Cakebug Tranch

Oh, I'm not suggesting it's not good, I'm saying that Broadway, of all places, is a place where the hot new ticket gets lauded and elevated so high that it's impossible to separate frenzied panic-buying of tickets from quality. 'Hamilton' is an example of something that's really good, sold well into the future, that people bought like crazy because of the IDEA of that show, not because they knew the show. It's self-perpetuating: it is the hot ticket, they all get snapped up, the hardcore fans come back again and again, the casual fans want to get in because it's hard to. BUT. In the clear light of day, looking back on the show without any of the frenzy, some of them don't stack up. Look at the frenzy-buying examples of 'Once', 'Book of Mormon', and (especially) 'Spring Awakening' to see shows that are pretty good, but not necessarily deserving of the frenzies. I know this might be contentious, but my job as a dramaturg is to pull things apart and look at them from their structural points, and each of these examples (except 'Hamilton', that's a miracle show) do the same thing: BIG frenzy for a couple of years, which builds a ready-made audience of hardcore fans which drags more people in from outside, and before you know it, it's a mainstay. But NONE of these frenzy-buying plays (including 'Rent') are still on Broadway. Okay, maybe 'Wicked' and 'The Lion King'. But these other ones (I HATED 'Once') have the staying power, which speaks to the relative weakness of the content.

Okay, I finally read through all seven pages and I'm relieved to know I didn't double-post. Now I'll add something that hasn't been said yet, that might be controversial. I think 'Rent' only succeeded the way it did because Jonathon Larson died. So. Hear me out. Larson was a struggling waiter in New York, writing little musicals for his friends (including 'Tick Tick Boom' which still gets remounted sometimes), when he started work on 'Rent'. As we've discussed, he adapted 'La Boheme' into something that spoke to his experience struggling on the Lower East Side, wrote some good songs, cobbled together some ideas, and right when they were about to premiere the show, he died unexpectedly. I'll quote an essay a friend of mine wrote, because she says it better than I do: Larson's death was used as the trigger to get the piece up and running (not in a ghoulish way, but the romantic story of this struggling man coming up with the seed of an idea but not seeing it realised was too good for producers to pass up) so the bare-bones, raw production was picked up, restaged, and exploded on to Broadway, all carried along on the tide of Larson's memory. But that meant that the process of developing it - "who do you think you are, barging in on me and my guitar" (ouch) - STOPPED because we can't mess with the 'vision' of Larson. But. Larson's estate then took all of the credit and royalties, which meant a landmark case for Lynn Thomson, the dramaturg who worked with him to beat it into something vaguely playable. This is an important moment for dramaturgs (I am one), as it speaks to the advocacy of the dramaturg's role. You can read more about that here: https://www.backstage.com/news/rent-dramaturg-sues-larson-estate/ Next, the structural strength of 'Rent' is in its source material - we forgive the dead dog because it was in Puccini first, for example, which means Larson's storytelling relies entirely on 'La Boheme'. So, the hard work was done for him - the storytelling - which led to the only concern being finding parallels and writing the music. This is all very hard work, don't get me wrong, but it must be said. Add to that, there's some evidence Larson plagiarised some elements from the production, as outlined here: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2005/11/sarah_schulman.html The terrible TV show 'Smash' stole the idea of 'Rent' and Larson's death verbatim, restaging that 'Thank you Jonathon Larson' moment in an awful way, but it made it clear that there's nothing better for business than getting behind a tragedy that gets people in the door. I truly believe that the flaws in 'Rent' might have been removed with some more development, but Larson's death ended that opportunity, because people leave it as a 'tribute' to him, despite the fact that the authorship is murky. TL/DR: 'Rent' is great, but it was the death of the composer than made it a smash hit. Larson doesn't die, 'Rent' doesn't fly.

Oof. I read the first page of notes, which reminded me that I was so meh about the movie and the idea of getting into details on it, along with the reminders about how much better the stage version is (which, as I say, when I saw it live in 1999, I loved) but which I haven't revisited, and I think I'm just going to tap out this week guys. You've all covered it pretty nicely (having not read pages 2-7 in the notes). Here's the things I would have posted yesterday had I been on my computer. - The first guy to sing in the 'Will I Lose My Dignity' song is Aaron Lohr, who plays Dean Portman in the Mighty Ducks movies. - I found this David Rakoff interview with Ira Glass, which I liked. I'll quote it in full, although it probably covers things we've already brought up. - Then there's this article: https://thinkprogres...bc0b#.ttwjzusjt I know, I know, I'm being the guy I was mad at last week for posting before I've read the thread, but hopefully this isn't complete repetition. Good pick, Cinco! Sorry I wasn't around to get into it more with you all.

SIX PAGES ALREADY? Good lord, you're animals. I go out to campus for one day and this is what happens? Grumble grumble all my good observations are probably gone grumble grumble

This is an intriguing list, indeed. Cakeron B.? tomspanks' buddy CakeBug? Cakester Robugto? Taylor Anne Cakebug? kateaCakeBug? JammerCB? Cake Bert? Cakeo DeBugo? I'll have to wait 30 days til my next switch. I'll spend that time sending abusive personal messages to the old fake CakeBug. (no I won't, don't worry Dan)

This was before my time - what were the names everyone used?

We'll see how carefully Dan and Shannon are reading these threads to see whether my brand is worth saving... MOOOOOOO ETA: to be fair, 'CakeBug' was invented by PFT for a character most often seen on Earwolf podcasts and properties, so the other 'CakeBug' is clearly going for the same tribute as I am. I'm not that mad.

It's not a car, it's a Range Rover, bruh

It wouldn't let me change my name to just 'CakeBug' - someone already has that, and now I'm out of name changes (you can only do it 3 times in 30 days) - so back to my second-worst ever name. Feels like home.

Santa frock isn't enough? What kind of town do you LIVE in, Cameron?

Don't do it. The burden of this stupid cutesy name is something I wouldn't wish on any of you.

OMG the stupid dance I did in the grocery store. And now I can shed this stupid name, now that I've given tomspanks her present.

I'll bring my Santa frock.

Which Rent scene should we reenact when we finally meet up? HINT: I'll bring a candle

Hearty LOL at this line. We all like you anyway, you old curmudgeon.

I just thought it was so insanely out of the box that it worked. Season 3 in April! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHGXQ-Ub3NI

^wow, a spoiler that's actually really a spoiler. And I loved that.

Agreed about Malvo and Lester and Molly, but Jean Smart and her family? Holy shitballs. And my two magic words.

And Taylor: you missed so much nuance in S2 without S1! You should have a look if you get a chance. The lead actress is amazing. Seriously, I've never anticipated TV weekly the way I did with 'Fargo'. Good lord, the character work, particularly in S2!

I had exactly the same reaction as you, tom. OMG season 2 of Fargo.

ETA: legit just laughed til coughing at the crying man.

You writing 'EllenMC' instead of 'EllenMc' made me think of

What about Scheer, JDR, and Zouks, O naming oracle?