# Why not sell taped versions of Broadway plays? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598 "2005-10-24T02:19:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/41 "2005-10-25T02:31:27Z")
Live theater is actually a billion dollar industry, Broadway alone did $750mil in 2004. Long running shows bring in hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. Putting out a lousy video copy will scavenge customers who are interested in just seeing what the show is about. Mr Blue Sky wants to see Spamalot, probably to just hear the jokes and songs, once he does, would he be at all interested in seeing the live show? You won’t really make much money unless the DVD gets great sales, and then each sale results in a bunch of people having “experienced” the show. The “camera at the back of the theater” recording is also just flat out going to suck, for all the reasons mentioned above. Clips of shows on TV never really do the show justice. Really, the right way to do it is how they did Chicago. A full blown movie, based very tightly on the show, with star power to bring in viewers. This way, you can optimize the story for the big screen and video, make a pretty penny, and still have the Broadway show be differentiated. I saw Chicago the Movie when it came out and Chicago the Musical a couple of years later. The movie actually made me MORE interested in the live show, as a new way to hear the same story that I enjoyed. I can pretty much guarantee that if I had seen Chicago the Musical on Video, I’d have never shelled out the money to see the live show, since I would have already seen it, sort of. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/42 "2005-10-25T02:37:55Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Putting out a lousy video copy will scavenge customers who are interested in just seeing what the show is about. Mr Blue Sky wants to see Spamalot, probably to just hear the jokes and songs, once he does, would he be at all interested in seeing the live show? You won’t really make much money unless the DVD gets great sales, and then each sale results in a bunch of people having “experienced” the show. I mentioned Spamalot as an example, but, yes I would like to see the Broadway production. That, as I’ve mentioned, is not financially possible. If the touring company comes near Savannah, I might be able to swing seeing that. It would be weird to make Spamalot into a movie since it’s based on a movie. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/43 "2005-10-25T02:40:37Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > It would be weird to make Spamalot into a movie since it’s based on a movie. _coughTheProducerscough_ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/44 "2005-10-25T02:41:08Z")
I really can’t imagine that the film versions would really hurt the road shows or stock companies. _Fiddler on the Roof_, for example, is imho near perfection as a movie musical, but I’ll see it whenever it’s produced locally, be it road show or community theater, and it’s been a hit on Broadway for the past year 30+ years after the movie. I’ve been to sold out versions of _Pippin_, _Jesus Christ Superstar_, _Purlie_ and _Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat_, all of which are available or have at some point been available on DVDs taped from the stage cast- it’s the thrill of seeing it done live that pulls people to the theater. In fact, it actually encourages revivals to be more creative. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/45 "2005-10-25T02:41:47Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > It would be weird to make Spamalot into a movie since it’s based on a movie. Next thing you know they’ll make a movie out of _The Producers_. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/46 "2005-10-25T02:42:56Z")
PS- it would seem particularly a good idea to release onto video shows that weren’t huge hits on B’way. I seriously doubt that any community theater will have the resources to mount productions of, say, _Sunset Blvd_ (the cost of Norma’s mausoleum-palace would be too prohibitive) or _La Cage aux Folles_ (the most recent flopped revival), but it’s possible they could rake in some money from video sales. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/47 "2005-10-25T02:46:02Z")
So, you’re teling me they’re making a movie of the Producers, eh? 😃 Is this the first time a movie has been made of a play that was taken from a movie? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/48 "2005-10-25T03:10:58Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > So, you’re teling me they’re making a movie of the Producers, eh? 😃 [Yep](http://www.thezreview.co.uk/posters/p/producersthe.htm). [Hairspray](http://imdb.com/title/tt0427327/) is in the works as well, though a bit further out (2007 tentative release). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/49 "2005-10-25T04:15:46Z")
As **SpoilerVirgin** says the stage revival of _Oklahoma_ starring Hugh Jackman is available on DVD. Not only is it a great staging of the musical it is just about a perfect translation of the theatre experience to film. The extras include lots of background about the process involved and is great viewing for any fans of the theatre. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/50 "2005-10-25T13:11:18Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > So, you’re teling me they’re making a movie of the Producers, eh? 😃 > Is this the first time a movie has been made of a play that was taken from a movie? I think Little Shop of Horrors holds that distinction ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/51 "2005-10-25T14:18:20Z")
> [@](#): > > I think Little Shop of Horrors holds that distinction No, no, no. Long before that you had **Sound of Music** , a movie based on a musical based on a German film **Die Trapp-Famillie**. How about the various incarnations of **Mame/Auntie Mame** and **Hello Dolly!/The Matchmaker**? Or **The King and I/Anna and the King of Siam**? ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/52 "2005-10-25T14:45:22Z")
Then there was “Cabaret”, the film based on the stage musical “Cabaret” based on the film “I Am a Camera” based on the play “I Am a Camera” Based on the novel “Berlin Stories”. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/53 "2005-10-25T14:51:55Z")
Then there’s West Side Story and Romeo & Juliet. Does Little Shop of Horrors hold the title for being the first to use the same name for all three (movie/show/movie)? ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598/54 "2005-10-25T17:00:13Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I agree that it’s better to see a theatrical production in the theatre, but out of the 280 million people in the United States only about 9 million of them live in New York City with relatively easy access to Broadway. For those of us who can’t afford plane tickets, hotels and $100 tickets on a regular basis, it would be nice if at some point we got the opportunity to see some of the shows that we otherwise would never see. Disclaimer: I’m a NYer who sees several shows a week. Yeah, it’s hard for some people to get to New York. To quote my favorite movie line ever, “The hard is what makes it great.” I’d love to go swimming in Maui every weekend, but I can’t do that without going there. Why should the rest of the country have easy access to the thing that makes my city special? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-sell-taped-versions-of-broadway-plays/327598.md?page=2)