Kookaburra's next new musical Floyd Collins was cancelled yesterday after the deadline for achieving half their projected pre-sale tickets for the show went by unsuccessfully.
This must be a huge disappointment not only for Artistic Director Peter Cousens and Artistic Producer Peter Ross, but also the creative team lead by director Kate Gaul.
Thank goodness Ross & Cousens have the business acumen to pull a show when they think it isn't going to make a profit. That's the sign of some pretty damn good producers. But it is a huge shame and I was looking forward to seeing the work of Gaul and choreographer Dean Walsh.
I don't know about anyone else, but I couldn't help but feel that the marketing of the show was a little underwhelming. The posters and advertisements were bland in colour and just didn't jump off the page. It was also unclear that on first sight it was advertising a musical and with the black and white photo image, looked more like The Sullivans than an exciting new night out at the theatre.
It is all very well to put on alternative musical theatre pieces, but from what very little I know, it's probably best to advertise musicals as the glitz and glam that draws in a crowd, and then you can hit them with the deeper meaning once they've coughed up the cash.
But that's just me.
Thursday, 27 September 2007
In flight cancellation
Posted by Nicholas Pickard at 11:42 am
Labels: Musical Theatre, News
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6 comments:
Unfortunately I think you're right in that you have to advertise arty things as gimmicky and glam. Such a shame! Few creative events really touch on anything meaningful.
Should we rename them
"Cock-Upburra Musical Theatre"?
Hi Nick,
Not sure if I've ever actually commented yet. If not, hello.
Here's my 2 cents - coming from having worked with these guys: Ross & Cousens are actually (and this is becoming relatively self-evident) not very good producers at all. Admittedly, pulling a show before it begins rehearsals is a wise move if you haven't sold any tickets - no show is always better than an empty show. But good producers would never have scheduled a show like Floyd Collins a) in their first season and b) at the Sydney Bloody Theatre. (Bloody just for emphasis. I'm a bit angry.)
A show like Floyd - which began its life off-Broadway in a theatre that seated, no doubt, no more than about 300. Not exactly sure how many people the Sydney Theatre seats but I'm assuming it's a lot more than that. To ask it to play in Sydney alongside Miss Saigon and all the rest before Christmas with virtually no marketing and a story that is impossible to sell anyway - coupled with a rather failed first two shows (okay, a failed first show and a great second show that ran into a lot of mishaps) is just asking for disaster. So the decision to pull is indeed a good one, but it should never have been scheduled in the first place.
The thing is, there is no glitz and glam in a show like Floyd Collins. It's all deep and meaningful sad stuff. A very tricky one to sell to mainstream audiences.
Anyway forgive the rant, I guess this is a blogpost of its own waiting to happen... but I'm trying to be a good girl.
One only has to have a fleeting familiarity with the history of musical theatre companies and producers in this country (J.C.Williamson, The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, etc) to realise that Cousens' vision for a 'national musical theatre company' was not only an incredibly courageous and bold one - but also, equally, doomed. Putting on a couple of shows each year really is the domain of the non-professional local companies (Rockdale, Willoughby, etc in Sydney and a fleet of them here in Melbourne including Whitehorse, Dandenong, etc) whose programs are supported by the tireless work of hundred and hundreds of incredibly talented volunteers.
Musical theatre is a budget muncher (just as John Dietrich, whose production of "Titanic" in Sydney this year was one of the finest examples of the genre I have ever seen).
Even in countries with significantly larger and hungrier audiences with an appetite for musical theatre (UK, USA, etc) there is no such thing as a National Musical Theatre Company. There certainly are companies who make it their business to present (and develop) musical theatre - such as The Playwright's Horizon in New York, who famously premiered Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins" prior to its Broadway season.
I admire Peter Cousens enormously. He has been a tireless and enthusiastic voice for musical theatre in this country and I have always enjoyed his performances. But, sadly, the reality for musical theatre as a form these days is that it sits entirely in the domain of the commercial producers (GFO, etc) who bring a show to town with hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing and promotion, advertising, flush media sponsors and, usually, an international pedigree - whether that be the composer (Lloyd Webber), the hype surrounding the production itself (Les Miserables) or sometimes both (Phantom of the Opera).
I'm not entirely convinced that it is over for Kookaburra. It is a worthwhile endeavour. But whether the company can continue to develop effectively when it can't sell enough tickets to break-even on its third production, they'd need to seriously consider the role of the person who picks the shows.
The musical theatre canon is one of vast wealth, history and significance. It still seems quite bizarre to me that Cousens, et al could not have made more popularist choices to ensure that their productions were eagerly attended rather than picking obscure titles from the world of musical theatre that no-one appears to be interested in.
Geoffrey, why should an arts company make popularist choices??? I'm appauled to think that you are happy on a diet of what you know or what you think you'd like to see based on a marketting campaign! Floyd Collins is/was a bold and hugely visionary programming decision. The pity of it all is that Ross/Cousens have no idea what they are doing! A-Grade creatives (and oscar AND tony winner no less alongside one of our better directors)and B-grade marketting. Cutting edge musical theatre doesnt' come along every day and I for one are sad that Australians wont' get to see and hear one of the really exciting, challenging contemporary pieces. As for the choice of venue - c'est la vie - there's possibly a number of reasons for that.... it is considered a prestigious house and I guess that's what Kookaburra wanted to be attached too. But naive arrogance got the better of the company in 2007. Whilst some of us mourn the passing of FLOYD, the Kookaburra team are blithely planning 2008 (sans Guettell!!) so we now look forward to Andrew Lloyd Webber; a second rate Aussie go and an adaptation of a novel. I can't wait. Not.
Good grief 'tween a rock an'a hard place ... I bet you're not half as appalled as I am to see how you spell it!
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