Celebrities in a New Theatrical Role: ‘Presenters’
Celebrities in a New Theatrical Role: ‘Presenters’
By PATRICK HEALY
Published: March 1, 2010
Elton John hasn’t seen the Broadway play “Next Fall,” but he has invested a six-figure sum in the $2 million production. Jay-Z, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and their business partners have put $3 million into the Broadway musical “Fela!” And Lily Tomlin has just signed on as the lead promoter of a new one-man show off Broadway.
Their offstage roles this season are part of the newest wave in the celebrification of New York theater, where commercial producers have long sought to use famous people to sell tickets. In earlier eras, when Broadway spawned its own stars, Rodgers and Hammerstein or Andrew Lloyd Webber were imprimaturs of a good show; more recently theater producers have cast movie stars like Hugh Jackman and Jude Law to build an audience. Now the latest idea is tapping marquee names from pop culture as investors and “presenters.”
Such artists, who in general have put money into their shows, tend to have little to no creative involvement in them; instead they hope to use their prestige as tastemakers and trend setters to help shows stand out at a time of declining theater attendance. With only about 30 percent of all Broadway plays and musicals turning a profit each season, celebrity promoters say that they could become a particular help to shows that lack household-name performers.
“There are no stars in the cast of ‘Next Fall,’ so I’m doing what I can to raise its profile with my profile,” said Mr. John, who is presenting “Next Fall” with his life and business partner, David Furnish, and who recently taped promotional material for the show. “It’s so hard to have a hit play in this economy. So I’m hoping we can give it a big boost.”
Ms. Tomlin, who will be presenting “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet” in April, starring the character actor Leslie Jordan of “Will & Grace,” said she hoped that her name - and that of her life partner, Jane Wagner, who has also signed on - could help the production reach a wider audience than a standard Off Broadway marketing campaign.
“I think Leslie’s show is entirely entertaining but also surprisingly cathartic, and people might not hear that about the show unless Jane and I were drawing attention to it,” Ms. Tomlin said.
Several theater producers who are not working with celebrity presenters said they saw benefits to the strategy, knowing the challenges of attracting investors and theatergoers to new musicals and plays like “Fela!” and “Next Fall” that - unlike many shows on Broadway - do not have stars or are not based on popular movies or books.
“If Elton John and David Furnish can make the difference between a great new play like ‘Next Fall’ recouping its investment or not recouping, or can attract 1,000 more people than would otherwise go, it’s worthwhile,” said Jeffrey Seller, the Tony Award-winning producer of musicals like “Avenue Q” and the revival of “West Side Story.”
“Every show needs a gimmick because just being good enough isn’t good enough anymore,” he continued. “The gimmick for ‘West Side’ was that some of the songs were in Spanish. The gimmick for ‘Avenue Q’ was puppets. When you do a new play, which is usually even harder to sell tickets to than musicals, you need a gimmick.”
For the producers of these shows, there is both tangible and intangible value in promotions like the appearance of the cast of the coming musical “American Idiot,” based on the songs of Green Day, performing alongside that band on the Grammys in January. In another example, a recent blog post by Questlove, the drummer for the Roots, the house band on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” feature photographs of the Smiths with the “Fela!” cast and crew.
“The endorsement of Jay, Will and Jada for ‘Fela!’ has been essential for a musical that would not automatically draw a mass audience,” said Steve Hendel, the lead producer of “Fela!,” which depicts the life story of the Afrobeat musician with song and dance. “We wouldn’t survive on Broadway with just intellectuals and African music fans alone.”
Jay-Z has also promoted the show on the e-mail list and Facebook sites of his music label, Roc Nation, and other businesses, reaching an estimated several thousand people. And the Smiths are likely to mention the musical in appearances to promote the coming movie they’re producing, a remake of “The Karate Kid,” Mr. Hendel said. (Jay-Z and the Smiths have not done interviews yet to promote the show, however, and none of them were available to speak for this article.)
The first celebrity presenter to make a real mark in New York, according to several Broadway producers, was Oprah Winfrey, who put $1 million into the 2005 production of the musical “The Color Purple” and actively spoke up for the show. Her top billing, “Oprah Winfrey Presents ‘The Color Purple,’ ” marked a turning point when a celebrity promoter overshadowed the many producers on a show, longtime Broadway executives said.
“We’ve come a long way from the days when the names above the title were only one or two, such as with David Merrick, Harold Prince, Billy Rose, or Feuer and Martin,” said Howard Sherman, executive director of the American Theater Wing, which helps oversee the Tony Awards. “Producing participation by stars may be the next iteration of what it takes to get a show on and also help it get a foothold in a media world which is so celebrity driven.”
By PATRICK HEALY
Published: March 1, 2010
Elton John hasn’t seen the Broadway play “Next Fall,” but he has invested a six-figure sum in the $2 million production. Jay-Z, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and their business partners have put $3 million into the Broadway musical “Fela!” And Lily Tomlin has just signed on as the lead promoter of a new one-man show off Broadway.
Their offstage roles this season are part of the newest wave in the celebrification of New York theater, where commercial producers have long sought to use famous people to sell tickets. In earlier eras, when Broadway spawned its own stars, Rodgers and Hammerstein or Andrew Lloyd Webber were imprimaturs of a good show; more recently theater producers have cast movie stars like Hugh Jackman and Jude Law to build an audience. Now the latest idea is tapping marquee names from pop culture as investors and “presenters.”
Such artists, who in general have put money into their shows, tend to have little to no creative involvement in them; instead they hope to use their prestige as tastemakers and trend setters to help shows stand out at a time of declining theater attendance. With only about 30 percent of all Broadway plays and musicals turning a profit each season, celebrity promoters say that they could become a particular help to shows that lack household-name performers.
“There are no stars in the cast of ‘Next Fall,’ so I’m doing what I can to raise its profile with my profile,” said Mr. John, who is presenting “Next Fall” with his life and business partner, David Furnish, and who recently taped promotional material for the show. “It’s so hard to have a hit play in this economy. So I’m hoping we can give it a big boost.”
Ms. Tomlin, who will be presenting “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet” in April, starring the character actor Leslie Jordan of “Will & Grace,” said she hoped that her name - and that of her life partner, Jane Wagner, who has also signed on - could help the production reach a wider audience than a standard Off Broadway marketing campaign.
“I think Leslie’s show is entirely entertaining but also surprisingly cathartic, and people might not hear that about the show unless Jane and I were drawing attention to it,” Ms. Tomlin said.
Several theater producers who are not working with celebrity presenters said they saw benefits to the strategy, knowing the challenges of attracting investors and theatergoers to new musicals and plays like “Fela!” and “Next Fall” that - unlike many shows on Broadway - do not have stars or are not based on popular movies or books.
“If Elton John and David Furnish can make the difference between a great new play like ‘Next Fall’ recouping its investment or not recouping, or can attract 1,000 more people than would otherwise go, it’s worthwhile,” said Jeffrey Seller, the Tony Award-winning producer of musicals like “Avenue Q” and the revival of “West Side Story.”
“Every show needs a gimmick because just being good enough isn’t good enough anymore,” he continued. “The gimmick for ‘West Side’ was that some of the songs were in Spanish. The gimmick for ‘Avenue Q’ was puppets. When you do a new play, which is usually even harder to sell tickets to than musicals, you need a gimmick.”
For the producers of these shows, there is both tangible and intangible value in promotions like the appearance of the cast of the coming musical “American Idiot,” based on the songs of Green Day, performing alongside that band on the Grammys in January. In another example, a recent blog post by Questlove, the drummer for the Roots, the house band on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” feature photographs of the Smiths with the “Fela!” cast and crew.
“The endorsement of Jay, Will and Jada for ‘Fela!’ has been essential for a musical that would not automatically draw a mass audience,” said Steve Hendel, the lead producer of “Fela!,” which depicts the life story of the Afrobeat musician with song and dance. “We wouldn’t survive on Broadway with just intellectuals and African music fans alone.”
Jay-Z has also promoted the show on the e-mail list and Facebook sites of his music label, Roc Nation, and other businesses, reaching an estimated several thousand people. And the Smiths are likely to mention the musical in appearances to promote the coming movie they’re producing, a remake of “The Karate Kid,” Mr. Hendel said. (Jay-Z and the Smiths have not done interviews yet to promote the show, however, and none of them were available to speak for this article.)
The first celebrity presenter to make a real mark in New York, according to several Broadway producers, was Oprah Winfrey, who put $1 million into the 2005 production of the musical “The Color Purple” and actively spoke up for the show. Her top billing, “Oprah Winfrey Presents ‘The Color Purple,’ ” marked a turning point when a celebrity promoter overshadowed the many producers on a show, longtime Broadway executives said.
“We’ve come a long way from the days when the names above the title were only one or two, such as with David Merrick, Harold Prince, Billy Rose, or Feuer and Martin,” said Howard Sherman, executive director of the American Theater Wing, which helps oversee the Tony Awards. “Producing participation by stars may be the next iteration of what it takes to get a show on and also help it get a foothold in a media world which is so celebrity driven.”