Lost Colony” – North Carolina Dramatizes the lives of the first English settlers in

North America. “The Hill Cumorah Pageant” – Palmyra, NY

+

End of Chapter 16