A Typical Path to Success
Virtually every commercial theater production in NYC has the same optimistic plan.
This plan has three components. First is an initial production, either on Broadway or off-Broadway. This is followed by a national tour, and possibly a production in London. Finally after a length of time, typically another group of producers will mount a revival.
The COVID-19 Experience
The pandemic has ended all that. This type of plan is now on hold. No live theater means no initial production, no tour, and no revival.
Live, in person theater has been replaced either by live socially distant productions on teleconferencing platforms like Zoom, or the streaming of previously-filmed productions, like the production of Hamilton on Disney Plus.
Eventually things will return to the way they were before we all went into lockdown.
I would like to suggest that we NOT return to doing things the way we did them before. We should change the plan to incorporate the new skills and insights we have acquired.
21st Century Theater Development
For example, commercial producers use staged readings of plays to raise money from investors to fund future productions. Pre-COVID this was done in person with only those people who were available at a specific time and place to attend.
Now, the producer can reduce the cost of the reading – no need to rent a physical space – by doing a Zoom reading. It also opens up the pool of potential investors, since the investor can watch a reading at a time and place of their own choosing.
If implemented, this will be a change tin the path to a commercial theater production in NYC, but not a major one. I’ll talk about what would be a major change in next week’s blog.
So stay tuned for more!