Sandy Duncan on the Broadway Musical
GO8GO
discussions on other threads.
Sandy Duncan Laments Broadway Musicals
Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Perennially perky Sandy Duncan is slamming what she
considers the sorry state of Broadway musicals.
Duncan stars in a two-week run of "The King and I" starting Tuesday.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical marked her professional debut as a
12-year-old in Dallas.
But now, at 58, she said an industry once run by producers with vision and
heart has devolved into a business run by "money men who don't have an eye
for the product."
"It used to be that producers would make a profit, with the idea that they
would put that money into a new show," Duncan told the St. Paul Pioneer
Press.
"Now, they want to make a killing, and so they're flogging these shows into
10-, 12-, 14-year runs. It hurts the whole creative community."
The result, she said, can be seen in the lack of new titles on Broadway and
on the road. Her six-month tour as Anna in "The King and I," she said, just
proves her point.
"Shows like this are being done to death because there's no new product,"
she said.
Duncan's Broadway credits include "Peter Pan," "My One and Only" and, most
recently, "Chicago." She said audiences in the rest of the country are being
cheated by productions that claim to be Broadway musicals but are pale
imitations, with diminished technical qualities and less-experienced,
nonunion actors.
"A lot of what's coming out of New York is dreck; they should be touring
them in theme parks," Duncan said. "And then on top of that, they do it on
the cheap so they can make more money. It's immoral, and it tricks the
public."
Steve Newport
From: go...@aol.com (GO8GO)
Sandy Duncan: they're flogging these shows into 10-, 12-, 14-year runs.
It hurts the whole creative community."
SN: I said that.
----------------------------------
Duncan's Broadway credits include "Peter Pan," "My One and Only" and,
most recently, "Chicago."
SN: PETER PAN, CHICAGO, and THE BOY FRIEND (which she also did on
Broadway) were all revivals. MY ONE AND ONLY started out as a revival of
FUNNY FACE, but became a different show using existing Gershwin songs as
its score. The only new musical she did on Broadway, IIRC, was the
short-lived British import CANTERBURY TALES. I like her, but frankly-
theatre seems to treat its fifty-something females better than TV or
movies.
Matthew Winn
Duncan:
> "A lot of what's coming out of New York is dreck; they should be touring
> them in theme parks," Duncan said. "And then on top of that, they do it on
> the cheap so they can make more money. It's immoral, and it tricks the
> public."
In London the problem isn't that they do the shows on the cheap, but
that they're anything _but_ cheap. Producers appear to believe that
audiences want immense sets and plenty of glitter so the cost of
creating a show runs into millions of pounds, requiring ticket prices
of around £50 across the entire house and a run of at least a year to
recoup the investment. (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang spent £750k on the
car alone; five years ago that would have paid for an entire show's
out of town tryout, West End transfer, and all costs up to opening
night, with recovery of investment expected within three months.)
A consequence of the high prices is that audiences aren't willing to
try anything new. A family of four living where I live can expect to
pay nearly £300 for a trip to a West End musical. That would buy them
a week's holiday with money to spare, so they're not going to risk
spending it on 2 hours' entertainment unless they know in advance
exactly what they'll be getting. Goodbye innovation, hello crap.
> Duncan's Broadway credits include "Peter Pan," "My One and Only" and, most
> recently, "Chicago." She said audiences in the rest of the country are being
> cheated by productions that claim to be Broadway musicals but are pale
> imitations, with diminished technical qualities and less-experienced,
> nonunion actors.
We're lucky over here in that our regional and touring productions
are usually of a higher standard than the West End. They're cheaper,
and the sets are shakier, but regional theatres depend so heavily on
building up a regular audience they just can't afford to serve up low
quality fare. No regional audience will pay £50 for a ticket and no
regional show can survive for more than a couple of months before
exhausting its local audience and having to move on, so the tourist
economics of the West End can't apply.
--
Matthew
[If replying by mail remove the "r" from "urk"]
Steve Newport
From: *@matthewwinn.me.urk (Matthew Winn) over here in that our
regional and touring productions are usually of a higher standard than
the West End. They're cheaper, and the sets are shakier, but regional
theatres depend so heavily on building up a regular audience they just
can't afford to serve up low quality fare.
Also true here.
Noel Katz
small-sized musicals, done in New York and elsewhere, that audiences love, and
that regional audiences WOULD love, if they were ever given a chance to see
them.
The people presenting tours assume that America's audiences will only come to
see shows they've already heard of. It's a dangerous assumption that could
mean the museum-izing of the art (a la opera, where only a limited number of
pieces ever get performed).
There's a gambling analogy somewhere in all of this: producers put huge stacks
of chips on tried-and-true shows instead of putting a small number of chips on
a bunch of different, cheaper shows ... and one of those is likely to hit big.
It's hard to imagine wide-spread enthusiasm over yet another production of
Peter Pan, e.g.
Steve Newport
From: noel...@aol.comedian (Noel Katz) there are plenty of
small-sized musicals, done in New York and elsewhere, that audiences
love, and that regional audiences WOULD love, if they were ever given a
chance to see them.
We've gotten A NEW BRAIN, SPITFIRE GRILL, LAST 5 YEARS, SHOWTUNE. (I
believe the last has recently been recorded.)
Tyree The Reader
Steve Newport
From: tyreeth...@aol.com (Tyree The Reader) Does Sandy Duncan
really have a glass eye if so how did she get it?
At one point she required eye surgery. I think while she was doing her
sitcom, which originally was going to be based on the film FUNNY FACE.
(All that was left was the character's last name: Stockton.) After the
surgery, I believe she also became involved with the surgeon. I've been
told, though, that while she's is blind in one eye-- it's not glass.
Maybe someone can clear this all up.
Bushwhacker
Steve Newport wrote:
I thought it was glass. IIRC, she had something seriously wrong with her
left eye, so it had to be removed.
JaSoN
JaSoN
"Tyree The Reader" <tyreeth...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040817070802...@mb-m24.aol.com...
Steve Newport
From: ro...@thetop.org (Bushwhacker)
<<<At one point she (Sandy Duncan) required eye surgery. I think while
she was doing her sitcom, which originally was going to be based on the
film FUNNY FACE. (All that was left was the character's last name:
Stockton.) After the surgery, I believe she also became involved with
the surgeon. I've been told, though, that while she's is blind in one
eye-- it's not glass. Maybe someone can clear this all up.>>>
left eye, so it had to be removed.
Well, there was a comedian/impressionist who used to hold a shot glass
to one eye and say "Sammy Davis, Jr." then to the other and say "Sandy
Duncan."
Bushwhacker
Steve Newport wrote:
Obviously, that's "comedian/impressionist" in its loosest sense...
BTC/TAK on ACK
I'm told she does not have a glass eye [as rumored], but did have surgery
which left her without sight in one eye.
"Tyree The Reader" <tyreeth...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040817070802...@mb-m24.aol.com...
Steve Newport
From: ro...@thetop.org (Bushwhacker)
glass to one eye and say "Sammy Davis, Jr." then to the other and say
"Sandy Duncan.">>>
He had a Philly following. BFS.
Sweevil
Broadway, grossed $10 million across the country. There are plenty of
others, too. I don't think regional ticket buyers automatically go see
something anymore because it played on Broadway, especially since Broadway
is hardly covered by the mass media anymore. People across the country
don't generally even know what's playing on Broadway, so it's not such a big
factor in what they go to see.
It was a much bigger deal back in the decades when every Broadway musical
would have lay-outs in national magazines, songs performed on TV variety
shows, lots of radio airplay of hit songs ...
I still think word of mouth is nowadays the number one selling point.
"Noel Katz" <noel...@aol.comedian> wrote in message
news:20040815142130...@mb-m02.aol.com...
fmomoon
Sweevil <stephen...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:SqWdnX3Gr7K...@comcast.com...
> I'm fascinated by the fact that Yeston's PHANTOM, which never played
> Broadway, grossed $10 million across the country. There are plenty of
> others, too. I don't think regional ticket buyers automatically go see
> something anymore because it played on Broadway, especially since Broadway
> is hardly covered by the mass media anymore. People across the country
> don't generally even know what's playing on Broadway, so it's not such a
big
> factor in what they go to see.
>
> It was a much bigger deal back in the decades when every Broadway musical
> would have lay-outs in national magazines, songs performed on TV variety
> shows, lots of radio airplay of hit songs ...
>
> I still think word of mouth is nowadays the number one selling point.
The company I usually work with did Yeston's "Phantom" several years ago.
They were all ready for the "when does the chandelier drop" questions, but
the audience was surprisingly sophisticated. Good production...in spite of
the fire alarms going off, but that's another story and another thread.
--
Moni (fmomoon)
If you want to make God laugh, tell him your future plans. (Woody Allen)
Steve Newport
fmomoo...@comcast.net (fmomoon) The company I usually work with did
Yeston's "Phantom" several years ago. They were all ready for the "when
does the chandelier drop" questions, but the audience was surprisingly
sophisticated.
I did it at two theatres every season from 1993-1997.The management
offered an after the fact money back policy to anyone who was
disappointed it was not ALWs. I think they paid out about twice. My
half-sisters came to see me in it a couple of times and then saw the ALW
in a Philly tour. They HATED the latter.
Noel Katz
>Broadway, grossed $10 million across the country. There are plenty of
>others, too.
>I still think word of mouth is nowadays the number one selling point.
I'd love to believe this was so. What are the other never-been-to-New-York
shows besides Children of Eden and Phantom are getting done out there?
>I don't think regional ticket buyers automatically go see
>something anymore because it played on Broadway,
And yet so much is advertised "as seen in New York" or "direct from Broadway"
(often when it's something that's only been off-Broadway). I, too, don't think
it's the ticket buyers who are the problem. It's the regional presenters who
often think their ticket buyers will only be impressed by the Gotham
imprimatur.
Steve Newport
From: noel...@aol.comedian (Noel Katz) <<<PHANTOM, which never played
Broadway, grossed $10 million across the country.>>>
ticket buyers will only be impressed by the Gotham imprimatur.
Was it Jesse Jones who said the first thing he does is read the bios to
see who has been on Broadway?