This is more coverage related to my previous posts about the burgeoning musical theatre industry in China. Interesting declaration at the end of the article…

‘So Far Off Broadway It’s in China’

Not sure this is in any way connected to China’s interest in importing and creating Broadway-style musicals, but it seems telling, at least to me, that there happen to be TWO prominent shows currently being produced in New York that have Chinese/American communications at the heart of their themes in David Henry Hwang’s CHINGLISH and Zayd Dohrn’s OUTSIDE PEOPLE.

Could all this be an indicator pointing to the Arts as a viable road leading towards improved diplomacy and mutual understanding between the U.S. and China?

It may be a new year, but we’re only at about the halfway mark of the 11-12 touring season. Want to see what critics have been saying about the various 11-12 tours so far? Just check out these links below…

WICKED – Pittsburgh

SHREK – Yakima

MEMPHIS – Memphis

MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET – Cleveland

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST – Toronto

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF – Regina

THE ADDAMS FAMILY – Palm Beach

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN – El Paso

BILLY ELLIOT – Philadelphia

ROCK OF AGES – Akron

LES MISERABLES – Minneapolis

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES – Chicago

MAMMA MIA! – Columbus

AMERICAN IDIOT – Toronto

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST – Calgary

If you’re looking to get even more into the holiday spirit and see one or more seasonal musicals during what remains of the holiday season, some of these tours are still on The Road through early next year. Here are a few reviews and features…

Musical of ‘A Christmas Story’ tours America

West Michigan can count on a ‘White Christmas’

‘Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ review

GrooveLily – Striking 12

Check out this informative article from yesterday’s New York Times regarding the Buffalo market and its relationship with Broadway shows where local presenters discuss their thought process when programming their Broadway series at Shea’s Performing Arts Center. A number of other major presenters from around the country also add their two cents …

“Broadway Hits Gold in Buffalo”

In previous posts I’ve discussed how theatre has the potential to boost local economies. You can read about that here and here.

These articles below back during the Summer and into the Fall talked about how Louisiana totally gets that idea and is doing what it can via tax credits to entice Broadway tours to premiere in New Orleans, as THE ADDAMS FAMILY did at the beginning of this season…

GoodNola.com (6/24/11)

Louisiana Live (8/2/11)

NOLA.com (8/14/11)

Picayune Item (8/19/11)

NOLA.com (9/20/11)

WWLTV.com (Review – 9/24/11)

Two posts ago I discussed how Western-style shows have been trying their luck in the East. I specfically brought up MAMMA MIA, which is currently running in China and has been translated into Mandarin. Below is a link to the latest feature covering this event and includes differing opinions about whether translating this global mega-hit into the local vernacular was the right move …

CHINA DAILY

And here’s another recent article that explains a bit more about how the Chinese hope to bridge the gap between Western and Eastern styles, and ultimately produce original musicals of their own to export across the world …

FINANCIAL TIMES

Little by little, Presenters are beginning to adopt “dynamic pricing.” Dynamic pricing allows ticket prices to be fluid based on supply and demand. These days, most theaters still have set ticket prices. If you hypothetically buy an orchestra ticket today for MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET in Pittsburgh, and your friend goes up to the box office during the engagement and buys the seat next to yours the day after the show receives some great press that causes increased demand, the price she pays for her ticket will still be the same as what you paid. In the dynamic pricing scenario, if the great press causes an increase in good word of mouth and a hot demand for tickets, your friend would have to pay more for that same ticket.

And you would have gotten a bargain.

The main challenge with regard to dynamic pricing, though, as I understand it, is getting a handle on the Gross Potential. With fixed ticket prices, you can easily calculate a GP, but with dynamic pricing, since prices could go up or down, and you don’t know if sales will be slack or robust, it seems impossible to accurately determine the maximum gross that can be achieved on an engagement.

Here is a Los Angeles Times article from a few months ago that talks about dynamic pricing and how presenters are considering it more and more to encourage people to buy tickets early, and as a potential tool to build their subscription bases.

This past summer a Mandarin version of MAMMA MIA opened in Beijing. More and more over the past several years theatre producers have been looking to China as a place to present musicals.  In this particular case, this was the first time a Western-style musical was translated into Mandarin, as opposed to being performed in English. Clearly, the actual language would be understood by the locals, but did the story and style translate to this vastly different culture?

Here is an article from TIME that discusses the MAMMA MIA Beijing engagement. I also talked a bit about the challenges of American and Western-style musicals in general translating in other countries, both literally and culturally, in my post entitled “Lost In Translation” back on May 28, 2009.

Here is a news clip that covers the Mandarin version of MAMMA MIA. And here is a review of the show.

The 2011-2012 touring season is just about to begin, and may have even officially begun in certain markets. For 11-12 The Road will include shows that opened on Broadway during the 09-10 season such as MEMPHIS, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, THE ADDAMS FAMILY and LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. In addition to these new shows, there will also be the usual blockbusters that have been on The Road for years such as WICKED, JERSEY BOYS and MAMMA MIA.

In between the old standby blockbusters and the new productions, you will also have your titles that come back after having gone out last season, and possibly even the season before that, and maybe even a season or so further back. Most of these traditional shows have at this point been restructured to be less expensive, and so are now either at a lower AEA contract, or may have been rebuilt altogether as Non-Equity tours.

The thing about Non-Equity tours is that, just like the bigger, more expensive AEA shows, these productions also need to book a minimum number of weeks to build a viable tour, or else they simply can’t afford to go out. Many of the smaller markets are typically on the route of Non-Equity tours and so the folks in these areas will likely be accustomed to the scaled down, less seasoned feel of this level of production. But ultimately, these tours do need to potentially hit more major markets, simply for routing purposes as they move from one place to another. This isn’t always the best of circumstances for a Non-Equity show since larger cities are used to a certain level of quality.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is one example of a tour that has been out for several years now and, while it was indeed on Broadway at one point, it is now a Non-Equity tour. While reviewers are not necessarily on the same wavelength as ticket buyers, and this show continues to draw audiences around North America, here is a review of the show that takes issue with the show being Non-Equity and playing a large theatre market like Chicago:

“Belle and Mr. Beast save an otherwise hairy production”

As a basis of comparison, here is what smaller market Providence had to say about the same touring production back when it first started in Feb 2010:

“A beauty of a ‘Beast at PPAC”

THE AVERAGE-SIZED MERMAID runs in The New York International Fringe Festival August 13-27th!

It’s been a busy summer for me, which is the reason for the fewer posts. And, admittedly, this post is not entirely within the mission of this blog, but more of a plug.

I am proud to be a lead producer on a delightful comedy called THE AVERAGE-SIZED MERMAID by promising, young writer, Jessica Fleitman that will be presented as part of The New York International Fringe Festival. I am producing the show via my company, early bird theatricals.

Truth be told, this post actually does fall partly within the scope of this blog. While I don’t see this play touring, I do see it having a future life in small professional theaters and universities, which is part of why I signed on to the project, to support a new work that I think will have life beyond the Fringe, among other reasons.

We’ve already received excellent advance press, including Linda Winer of Newsday and we are a “Voice Choice” in The Village Voice.

When producing a project, it’s important to know why you are getting involved and to really evaluate your expectations. Many have approached me over the years with a show they’re involved with that would be “perfect for touring” not knowing really what goes into getting a show out on The Road. There’s a lot of competition out there and touring a show can also be very expensive, so other options like licensing may be more realistic. Licensing, of course, will not bring in as much money as a tour does, but it also does not have the financial risks, and it is still a perfectly respectable and exciting way to get your work seen. To be published and have your play or musical licensed is a great feeling. I know that first-hand from my writing work.

So, if you’re in NYC between August 13-27, please come see THE AVERAGE-SIZED MERMAID! You’ll be able to say you saw the show first before it made it’s big ”splash” out in the world at large. And I guarantee that you will have a FINtastic time.

For your easy reference, here are our performance times and venue info:

SHOW DATES: