BY SONIA NG
The release of Hamilton on Disney+ has left many fans pondering the same question- Could more musicals release pro shots too? With the huge success of Hamilton, more live stage recordings are sure to follow right? Well the answer to that is not so simple.
To stage a musical, there are many factors that have to be considered. From the rental of the theatre to the casting of the ensemble, each and every decision has a cost. Funding for musicals is not cheap and for a Broadway show, funding can range anywhere from eight to twelve million dollars. For this sort of funding, there needs to be investors and these investors finance a lot of the show. With that said, there are many musicals on Broadway that never recoup their investment before they close and thus investors do not profit.
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To film a live stage recording, additional funding is required. Should a show not recoup its investment, investors would not push more money into the show to film a pro shot. Pro shots are extremely costly and unless the show is turning in huge profits, like Hamilton, it is unlikely that the show is able to afford to film a live stage recording.
Part of the appeal of Broadway is the fact that shows will close eventually. Theatre kids from all over the world flock to New York City, in hopes of catching their favourite musicals before they complete their Broadway run. The time limit is what drives audiences to the theatre and the chance to watch something that others might not get a chance to, is what helps to fill the seats. There are hundreds of theatre kids across the globe but they are not enough to fill the seats of a theatre each and every night. Casual viewers of musicals are the people who help to fill the seats up at the theatre and these viewers do not want to watch the same musicals over and over again.
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Having pro shots of every musical will remove the appeal of musicals and soon enough, Broadway would cease to exist. Why watch a show in a crowded theatre when you can watch it from the comfort of your home? Theatre kids would still flock to theatres around the globe because for them it is the experience of watching the musicals live that fills their hearts with joy, but as I mentioned they are not enough to sustain a musical on their own. Releasing live recordings of musicals while the musical is still showing on Broadway could potentially sabotage the show instead of helping it.
An upside to live recordings is the fact that theatre kids that do not have access to live theatre are able to watch the musicals that they know and love in its entirety. There are many theatre lovers who live in places that are not geographically convenient for them when it comes to their love of Broadway and pro shots provide them with the opportunity to catch their favourite musicals in high quality. Rather than depending on the grainy footage that they can find after scouring the entirety of YouTube, live recordings allows these fans the chance to experience theatre almost as if they were sitting right there in the theatre seats.
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It will also reach out to a whole new audience as people who would never pay to watch the show in person, tune in to watch the musical from the comfort of their own homes. But, this does not help to finance the show. The musical may increase in popularity and this may result in more people purchasing tickets to catch the show in person, but the profit from this new wave of audiences might not be enough to cover the costs of filming the pro shot.
Live recordings of shows like Hamilton occur due to the fact that the show is so popular. Purchasing a ticket to Hamilton is akin to winning the lottery, that is the level of fame that Hamilton is at. It is no surprise that the show has turned in enough profits to afford a live recording. Another pro shot that has been released is the 2016 live recording of Newsies. The stage adaptation was produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, a multi million dollar company. It should come as no surprise that when Disney wanted to film a live recording of Newsies, they had the money to do so.
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A wide variety of musicals have been adapted as movie musicals. Into the woods, Mamma Mia, Dear Evan Hansen and many more have been adapted from the stage and onto the big screen. Though it is not the same thing as a live recording, this might be the closest thing to a pro shot that theatre kids can look forward to for many musicals. It is easier to turn in profits when big stars are cast and there is a theatrical release. In fact, turning musicals into movie musicals has become somewhat of a trend lately, with a great variety of movie musicals currently in production.
Though many theatre kids would love to see more pro shots of their favourite musicals be released, it is unlikely that that would occur unless the show is turning in a huge amount of profits or funded by a big studio. It is a shame that this is the case but unfortunately should Broadway want to continue to open its doors to audiences, this has to be the case.