(photo taken in Union Square of Bollywood Dance Troupe, September 2010, from honeydeadhoney.files.wordpress)
This blog will focus on the theater community of New York City, both the professional relating to Broadway and off-Broadway, the alternative and more independent theater of downtown and other boroughs, and the street performance witnessed by millions of New Yorkers everyday.
The New York theater scene will be focused for the next few weeks on The New York Musical Theater Festival, which showcases and premieres thirty new, original musicals.
I am an intern at a show called 'I Got Fired, a semi-autobiographical sort of revenge Musical' which premieres October 1st and has received an extension due to selling out its initial week-long run. Shows like 'I Got Fired' have begun to take nontraditional methods to sell tickets, such as promotional videos that aren't about the show itself but instead a specific character. In a video made for youtube, I Got Fired's team hopes to peak the viewers interest about Jenny and why she sucks so much that they become interested in the musical and buy a ticket.
(from www.nobodylikesJenny.com, created by Emily Oakley and Kiernan Norman)
The team has perpetuated the Jenny hate throughout the city with stickers posted (legally) on public spaces that state simply 'Jenny Sucks' and a link to the musicals website. Producers feel it is important for the audience to hate Jenny before they even step in the theater, and through using outlets such as facebook, youtube and spotting stickers on the street, audiences feel like they are a part of the show before it has even started. It is a new step in audience perticipation as well.
With new methods of reaching audiences, productions off Broadway with less funding and star power are finding their own ways to draw in an audience. Producers are also using new ways to raise money for their productions. When donations and grants were not enough, a producer of I Got Fired, Michael Vargo, who makes a living bar tending has created a night where all the tips he receives at his bar will go directly to the I Got Fired production, showing the passion and sacrifice those involved are volunteering in order for a successful run.
