The Afternoon Report, March 10, 2009

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First show to get one of these wins
PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE – BLOGGED BY KEN DAVENPORT
“The most explosive entertainment medium of the last several years, which shows no sign of slowing down, is the home video game market. We’ve come a long way since I played Asteroids on my Atari and Donkey Kong on my Colecovision. There have been umpteen game systems and a zillion and a half games since then, from Pong to Pitfall, from The Godfather to E.T. But in the 30 years of the home video game market I can’t name a single video game based on a musical. Can you? Forget the potential profit - think of the marketing value. A good game will get a player in front of a monitor for hours, which means your characters, story, music, and message are getting continual exposure. It’s the ultimate form of content based advertising. You can’t tell me that if you were Val Jean, and after rescuing Marius from the barricade and confronting Javert in the sewers, you wouldn’t want to run out and see Les Miz again. (That was our idea at Altar Boyz when we developed our own simple game - ‘Don’t Wreck The Van’. I'll post the link tomorrow). I don’t expect the vid game industry to ever embrace us. Video games, like top 40 music, is an area of pop culture that the theater just can’t find our way (back) into.”
Well, there could also be a game called "Get That Videotaper" and another one called "Who is Patti LuPone Screaming At?" and another called "Where in the World is Auntie Mame?" But seriously Ken is really quite right. And Les Miz is an almost textbook-perfect example of a musical that could work as a video game.

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The Afternoon Report, March 4, 2009

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Jane Alexander: Jindal’s wrong on arts funding
CNN.COM
“For actress Jane Alexander, the criticism of a $50 million boost in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts is a sequel. She was chairman of the agency from 1993 through 1997 when arts funding was cut sharply by the Republican-led Congress, which questioned whether it was an appropriate way to use government money. Now the issue is whether giving money to the arts should have been part of the economic stimulus program. Among those who have criticized the new spending this year is Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who delivered the Republican response to President Barack Obama's message to Congress Tuesday.

CNN: What do you think of the controversy over the $50 million in increased government spending for the arts?
Alexander: I think it's long overdue and I was very, very happy to see it. Since 1995-96 we had an incredibly decreased budget for the NEA. Finally we're getting back to where it was when I came in [as chairman]. It's all vitally needed. In fact, the endowment has not kept pace with inflation as other agencies have. ... This $50 million will certainly help a great deal.

What people forget is that there are over 2 million people in the United States of America who are professional artists. Those are jobs like any other jobs. The artists have families, they have people for whom they're responsible and they give to their communities.

We all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The life part would be health and housing. The liberty part would be our civil rights. And the pursuit of happiness, the arts would come under that. And it's as vital a part of well-being in the United States as anything else."
First off, this sounds like CNN is fishing for a controversy, or at least trying to spark one. The $50 million is approved and, as I've suggested repeatedly and as I shall continue to suggest, the question is when, not if, the right will begin to use that appropriation in order to politicize the arts and use that politicization to start the process of unifying the GOP. What Alexander says isn't untrue, but it is not about looking forward. It's about preserving the current model. Feh.

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The Afternoon Report, March 3, 2009

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What’s Next After Skittles.com?
ADVERTISING AGE – BY FREDDIE LAKER
Quite a bit of buzz has popped up around the new Skittles.com over the weekend and today. If you haven't seen the site, it's based on leveraging different social-media sites linked together by a very simple menu navigation that floats on any of the sites. For example, the home page and "chatter" section is the brand's Twitter page, the video media page is the brand's YouTube page, the video images page is the brand's Flickr stream, and the "friends" section is the Facebook fan-page profile. This is almost certainly inspired by Modernista's brilliant redesign from about a year ago. Does that matter? Definitely not. Modernista had it right then and now Skittles does too. Skittles has unabashedly made the bold leap into accepting they can't control the way their brand is defined in today's social web and can only try their best to participate in the conversation. They're taking the good with the bad, and I can assure you all that good is going to dramatically outweigh the bad. If you want an easy indicator of how this site does, check out the number of Facebook friends it already has in place (an impressive 582,604 at the time of this post). Other measurements, such as the number of comments it has on its YouTube videos and images, and general comments and sentiments can also be helpful indicators, but I think the Facebook figure serves at the simplest indicator for most casual observers.
So I went to the Skittles.com website and all of the aforementioned is true (not that you needed me to tell you that). More to the point, it's very interesting -- the ability and/or willingness of a long-established brand to accept and think about how to capitalize on the way social networking will essentially strip a product of full control of its brand identity and market positioning is daring and may, in the end, be incredibly prescient. Of course, the product has to remain desirable and full of intrinsic value, too. Perhaps the strength of social networking is that it will help the brand learn how to maintain that value -- a new area for the free market to work (which it can, given the right conditions).

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The Afternoon Report, March 2, 2009

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Twitter Eyes Search as Means to Monetize
Advertising Age – by Michael Learmonth
“When twitter closed on a $35 million round of venture capital, in addition to the $20 million it had already raised, the messaging service signaled that it intends to be a very big business. Like its 6 million users, corporations have embraced the service. Its ability to take the measure of what is being said at a given time about brands is a potential gold mine for marketers, and it is the first place Twitter will look to generate revenue.

"There are companies and brands depending on it more and more and finding the insights valuable in how they make decisions," said co-founder Biz Stone. "What further can we do to help them?" But selling services to corporate America isn't the kind of Google-scale business Twitter's founders and backers are banking on. What is? Well, maybe search. Last summer, Twitter bought search engine Summize and has recently started integrating search into certain user accounts. Federated Media CEO John Battelle likens Twitter to YouTube, in that Google thought it was buying a video platform, but YouTube's real value may be that it has become the second-largest source of search queries. The difference is Twitter enables a search of real-time sentiment and conversation. "Twitter owns its own search, which is more valuable than Twitter itself," said Howard Lindzon, an entrepreneur who launched one of a proliferating ecosystem of Twitter-based businesses, StockTwits.”
OMG, could Twitter end up out-Googling Google? I'm not trying to funny here -- is it possible?

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The Afternoon Report, February 26, 2009

Ordinarily I would run this feature on the day it appears in my email, but I missed this due to being involved in a multi-day project. Still, I thought it worthy of talking about...

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Ad strategy at root of Facebook privacy row
Reuters – by Eric Auchard
“While Facebook has outpaced MySpace in bringing in members -- it has 175 million active users at the latest count, compared with around 130 million for MySpace -- it has struggled to make money from them. While MySpace is closing in on $1 billion in revenues, Facebook generated less than $300 million in sales last year, reports say. Indeed, Facebook's efforts to drum up revenue have led to it repeatedly becoming the target of some of the biggest online privacy protests on the Web. Its most recent fight earlier this month followed Facebook's attempt to redefine its own rules and assert ownership over anything its members posted on the site. The company has since backed off and is rethinking its policies.

Facebook encourages advertising that seeks to trigger social interaction between members, in effect using networks of friends for viral marketing of messages. The snag is that rewiring how the site works to make such ads more effective, has actually alienated users. Many regard attempts to make money by passing on their information in subtle ways as positively creepy. While MySpace has been criticized for flooding its member pages with garish advertising, it has never had to rewrite its basic privacy ground rules as a result and is unapologetic for its strategy. The straight ahead commercialism of the site does not provoke mass protests.”
But isn't it true that Facebook has been skewing older and older? Could it be that the MySpace generation hasn't the invasion-of-privacy fears that the Facebook folks have?

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The Afternoon Report, February 25, 2009

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Facebook, MySpace Become Mainstream Marketing Vehicles
Advertising Age – by Michael Learmonth
“Sometime in 2007, the recent grads that made up the core of Facebook came to a doleful realization: Yup, mom and all her friends are on Facebook. The following year it got worse: The once-exclusive club of the young was completely infiltrated by colleagues, bosses, neighbors and others who might not be amused when little Johnny gets tagged in a photo getting totally ripped with his pals. - As of January, more than 50% of Facebook users and 44% of MySpace users in the U.S. were over 35 years old, according to ComScore estimates. The single biggest age demographic in the U.S. on both Facebook and MySpace is now between 35 and 44. Indeed, Facebook says its fastest-growing demo is 55-plus.”
That's great. But how the heck do they monetize? I love that the premise of the story is all about how these social networking tools have become mainstream marketing vehicles, but how do they become profitable enterprises?

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The Afternoon Report, February 19, 2009

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Amtrak Guest Rewards Joins Forces with Audience Rewards Points Program
BROADWAY WORLD – BY BWW NEWS DESK
“Amtrak Guest Rewards and Audience Rewards, the Official Loyalty Program of Broadway, announced an exciting new marketing partnership designed to promote and make theatre more accessible to Amtrak Guest Rewards members. Starting today, members of Amtrak's program can transfer their points into Audience Rewards ShowPoints and Audience Rewards members can convert their ShowPoints to Amtrak Guest Rewards points.

"Amtrak is a critical marketing partner for Broadway given the access and reach it provides to potential theatre goers from major markets such at Boston, Providence, New Haven, Philadelphia, and the Washington D.C. area. We believe this partnership will create exciting marketing opportunities for producers to reach new customers and for loyal Amtrak users to experience the magic of Broadway through special offers, ticket awards using their Amtrak points, and truly unique theatre experiences," said Josh Lesnick, CEO and President of Audience Rewards.

Partnership Details
• Membership in both programs is required for members to exchange their points.
• Points can be exchanged between programs on a one-to-one ratio.
• Audience Rewards' free ticket awards start at 2,800 points. Amtrak free ticket awards start at 1,000 points.
• Amtrak Guest Rewards members will be offered opportunities to experience unique access to "behind the scenes" Broadway events, previews, and special Amtrak-only award redemption options.
• Audience Rewards members will receive special offers from Amtrak that deliver value and savings for people who want to visit New York City and see a show.”
I'd love to see statistics on how many specifically Broadway-bound theatergoers there are.

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The Afternoon Report, February 2, 2009

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Don’t review this
Minnesota Playlist - by Melodie Bahan
I have a stack of books in my living room – collections of essays and reviews by some of the country’s best theater critics. They include reviews you want to read whether you’re going to see a show or not – the kind of journalism that gets published as collections. The most recently published in my stack is Frank Rich’s collection of writings from the New York Times.

Growing up, I read Rich’s writings at the library in a small town in Illinois. They provided me with a glimpse into what professional theater was, and without my ever having seen a professional production, they illuminated the work with their words in a way that helped me understand it and long to see it done well. Whether he was writing about something as sublime as Dreamgirls or as ridiculous as Moose Murders, his words shaped my image of theater and his obvious love for and deep understanding of the art form instilled in me as much respect for those who write about the theater as for those who create it:

When Broadway history is being made, you can feel it. What you feel is a seismic emotional jolt that sends the audience, as one, right out of its wits. While such moments are uncommonly rare these days, I'm here to report that one popped up at the Imperial last night. Broadway history was made at the end of the first act of Michael Bennett's beautiful and heartbreaking new musical, Dreamgirls…. Miss Holliday just keeps riding wave after wave of painful music -clutching her stomach, keeling over, insisting that the scoundrel who has dumped her is ''the best man I'll ever know.'' The song can end only when Mr. Bennett matches the performer's brilliance with a masterstroke of his own - and it's a good thing that Act I of Dreamgirls ends soon thereafter. If the curtain didn't fall, the audience would probably cheer Jennifer Holliday until dawn.

Rich left the theater desk in 1993. Was he the last of the great theater critics? Is his type of criticism even being written anymore?
Well, of course it is. As for whether anyone possesses the power and the gravitas of Rich, well, that's another story. But as I've said many times before, that is a good thing, not a bad thing, for the American theatre. Does Bahan realize this? I don't know.

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The Afternoon Report, January 28, 2009

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Theatre Producers Strategize To Ensure Their Shows Go On
NY1 – BY MONICA BROWN
“Behind every good theater show is a producer who was willing to shell out the money. “Producers raise money, they find the property, they staff the property, they get the people who are going to direct and choreograph, they get the set designers, the light designers, they rent the theater,” says playwright and attorney Cheryl Davis. But that job is getting tougher to do these days. Grant money from the state has been slashed, and while wealthy donors continue to fund the arts in general, some say such contribution amounts are decreasing. “We need to change our model to some extent. We can’t depend on funding the way we used to,” says Bob Ost of Theater Resources Unlimited, a non-profit group that focuses on the business side of the arts. Recently, TRU hosted and all-day workshop in Greenwich Village to teach producers how to ask for money in a climate of cutbacks and belt-tightening. “Theatre people are not just creative, they’re also business people,” says Davis, “and it’s developing their skills as business people that will enable them to have a career in this industry, and not just be a one-off.” Both commercial and non-profit theater groups of all sizes rely heavily on investors and donors to get shows off the ground. Larger groups can make money through sales, while smaller groups often struggle. But across the board, if the start-up money is not there, producers say there could be some major changes to the way New York shows are produced.”
Great clip, but couldn't some Broadway producers have been spoken to as well? No offense to TRU, but TRU isn't really geared toward the Broadway scene, and the clips implies Broadway-level producing, whereas TRU is geared toward more traditionally Off- and Off-Off-Broadway not-for-profit work. Not reflexively, just in general.

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The Afternoon Report, January 21, 2009

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City steps up efforts to lure tourists
CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS – BY LISA FICKENSCHER
“Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled a tourism initiative Wednesday that includes a renovated state-of-the-art visitor center and a revamped city tourism web site. The announcements come on the heels of a record year for tourism to the Big Apple, one in which the city drew 47 million people. – The key components of the new campaign involve corporate partnerships with Google and Travelocity. The new NYC & Company web site, www.nycgo.com, will for the first time officially offer travel packages allowing visitors to book their airline, hotel, car rental and restaurant reservations online using Travelocity. NYC & Company plans to offer exclusive vacation deals on the site. Tourists can also head over to the $1.8 million center located between 52nd and 53rd Streets and refine their itinerary using digital kiosks powered by Google’s advanced mapping technology. The centers interactive “map tables” can communicate in nine languages. The center will also provide digital information on the latest cultural events and happenings in the city. NYC & Company’s chief executive, George Fertitta, says the tourism bureau is the first to use such high tech kiosks in a visitor center.”
But they better not photograph Patti LuPone.

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The Afternoon Report, January 20, 2009

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“Obama: The Musical”
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR – BY ROB CRILLY
“Barack Obama has gone out of his way to begin playing down expectations and distancing himself from the notion that he is some sort of chosen one, put on Earth to deliver a brighter future for all. Only no one has told his fans in Kenya. As the cast of “Obama: The Musical” stomp, sing, and salsa their way through their fast-moving stage production at the Kenya National Theatre one thing becomes clear: To Kenya and the rest of Africa the 44th president of the United States is nothing short of a savior. It is an 80-minute, $7-per-ticket tale of the American Dream, of African poverty, and of hope overcoming adversity – all told through pulsating rhythms and shuffling feet. The show sold out during the November election season and was hastily revived on the eve of this week’s inauguration to take advantage of the excitement on the streets here.”
Well, of course Obama has to distance himself from that, but the truth is, he is a savior, of a kind. He is the embodiment of the hope of the world, of the very idea of America itself, it's promise and it's greatness. I mean, no, it doesn't belong on Broadway, but then, if at least one Off-Broadway producer keeps freaking out over what bloggers may write about them, perhaps a dose of hope from Obama is precisely what's needed.


New Musical Obama On My Mind to Premiere in London
PLAYBILL.COM – BY MARK SHENTON
“A new musical entitled Obama On My Mind — featuring book, music and lyrics by American crime writer and filmmaker Teddy Hayes, who has been resident in the UK for the last 13 years — will make its world premiere in March. Performances will begin at Islington's Hen and Chickens Theatre March 3 prior to an official opening March 5. The production, which will run to March 21, was previously workshopped at Baron's Court Theatre last year.”
Who plays Hillary?

Why Bush was bad for political theatre
THE GUARDIAN THEATRE BLOG – BY ANDREW HAYDON
“As liberals around the world leap up and down with joy at the inauguration of Barack Obama, theatre-makers also have cause to celebrate: they can go back to making interesting political theatre. For the last eight years, seemingly everyone involved in making theatre has so violently disagreed with George Bush that it's made for some very tedious work. (Yes, that includes Stuff Happens.) The problem has been that when confronted with Bush's policies, theatre-makers appeared to stop thinking. Bush was seen as such an easy target that they believed whatever abuse they threw at him would stick – abandoning any pretence of reasoned argument in favour of cheap shots about his idiocy. Either that or theatre-makers were so outraged by Bush's policies and actions that any actual interrogation of them became impossible.

In the main, though, George Bush's theatrical legacy looks disconcertingly like a roundup of my theatre lowlights since 2000: Justin Butcher's impossibly cheap Dubya Trilogy, Alistair Beaton's execrable Follow My Leader, David Hare's leaden Stuff Happens. It's little wonder that after a while I started actively trying to avoid any play purporting to give a new angle on George Bush or the war on terror. The question is, apart from the apparently excellent Honour Bound, did I miss anything?”
Tedious to whom? What utter nonsense. Head, meet ass.

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The Afternoon Report, January 15, 2009

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Guthrie Theater to add green lighting system
REJOURNALS.COM – BY WALTER KOVACS
“Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater will add three light towers, powered by Daktronics' light emitting diodes, which will serve to accent the building's existing architecture and lighting system. "The Guthrie is pleased to bring Daktronics on board to complete our LED towers," Jacques Brunswick, chief administrative officer of The Guthrie Theater, said. "We're confident that Daktronics work on this project will allow us to fulfill the design intent of architect Jean Nouvel." The three towers will measure 80 feet, 60 feet and 40 feet and will feature freeform lighting elements with full-color capability and individual pixel control. The system allows for as many as one billion colors, displaying simple color change effects to complicated animations and full-color video. The LEDs also allow the system to consume less power than traditional lighting methods.”
I'd be curious as to how many theatres are, bit by bit, turning green.


Behind the curtain of Obama’s arts policy
LA TIMES, CULTURE MONSTER – BLOGGED BY ALLAN M. JALON
“So far, we’ve seen only glimmers of how arts policy might look in the Obama administration. But Robert L. Lynch, head of Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit group that worked through the campaign season to give the arts a new political visibility, says he’s met with members of the Obama transition team and that nine proposals the group released Tuesday reflect where things are heading. As with so much else, it comes down to the economy. The idea, Lynch says, is to weave the arts into the upcoming administration’s broad stimulus package, with a dollars-and-cents focus that embraces improved access for artists to unemployment and health benefits, as well as culturally targeted use of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants -- through the well-known Community Development Block Grant program -- and giving public art projects an increased role via the Department of Transportation. The recommendations, which can be read in full here, also target programs in the commerce and agriculture departments.”
Awesome. I think the world of Bob Lynch. He doesn't engage, so far as I can tell, in the silly BS that some other arts advocates too often engage in.

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The Afternoon Report, January 14, 2009

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Helen Mirren to spearhead National Theatre’s invasion of movie cinemas
Dame Helen Mirren is to feature on the movie screen at the same time as appearing on stage when the National Theatre beams live performances into UK cinemas later this year
Telegraph -- by Stephen Adams
“It is copying an idea pioneered by the Metropolitan Opera in New York two years ago, which found there was an appetite from those who could not physically experience a production to see it live in their local picture house. It is the first time a theatre has taken a play live into cinemas. Around 50 independent cinemas around Britain, but not in central London, will screen a single night of four productions, including the Picturehouse chain. They will use satellite transmission to beam in high definition pictures. About 100 cinemas in North America, Australia and elsewhere will also screen them within 24 hours. The first production to go live in cinemas will be Phèdre, a French classical tragedy, which will star Dame Helen in the title role. Outlining what is to be called 'NT Live' Nicholas Hytner, artistic director of the National Theatre, said the filmed performance would take place a couple of weeks after Phèdre opened in June.”
And, of course, it's a brilliant idea. The question for us Yanks is what obstacles, monetarily and in terms of union issues and marketing, exist here that prevent us from taking advantage of it. Do we have the courage, the brains, the daring?

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The Afternoon Report, January 13, 2009

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Seth Godin on How Often to Post to Your Blog
Advertising Age
“How often should you post to a blog? There's definitely no shortage of opinion and advice on the subject for what it's worth. And much of that free advice is worth what you pay for it. But when the eponymous Seth Godin talks about blogging, listen up! Godin used to post a couple of times a week. His blog is one that I never miss because his insights are so frequently valuable. And although I never miss one of his posts, he's gotten harder to keep up with lately. That's because not long ago he began a seven-day-a-week posting schedule. I wondered why, and so I asked him. – [Seth Godin replys] – “I've posted as often as six times a day and as infrequently as once a week. After six years of blogging, I post only when I have something I really want to say that I think will interest my readers. I try to stay away from the online echo chamber where everyone writes posts about everyone else's posts. I don't follow a daily blogging schedule but every day I use Twitter, Google Reader, and Friend Feed to post asides, links and short observations.” Seth's long-time advice about how often to post? "Key assertion: you don't publish it unless it's good."
One of the things I like about The Afternoon Report is that sometimes the email blast will include non-arts and/or non-theatre-related stuff like this. Not everyone blogs, of course, but I subscribe to Godin's daily blasts and find his perspective and advice pretty interesting. Click on the link for more.

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The Afternoon Report, January 7, 2009

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Roundabout Theater Company Launches MYROUNDABOUT.org 1/7
“MYROUNDABOUT.org is an interactive cultural home that allows subscribers to connect with Roundabout artists and staff, explore Roundabout's rich 43-year history and learn more about the many benefits of Roundabout's subscription and patron programs. MYROUNDABOUT.org is part of a larger audience engagement campaign that reaffirms Roundabout's commitment to superior customer service for their patrons by providing feedback opportunities, current information regarding updates and improvements to subscription benefits, unparalleled access to "insider" information related to current and future productions, and special areas designed to help subscribers plan their visit. The website also features the Roundabout Blog, a multimedia archive, a link to Roundabout's digital magazine Front & Center, a monthly prize drawing and exclusive interviews with members of the Roundabout family.”
Oy. Glad they have the money to do this. It's the "feedback opportunities" that will likely prove most interesting, don't you think?

Mobile Marketing Moves From Ads to Apps
Advertising Age – by Rita Chang
“As applications -- particularly iPhone apps -- grow in popularity, tools are emerging to help track their conversion rates and monitor whether clicks on ads lead to completed downloads of advertised apps. Ad network AdMob has just launched such a tool, and in its prelaunch testing, these findings emerged:

--Free applications have an average conversion rate of 10% vs. an average of 1% for paid applications.
--Games generally have higher conversion rates than other categories of applications, up to twice those of nongame applications at similar price points.
--The average acquisition cost for free applications is less than $1, significantly less than the average application download costs on the PC web.

These findings bode well for marketers who say fancy microsites may not always be the answer if the endgame is continuing engagement. Applications have the advantage of living on after the buzz fades from the product launch.”
Does this mean that an In the Heights game should be created -- whoever gets the $78,000 first?

Broadway ticket sales up again for holiday season, performance mixed for 2008
“Broadway's gross ticket sales stayed merry in the week ending Sunday, January 4, rising to $25,690,836 from last week's $25,307,611. The best performing shows this week were Wicked at the Gershwin, followed by The Lion King at the Minskoff and Billy Elliot: The Musical at the Imperial. Wicked and The Lion King were also dubbed first and second highest grossers of 2008, according to Variety.com. In addition to these top-sellers, a number of productions surpassed the million dollar mark this week, including Jersey Boys (number three for the year), The Little Mermaid (number four for the year), Mamma Mia (number five for the year), In the Heights, Mary Poppins , The Phantom of the Opera and Shrek. Highest grossing plays were All My Sons at the Schoenfeld, followed by Equus at the Broadhurst and Boeing Boeing, which also closed on January 4 after a successful run at the Longacre. Attendance was sky high for a number of productions this week. Shows with the best attendance include Chicago (101.2 percent), Jersey Boys (101 percent), Spamalot (101.3 percent), Spring Awakening (104 percent), The Lion King (100 percent), The Phantom of the Opera(100.4 percent), and Wicked(100 percent).”
That's the good news. The bad news is coming, unfortunately.

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The Afternoon Report, January 5, 2009

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Beijing to Get A Broadway of Its Own
“The distance between a Broadway show and an authentic Chinese meal is about to get a lot shorter, at least for theatergoers in the Eastern hemisphere. A $686 million construction project will bring a 32-theater complex to Beijing, where imports of Western musicals and other shows will play year-round, Variety reported. The entertainment complex is being built by Beijing Shibo Real Estate in the city’s Haidian district, and is expected to run more than 100 shows a year. Its biggest theater will seat 2,000 people, while others will accommodate 300 to 500 audience members.”
This is actually thrilling and scary at the same time. Thrilling because it will require some intelligent urban planning, which is not something the Chinese have especially excelled at beyond willy-nilly damming projects and reckless relocating of its citizens and ceaseless demolitions. It's also scary because it is yet one more co-opting of that which is uniquely treasured as American. Will they call it Broadway? Will Cats run now and forever? What is the theatregoing tradition in China? How will this development affect it or create it or modify it? We don't live in a society that values the arts anyway -- what does this say about us as much as them? Discuss.

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The Afternoon Report, December 8, 2008

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More Spam? Python website relaunched
Chortle, the UK Comedy Guide
“Eric Idle is reviving the Monty Python website to exploit the group’s back catalogue. As well as news and forums, the relaunched Pythonline will offer clips of old material which fans can use to make ‘mash-up’ videos of their own. The move follows the recent launch of a YouTube channel to showcase the group’s work, which has attracted 1.1million views. Idle, who was behind the Spamalot musical and even dubbed his own live tour Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python, is the driving force behind the site. The other Pythons will not be taking an active role, although they will benefit from the royalties. He told the New York Times: ‘What we have is a brand, a franchise. We created this name that exists, and everyone knows what it means and we should be grateful to our younger selves that we own it all. Idle, who is also working on a book about Python’s touring days, intends to officially relaunch Pythonline later this month, although it has already gone live."
So smart. They'll live forever because they're just genius.


Case Study: Social Networking
Strategist.org.uk
“It’s an interesting discussion about how the Broadway musical, First Wives Club is using social networking to build a fan base, and an audience for the musical. What I learned? For the right target market, making the effort to build and manage a social network absolutely makes sense. [Included in this article] is the case study in its entirety.”
This is fascinating -- here is a selection from the story:

The venture began when Jonas Neilson and his partner Paul Lambert acquired the rights to produce a Broadway musical based on the 1996 film “First Wives Club.”

In the process of reinterpreting the movie for the stage, the duo ran a series of focus groups with divorced women. Unlike typical focus groups, champagne was served.

“It was really kind of interesting, because they were more like cocktail parties,” says Neilson, it wasn’t long into each session before the ladies were laughing, crying and exchanging business cards. “There was an unspoken bond between the women. They had a commonality which immediately created a sense of belonging to the group.”

There was a real need there that wasn’t being met online, says Neilson, for women to connect with other people who were going through the same experience.

Over time, the site morphed into a destination for divorced women to find networking, resources and entertainment, such as “Hot Flashes,” a fictional blog by Mimi Schmir, a writer who has written for “Grey’s Anatomy,” that take a humorous look at failed marriages.

‘Shrek the Musical’ Has Fresh Website and New Social Networking Site, “Shrekster”
Playbill.com – by Kenneth Jones
“In addition to the website proper, the there is also a comic (but real) social networking site for theatre fans, Shrekster (a spin on Friendster or Facebook) at shrekster.com. Shrekster was launched on Nov. 7 in association with BroadwayWorld.com. Shrekster "allows fans to build their own profile, connect with other people who love the theatre, and find out more about the characters and story of Shrek the Musical.”
Not ugly at all, I guess.

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The Afternoon Report, December 2, 2008

This information, called The Afternoon Report, is provided by a daily email blast from the publicity firm of Boneau Bryan-Brown, which maintains this blog. This feature doesn't run daily but whenever The Afternoon Report seems to point out articles of interest.

A Series of Movie Tie-Ins from Consortium
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY – BY CLAIRE KIRCH
“If Consortium personnel seem a bit star-struck these days, it’s for good reason. Three of the Minneapolis-based book distribution company’s client publishers are releasing movie tie-ins this winter and spring. Theatre Communications Group [TCG], which initially published Doubt by John Patrick Shanley in 2005, is releasing a movie tie-in edition, to coincide with the Dec. 12 release of the film, starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. To date, TCG’s original edition of Doubt, awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2005, has sold 60,000 copies. Consortium already has shipped the entire 15,000-copy initial print run of the movie tie-in edition, and TCG has gone back to press for another 5,000 copies.”
Good for TCG! Hope they make some money on this.


David Frost recalls interviewing Richard Nixon
NEWSDAY – BY RAFER GUZMAN
“The Nixon interviews remain unparalleled in television journalism, and they've since become a kind of cottage industry. Nearly 30 years later, in 2006, British playwright Peter Morgan staged "Frost/Nixon," a dramatization of the marathon sessions starring Michael Sheen as the journalist and Tony Award winner Frank Langella as the haunted president. On Friday, Universal Pictures will release Ron Howard's film adaptation, also with Sheen and Langella. Frost himself has published not one but two books on the subject. And for completists, Liberation Entertainment will release "Frost/Nixon: The Original Watergate Interviews," a DVD of the broadcast with new commentary by Frost, Tuesday [Dec. 2, 2008].”
Who is not a crook?

More Nixon tapes available in Yorba Linda
LA TIMES BLOGS - LA NOW
“We're not sure what this double whammy is going to do to the image of Richard Nixon. Just as the movie "Nixon/Frost" comes out, the public will also get to hear a whole new crop of those infamous Nixon White House tapes. In fact, some come online at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda today.”
Tonight, CNN was playing one tape of Nixon calling Biden the day after his wife was killed and sons injured in that horrible, horrible car accident.

This is a link to the actual recording of Nixon talking to Biden.

Here's a decent story on this, for context.

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The Afternoon Report, November 26, 2008

This information, called The Afternoon Report, is provided by a daily email blast from the publicity firm of Boneau Bryan-Brown, which maintains this blog.

Andre Tchaikowsky bequeaths skull to Royal Shakespeare Company
Herald Sun – by Charles Miranda
“Andre Tchaikowsky, a concert pianist and composer, never achieved his dream of becoming an actor, so he bequeathed his skull to the Royal Shakespeare Company. It has sat in a box in the props department, untouched, for 25 years. Now, it has made its stage debut at a Hamlet production in Shakespeare's former town of Stratford-upon-Avon, starring TV's Doctor Who David Tennant. "It was sort of a shock tactic, though of course to some extent that wears off and it's just Andre in his box," production director Greg Doran said. The pianist, who died at 46 of cancer, left the rest of his body to science.
It sat in a...box? Yikes, kids.

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The Afternoon Report, November 19, 2008

This information, called The Afternoon Report, is provided by a daily email blast from the publicity firm of Boneau Bryan-Brown, which maintains this blog.

Stanley the Robot: a star is built
THE GUARDIAN
“We've all seen actors give a mechanical performance, but imagine, if you will, the great advantages of a mechanical performer. A robot actor wouldn't ask "what's my motivation?" It wouldn't demand high salaries, pull sickies or seduce fragile ingénues (unless those ingénues had a very particular kink). Actually, many an ingénue might fall for Stanley, the adorable android who makes his stage debut this week in a New York production of Joe Silovsky's The Jester of Tonga. – Scientists such as Ray Kurzweil predict a coming moment called singularity at which time robots will achieve self-awareness and superiority over humans. Some believe this may signal the end of the human race. Personally, I'm wondering about a future theatre world featuring all-robot chorus lines, automata designers, and android dramaturges. (I already know several stage managers with a decidedly mechanistic air.) In the meantime, we'll have to content ourselves with Stanley, Joe, and a few other automata whirring around off-off-Broadway. I hope Stanley has a good agent. Imagine what poignancy he would lend to "To be or not to be". Perhaps he could assay the role of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, intoning, "Stella! Stella!", eyes rolling and mouth aclatter. Robot Antigone? Robot Peer Gynt? Could a robot even Look Back in Anger?
A robot could certainly Look Back in Anger. After all, R.U.R., right?


Robot to debut at Music Hall
CINCINNATI ENQUIRER
“North America's only trumpet-playing robot will make "his" debut with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops in holiday concerts next month in Music Hall. The robot, made by the Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan, will perform a trumpet solo, as well as two Christmas medleys with the Pops. "I've worked before with animals and children - but never with a robot," Kunzel says. Even though the robot's technique is impressive, he's not expected to replace symphony musicians any time soon. – A musical robot is a useful tool for researchers because playing an instrument is such a complex process. Testing the precision of finger dexterity needed to play a trumpet can be useful in teaching a robot how to grip and unscrew a prescription bottle, Saldana says. Toyota's goal is to make robots commercially available - and affordable - within the next decade. The price would be similar to that of a large kitchen appliance. Toyota engineers in Japan have developed a full line of musical robots, from a violinist to a tuba player. The Northern Kentucky-based trumpet-playing robot, made two years ago, has "performed" 16 times, including company events, a Japan festival at the Kennedy Center and at the State Fair of Texas. He has no name, other than Toyota Partner Robot. Does he have an agent? "No, just a publicist," Saldana says.”
LOL. Of course it has a publicist. Are you kidding?

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