Taking a play or musical to the stage can take several years, and that’s even if it is just based on another story. Those with original storylines can take much longer. Not only that, but it is likely to be extremely expensive. The risk involved with putting so much money and time into creating a noteworthy performance is certainly large, but when everything works together and with a knowledgeable team on the job, it can pay off, with successful Broadway shows quickly returning a high profit. Let’s take a quick look at the process involved between having a good idea and making it into a stage sensation.
When somebody comes up with an idea for a show. The first decision to make is what they personally want to do in the project. Often they will just write the songs or the book (the term used in the theatre for the script). Whatever they feel capable doing they can manage themselves. Then they must find collaborators to work with who can take care of the other parts. Besides from the composer, lyricist and playwright the team of a musical should include a director to manage how the book is translated onto the stage, a choreographer to design dance routines and movement in the show, production designers to work on the look and feel of the piece, creating props and scenery, and a producer who deals with the finances of the show as well as some creative decisions. Musical directors to teach the actors the songs and stage managers for ensuring actors are ready to go on stage for their cues are also important figures on the team. Once a team is assembled, they can get to work on creating a hit.
Next, auditions will take place for the various lead roles as well as for the chorus (backing singers and dancers). Once the production has a cast, the producers of the show have a big decision to make. Many shows these days produce a workshop version of the piece as the next stage. This is an unfinished version of the production that is performed for investors in order to show them the main story, feel and messages of the piece, which will hopefully persuade them to invest money into the production. Without this, most shows would not have the money to produce a full-scale production and workshops themselves still cost a large amount to produce. On the other hand, some producers with a lot of money already and a large amount of faith in their show will head straight for a theatre. Perhaps even straight for Broadway or the West-End. This is much quicker but there is also a much greater risk involved, since a lot of money will have been put into producing a large scale show before the work has even been tested on investors or smaller audiences. If the producers are unlucky, the show can easily flop and they will have lost extremely large amounts of money.
For many productions, it is by the end of the workshop stage that they know whether they will pursue the show further and this stage of the process stops many imperfect productions and stories from making it all the way to Broadway, since they do not impress any investors enough to be able to finance the show further. While this may seem unfortunate for the team involved, it does save them from wasting large amounts of money on a show that will not make it on the stage long enough to earn any back. The next step for successful shows is to start working on transferring the story into a full-on stage production with lighting, set design and special effects. It is how they do on this next stage that will determine how quickly they can advance to Broadway or the West-End.
Images from: https://theclarice.umd.edu/sites/default/files/images/kay-theatre.jpg, http://static.squarespace.com/static/51d349f6e4b085686832099b/t/51d3a4b7e4b0290bcc57260a/1372824759515/piano-s.jpg
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