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Trickle-down Tonys
On the premise that what musical wins a Tony Award will eventually make its way to Waco (2004’s “Avenue Q” and 2007’s “Spring Awakening” excepted), I checked this year’s winners for any tips what time - and national tours - will bring to Waco.
On the musical front, there was the evening’s big prize-magnet, the revival of “South Pacific,” which took home seven Tonys, including Best Revival, and the Latino-infused “In the Heights,” the Best Musical winner of the year.
I thought that the national tour of “South Pacific”that stopped in Waco several years ago might give pause to promoters organizing a new tour, but that performance was five years ago. “South Pacific” is enough of an evergreen, too, that repeats don’t necessarily mean fading attendance. Don’t be surprised if “South Pacific” returns in another two or three years.
As for “In the Heights,” that’s harder to second-guess. It’s contemporary, energetic and skews to younger audiences; on the other, it’s somewhat specific to the New York neighborhood from which its title refers, Washington Heights in northern Manhattan. (Props to composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, by the way, for his rapped acceptance speech. Why didn’t anyone think of that sooner?) Will that Hispanic experience translate to, say, Los Angeles’ Latino culture or Texas’ Tejano? Will it play in Peoria? Those are considerations that promoters debate before mounting national tours; should “In the Heights” tour, count on it hitting major cities first (and perhaps last) before a tour of Waco-sized cities.
As for the year’s Tony-winning drama “August: Osage County,” well, chances of it playing in Waco are only slightly better than in the Oklahoma county of its title (OK, maybe better than that). National tours of three-and-a-half-hour-long dramatic plays are rare; even shorter ones tend to feature celebrity casting or well-known plays. Critics and New York audiences may fall over new work like this, but in Flyover Country, name-recognition among general audiences is the name of the game.
Sad but true.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: On Stage
Comments
By Scott Baker
June 16, 2008 10:29 PM | Link to this
Pretty good analysis, Carl, with one exception: not so fast on submarining Avenue Q. I’m already working on it for 2009-2010.
By Carl Hoover
June 17, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this
And why not, in a Waco where comedians Carlos Mencia and Rodney Carrington, both performing adult material, can sell out their venues? Baylor Theatre even has “Urinetown” on its 2008-09 season (get past the title and you’ll find a hilarious musical spoof of stage musicals. Bravo to Baylor theater chair Stan Denman and his faculty.).
Here’s a question for you, Scott: Are there any national tours of plays by the late black playwright August Wilson in the works? Are musicals the only thing that promoters think will sell in Waco-sized markets these days?
By Scott Baker
June 18, 2008 12:27 AM | Link to this
Wilson tours? Yes. Non-equity Wilson tours that will play one-nighters? Not that I know of. Musicals aren’t the only thing, but they’re a sure thing. And considering that the theatre is supposed to be a place of bold adventure, it’s more than a little ironic to find so little courage among its producers.
By Carl Hoover
June 18, 2008 3:14 PM | Link to this
It’s not just Waco-sized cities that struggle with the challenging non-musical. Here’s a piece that shows the issue from the perspective of Toronto theater promoters.
Notice, too, that in paragraph 11 you see a strategy that the Hippodrome’s Scott Baker has used to good effect: leaving edgier, racier stuff off the main season-ticket offering, but making it available in other ways for audiences …
By Kendra W
June 22, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this
I would love to see Avenue Q in Waco (seeing it once and planning to see it again in Fort Worth this year). I am excited about both the Hippodrome and Baylor’s coming year as both have a good mix of new and “modern” with classic.