I know why the Tony ratings suck
Two reasons: Disney, and the 80's. Well, sort of.
After the fracas over who should and should not be invited to perform at the Tonys, there's been a lot of debate over why nobody tunes into the show anymore. Some say it's because nobody cares about theater anymore. Others say it's because there aren't any stars, like the Oscars or the Grammys. Nobody outside the tristate area has seen most of these shows, or knows who these people are.
Here's my thing. Picture Mr. Average Joe sitting with his family in Idaho, or Delaware, or wherever on June 10th. Joe has no idea who Boyd Gaines or Raul Esparza are. Joe might recognize Frank Langella or Christine Ebersole when they see their faces. It's not that Joe doesn't care about theater, in fact, just the opposite. His daughter is in every school musical, and he enjoyed bringing the family to a Broadway show when they visited New York this past year. But here's the rub, kids - what show did Joe bring the family to? Take a look at the numbers. Odds are pretty good that they saw Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, or Phantom of the Opera.
These long-running-into-the-ground shows are invariably packed with people from all over the country. Few people from the tristate area is going to see this stuff at this point. The shows stay open solely thanks to the out-of-town audiences. If only these throngs of people were venturing into shows that were newer to Broadway, imagine how different things would be. Word of mouth would spread so much faster about the season's best new shows, and people would return to their home states spreading the word. Instead, we have "Well, three years ago Mrs. VanShnitzel saw Phantom, and she liked it, and said it had a really big chandelier, so let's see that." Why just last week, over eleven THOUSAND people saw Phantom. Think about how many have seen it over the seven hundred years it's been on Broadway. Imagine those numbers dispersed into the various newer, better, more interesting, more fun, exciting shows.
Yes, I know it's nothing more than a pipe dream, but wouldn't it be cool if the rest of America was interested in seeing new shows? While the original cast is still intact, while the star is still in it, while the chorus still gives a crap? If that could happen, there's no doubt that the Tonys would be the television event that they apparently used to be many moons ago. But, aside from restricting the length of a run, the way we restrict a presidential term (not such a terrible idea, actually), how do you get the midwesterner out of Phantom and into, say, Curtains?
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4 comments:
Your post is so interesting to me! I used to actually feel this way about the Tony Awards. "Who are these people!? What show is this?" I would then go on a trip to NYC to see the same standards time and time again. Eventually, however, I became responsible for buying my ticket. I can generally afford one on my own. My family that I travel with gets stuck on one play that they can't get enough of-- It was "Mama Mia!" for three years, and now it has been "Jersey Boys" for the past two. I, however, look at my ONE ticket as being VERY important. One play... one shot a year. So, I research, I read, I study... and I enjoy. The Tony Awards are NOW an important thing as they help me decide what it is that I want to see. By the way, this year I saw "The Drowsy Chaperone." It wasn't the best show I have ever seen, but I enjoyed it very much and had a smile on my face from start to finish. This doesn't mean I don't love "Mama Mia" and "Jersey Boys" and "Wicked" and "Rent" and... everything else, just that I appreciate the newer shows and what they have to offer as well.
It's gotta be the money, honey. Phantom rules the bus ads, Mamma Mia rules the subway ads (literally, on every subway map out there), and The Lion King rules Times Square. I don't think any of the new shows can afford to up their advertising placements beyond the free buzz in NYC mags and newspapers.
Or maybe, the example you've revealed is an amazing display of some kind of standard statistical analysis: it takes like, eight or more years for a Broadway show's buzz to literally make its way to areas outside the tristate and beyond. To quickly get boring, I once knew, in an educated mind long long ago, that trends follow a very normal pattern of someone getting the hot new thing, then the second group of testers, then another and another until finally the trend is the norm. Such must be the way with Broadway.
It would be nice for national television commercials to pop once in a while or perhaps a deal with iloveny.com. Moxie, I think you should start the official Broadway recommendations for out-of-towners.
rb, that's so inspiring!
Moxie, I just posted about this too. And being from the Midwest, I offer a bit of insight- at least into my mother's obsession with Jersey Boys (which is reminiscent of her previous obsession with Wicked).
I've jumped on the bandwagon of thinking that the Tony broadcast just isn't FUN anymore if you don't know who the people are. They need to get some big fun numbers going on, get some major celebs involved, and get a buzz going. I haven't seen ANY ads for the Tonys. Where's the buzz?
I don't like suggesting that we need big name celebs because it feels like undermining the absolutely fantastic actors that we have here in town, but on the other hand... we DO need them. How else to you get Joe Schmoe in Montana interested?
I left a similar comment on Steve On Broadway's blog. When will the League of American Theatres and Producers realize that until they expand Tony eligibility beyond New York City, interest in their award will continue to dwindle? I think it was the NY Times that reported viewership down by more than a million from last year.
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