Theatre Today Copyright © 2000 Robert C. Huber
When you go in search of theatre today you will encounter a number of different types of institutions. Most people are unaware of how they differ. We will make distinctions between these different types, and look at some other elements of theatre today, including the awards show business and public funding.
Theatres are said to be either profit or non-profit. A word is in order about how these terms are used and what they mean. A for-profit theatre is a commercial enterprise, a business, that exists to make money for its owners: the producers and backers (investors). For-profit theatres are usually called professional theatres because they must hire union artists in order to attract top dollar at the box office. However, it is important to note that not all professional theatres are for-profit. In fact, today most are not. A non-profit, or not-for-profit theatre can make money, but any profit has to be plowed back into the business and not distributed as income to shareholders or owners. However, most not-for-profit theatres do not make money.
Categories of Theatres
Broadway
Broadway is the name used to describe the 37 large professional theatres near Times Square in New York (see Lecture 10 "Times Square Renaissance"). These theatres are popularly viewed as both the geographic heart of the American stage and its artistic pinnacle as well. The number of theatres and the number and variety of their productions have been in decline since the late 1920s. Most of these playhouses are owned by real estate investors and are rented out to producers who use them to present a single play. The play is run for as long as is profitable. Since the cost of production is immense, only those plays that appeal to the broadest possible audience are staged here. Plays that are risky because they are unknown or controversial are avoided to prevent the loss of investment. These theatres have 500 or more seats. Contracts to work in Broadway theatres are the highest paying for all theatre workers, from actors to stagehands. Examples of Broadway theatres include the Minskoff Theatre, Helen Hayes Theatre, Majestic Theatre, and Walt Disney's New Amsterdam Theatre.
Most Broadway plays come from somewhere else; fewer new works originate there anymore. Even the large-scale and costly musical extravaganza which it invented is often imported from Europe. Broadway today exists primarily as a kind of showcase for the most successful pieces originating from off-Broadway, around the nation, and the world. It maintains the highest production values and artistic standards in the presentation of mostly "safe" art.Regional Theatre
The Regional Theatre is a somewhat inexact term first coined in the 1960s to describe the growing number of professional theatres appearing in large cities around the United States, rivaling Broadway in their artistic quality. Some members of this community object to this name, seeing it as the U.S. equivalent of what is called provincial theatre in England: a more primitive and narrowly local version of the "real thing." They assert that the diversity of their theatre best represents the nation as a whole, and that Broadway is more narrowly focused on the unique theatre culture of New York, and therefore is truly "regional." One thing, however, is perfectly clear, the Regional Theatre is the largest, fastest growing, and most exciting category of theatre today. Many of today's most popular actors have been or still are members of regional companies. For instance, David Schwimmer of TV's Friends remains active in Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre, and Lisa Kudrow of Friends maintains her relationship with L.A.'s Groundlings.
Regional Theatre has become synonymous with another term: resident theatre. A resident theatre is a professional company that differs from Broadway practice in that it is non-profit and resides in its own theatre complex. Here they produce a season of plays with a permanent staff of management, directors, designers, actors, crew, and craftspersons. There are about 70 such theatre companies distributed throughout the U.S., mostly in larger cities. They have banded together to create the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) to represent their interests. They rely on the subscription sale of season tickets as their most important source of income. Income from subscription sales is vital because unlike on Broadway, each show in the season has a limited number of performances. If one play is a hit they still have to close it, and if another is a flop they still have to run it. As not-for-profit businesses they also rely extensively on grants and donations to make up for income shortfall. Nationally they include the Tyrone Guthrie in Minneapolis, the Alley in Houston, the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco, and Steppenwolf in Chicago. Local examples include the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, the Pasadena Playhouse, and L.A.'s newest LORT theatre the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood.
Resident Theatres provide the most important venue for new playwrights to stage their work. Because they do not need to make a profit, they can take the risk of presenting new and challenging material. It is also the largest employer of professional stage directors, actors, and designers. Nearly all the straight plays, and many of the musicals, that succeed on Broadway today were developed and premiered in a regional theatre before being exported to New York.Off-Broadway
In the 1950s a group of smaller theatres emerged outside the Times Square area of New York to offer a lower cost yet high quality alternative to Broadway productions. However, since the 1970s, off-Broadway production costs have risen to rival those of Broadway itself. But off-Broadway still offers more variety and often functions as a try-out for Broadway. The off-Broadway Actors Equity contract limits these theatres to 499 seats. Like Broadway, many of its productions are imported from elsewhere: either off-off-Broadway, the regional theatre, or London. It is a vital part of the New York theatre scene today. Some prominent examples of the more than three dozen off-Broadway houses are the Orpheum Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, and the John Houseman Theatre.
99-Seat Plan
For many years union actors in Hollywood were precluded from participating in small non-union theatre productions. Many of these theatres produced exciting new plays and classics that afforded actors an opportunity to hone their skills between paying jobs or while waiting for their big break. These were also good opportunities for actors to be seen by agents and casting directors. An arrangement was created in 1972 by the stage actor's union called the Equity Waiver agreement. In 1988 the official name was changed to 99-Seat Plan but it is often still called Equity Waiver. This code waives normal Actors Equity rules to allow professional actors to work without a salary contract in workshop or limited run productions. However it does stipulate that actors receive between $7 and $15 stipends per performance and free parking. In addition, should the show become a hit, the producer must negotiate a regular Equity contract after 80 performances. In the Los Angeles area contract, such theatres may not have more than 99 seats. This provision prevents producers from paying low salaries in order to make a profit, since there is no way a profit can be made in such a small house. These are the primary venues for new playwrights to develop their work, young actors to get experience and exposure, and established actors (often between films) to keep themselves stimulated in the way that only live theatre can. Many film and television stars jump at the chance to play the great classical roles for peanuts to spell them from the dreck that pays the bills. Equity-waiver theatres are also one of the best kept entertainment secrets in town. For a fraction of the cost of one of the heavily advertised blockbuster musicals from New York, you can see great performances by actors that you will often recognize, "up close and personal." There are dozens of such theatres in the Los Angeles area. Among those with the longest record and highest repute are the Odyssey Theatre, Matrix Theatre, Actor's Gang, Colony Studio Theatre, Cast Theatre and Theatre of NOTE. Equity-Waiver is clearly the most vital and exciting part of professional theatre in Los Angeles. In 1997 a study by the New York-based arts research group was commissioned by an organization of Los Angeles theatres. Among its conclusions were that theatre in L.A. was more active than anywhere in the United States. The quote which supports this, often repeated in L.A. theatre circles, is that there are "more than 250 theatres doing more than 1,000 productions each year." Equity-waiver is responsible for the majority of these productions.
Although the original purpose of these theatres was vanity showcase--to get actors seen by agents and directors--there has been a definite shift in the last decade. Today these theatres produce fine work for its own sake. In New York there is genuine respect for the work at theatres of any size and actors coming from there have contributed to this transformation while they await their big breaks in television or film.Off-Off-Broadway
Off-off-Broadway provides the same opportunities for New York directors, actors, playwrights, and designers as the 99-Seat Plan does in Los Angeles. These are small theatres and cabarets tucked away in basements, studios and lofts in the artsy low-rent districts of the city. A few of the most important are Cafe LaMama, New York Theatre Workshop, Theatre for the New City, and HERE. There is a wide range of types and quality of drama available, and off-off-Broadway is frequently the source of tomorrow's important theatre artists.
Road Houses
Before the age of regional theatre, most Americans became acquainted with the professional theatre by attending a local performance of the touring company of a major Broadway musical. These touring companies came to major cities that had theatres large enough to accommodate the shows. These large Broadway-style auditoriums were often owned by such New York producing dynasties as the Shubert organization. The classic road house was devoted exclusively to long, open-ended runs of touring shows, often only those produced by the organization which owned it. The vitality of regional theatre, Civic Light Operas and Civic Theatres have greatly reduced the number of road houses on the touring circuit. By definition they exist only outside of New York City, and at present the only examples of true road house theatres in Los Angeles are the Shubert and Pantages Theatres.
CLOs
The Civic Light Opera, or CLO, might be called "Little Broadway." These are non-profit theatre organizations devoted to the staging of popular musical theatre for local audiences. Actor's Equity even has a special contract category for them. They could be described as semi-professional since the contract only requires a certain portion of the cast to be union members paid at scale. This portion increases with the size and success of the group. CLOs range in size from community theatres hiring one pro on a Guest Artist Contract ($250 per week) to large and complex organizations that have the full 18 union actors. The current minimum salary for an Equity actor under the Western Civic Light Opera Contract (covering 14 states in the western region) is $730 per week. Some CLOs own their own theatres, but usually they use a public facility that is leased to them at little or no cost. Actors who specialize in singing and dancing can make a decent living moving from CLO to CLO around a region on five to six-week contracts. Non-union actors can earn their Equity card by performing in a sanctioned CLO company. Because they depend on a loyal and often conservative subscription audience, CLOs are reluctant to produce anything but the most familiar and tried-and-true shows. Some active CLOs in southern California are the Music Theatre of Southern California in La Mirada, Fullerton CLO, Santa Barbara CLO, and the San Bernardino CLO. The largest local CLO is the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities with about 15,000 subscribers.
Dinner Theatre
Dinner theatres are theatres that present popular plays and revival musicals preceded by a meal. Sometimes the meal is served buffet style and at other times the actors serve as waiters. Those that wish to use professional actors come under Equity's Dinner Theatre (DT) contract which pays a minimum of from $303 to $478 per week depending on the theatre's size and income. They have created a small but enduring presence in the American theatre scene since the 1970s. They are usually found in suburbia or in resort communities where they have a captive audience. They are particularly popular with folks who would otherwise not go the theatre at all since the lure of a meal included in the ticket price seems like a bargain.
My own prejudices take over here. In the lecture on mechanical adaptable theatres (Lecture #12) I assert that while it is possible to build a theatre that can do several things, it is better to build one to do one thing well. I feel the same way about dinner theatre. When I want a good meal I go to a fine restaurant that specializes in preparing great food. When I want a good play I go to a theatre that is not dividing its energies between serving meals and performances. It also displeases me greatly that most dinner theatres do musicals without live musicians. Canned peas, canned music--no thanks. A southern California example is Elizabeth Howard's Curtain Call Dinner Theatre in Tustin.Civic Theatres and Auditoriums
These are large auditoriums that are built and maintained by cities or counties in order to provide a venue for performing arts and other cultural activities in their communities. They are especially important in areas that are devoid of established professional theatres. Civic auditoriums are often built with the expectation that touring theatre, dance, and music groups will be attracted to them. In many cases there is an effort to book a year long season of plays and concerts that may be offered by subscription. In others a CLO or similar producing entity is given the use of the theatre for part of the year. Since these theatres are most often found in areas where artistic tastes are somewhat underdeveloped, it is usually popular musicals which are booked. Some local examples are the Cerritos Performing Arts Center, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Ahmanson Theatre, and the La Mirada Theatre (with McCoy-Rigby Entertainment in residence).
Academic Theatre
These are theatres associated with schools and universities. In most cases the actors are students, but universities sometimes bring in professionals as guest artists. Academic theatres tend to stage more classical and experimental plays than do commercial theatres. Although the plays they produce are primarily intended as an adjunct to the educational process, many make great effort to attract an outside audience. In some remote locales the academic theatre may be the only theatre for hundreds of miles. In terms of quality they run the gamut from small and very amateurish High School productions to near professional quality at universities that have conservatories or strong ties to the commercial theatre. They can be well funded. Local schools such as UCLA, Cal State Long Beach, UCI, and Cerritos College all have active theatre programs that offer performances to the public.
Community Theatre
These are amateur groups who perform for recreational purposes. They had their origin in the early part of the twentieth century during what was called the Arts and Crafts movement. This movement included the populist notion that art was too important to be left to just professionals. It stressed the participation of everyday people. Various artists leagues were established to bring participation in art, music and theatre to the grassroots level. Community theatres are found throughout the United States, but are most plentiful in suburban areas. They are usually small and often poorly funded. They rely on the free labor of their members to mount productions, and some can be rather "clubby" and insular. Casting, while open, often favors insiders who have "paid their dues." Some professional actors, especially those from isolated areas, got their start in these theatres. Some local examples are the South Gate and Westminster Community Theatres. The former was where I got my start in this business. Although there are a few fairly well funded and sophisticated examples, most community theatres represent the bottom of the theatrical food-chain.
Other Theatres
While the preceding categories include 95% of all theatres, there are some other types. Children's Theatre is not as well developed in this country as it is in Europe, but there are a few fine companies of long standing. By this I mean plays performed by adults for children, not the other way around. Those companies that are professional are governed by Equity's Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) contract which pays a minimum of $315 per week. Puppet Theatre is also underdeveloped in this country, particularly puppet theatre for adults. For many years there was a vital institution called summer stock that was the standard "minor league" for developing actors. Summer stock theatres were located in resort or vacation destination areas. They provided a series of light popular plays and musicals over the summer season, capitalizing on their captive audiences. Some became year-round regional reps, while others simply faded away--their function having largely been replaced by 99-Seat Plan and Off-Off Broadway. A few still carry on as summer festival theatres. One of the best is the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts where stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow recharge their professional batteries before live audiences.
Some serious professional theatres are too small to be considered Broadway-type, too big for Equity Waiver, and do not have a LORT resident company. In southern California, Equity calls them Hollywood Area Theatres. A HAT contract weekly minimum starts at $260. Established examples include the Cañon Theatre in Beverly Hills and the Coronet Theatre in West Hollywood. In other cities Equity may use the Small Professional Theatre (SPT) contract to govern such medium-sized professional for-profit theatres.
Public & Private Funding
In nearly every other part of the world it is considered a normal practice for governments to provide financial support for the arts. No distinction is made between museums and theatres in this regard. They look upon the arts as a valuable part of their national cultural heritage, and take very seriously their responsibility to provide for its preservation, growth, and accessibility to all their people. This support sometimes takes the form of a national theatre, an institution that is completely subsidized by the state. National theatres were often founded to preserve the works of famous native playwrights such as Ibsen in Norway, Molière in France, and Shakespeare in England. Today, these theatres not only present the works of these playwrights, but others as well. In France the state supports a number of such theatres, including the Comédie Français which emphasizes the classics, and the Théâtre National Populaire (TNP) which produces modern works. Examples from England include the National Theatre of Great Britain and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
In the United States we have a mercantile attitude towards the arts. We tend to see the arts as a business that creates a commodity which can be bought and sold. We are also a capitalist system with a long tradition of separation between the public and private sectors. There is a deeply ingrained belief that the government should not be in direct competition with private industry. There is also a strong strain of rugged individualism in our national psyche which when combined with capitalism leads to the belief that if the art is good enough, it will sell on its own merit without the need for government subsidy. Therefore, the notion of public support for the arts is difficult for many to accept. Another argument used against public support of the arts is that government money comes with strings attached--that artists who take such money lose their artistic freedom. It is important to note that this argument is seldom advanced by the recievers, only the givers.
On the other hand there is a long tradition of publicly funded libraries and art museums in the United States. But the performing arts of music, dance, and theatre are treated differently. There have been efforts to establish a national theatre in the past but all have failed. During the Great Depression of the 1930s the federal government established many programs to assist Americans who were out of work. One such program was the Federal Theatre Project for theatre workers. But it was soon eliminated when some of its productions were seen by conservatives as espousing radical ideas.
The American theatre has been more successful getting grants from private foundations and corporations. Among the most important was the Ford Foundation which beginning in 1959 greatly assisted the establishment of regional theatres throughout the United States. Finally, in 1965 the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was created by federal legislation. This agency coordinates the distribution of federal grants to all types of artists and arts organizations. Its annual budget peaked at $176 million in 1992, but was since cut nearly in half. The NEA became a political football in the early nineties when some in Congress objected to the art produced by a few of its grantees. Throughout the 1990s conservatives in Congress have continued attempts to eliminate the NEA altogether. The allocation was still only $98 million in 1999, but President Clinton's proposed budget for 2000 is $150 million. As welcome as grant money may be, it has a big disadvantage compared to an ongoing subsidy. Grant money is also known as soft money, which means that it cannot be depended upon in the future. Theatres that depend on soft money for a significant portion of their operating expenses find it difficult to engage in long-range planning because their grants are typically awarded on a yearly basis with no guarantee of renewal.
The argument that any play worth its salt should be able to make money on its own ignores certain realities. The cost of production is so high today, that if ticket sales alone were used to repay costs, the price of tickets would be so high that only the wealthy could afford to buy them--even as it is the Broadway top ticket price is $75. A century ago when theatre was the mass medium for entertainment and had the market to itself, tickets sold at a reasonable price could pay the bills. Film and television are much more efficient at producing income. Even though their production costs are high, their medium allows mass production and distribution which keeps cost-per-unit (a single performance) down. The theatre has become marginalized in the open marketplace. Consider also that nearly all of television's income is derived from the sale of advertising time on the public airwaves. Sold on the open market, the right to use this limited public resource could bring in billions of dollars. The federal government has given television the right to exploit this valuable resource for free! In essence, the television industry is subsidized to an extraordinary extent. Yet Congress haggles over chump-change to be spent on the arts.
In truth, very popular plays can and do make money commercially. But the range of plays that can do this is very limited. Only lightweight musicals and revivals with movie star casts have much of a chance of achieving the long-run necessary to make a profit. One way of looking at theatre is as the minor leagues in baseball. They lose money but are vital to the health of the major league game. It is at the minor league level that the new talent is developed. To hold that the minor leagues should be eliminated because they don't show a profit is to ignore the big picture. The theatre is vital to the health of the dramatic arts on film and television. Most of the writing, acting, and directing talent is nurtured there. Because of its smaller scale, theatre is one of the few places where new ideas can be introduced and developed. Without a healthy theatre, film and television would become even more stale and repetitive than they already often are. A more dependable and equitable system of public subsidy for the theatre will yield better film and television for everyone. E-mail your Congressman!
Theatre Economics
The American theatre is in relatively good economic health today. Each year the Theatre Communications Group (www.tcg.org) surveys nearly 200 theatres of every size and type around the United States. These surveys enable us to see certain trends and realities faced by organizations that produce professional theatre. The good news is that income and salaries have been growing at the rate of about 10 percent a year. Ticket sales account for only about 46 percent of a theatre's income, another 44 percent comes from contributions, and the remainder from concessions, interest, and outreach services. Of the contributions, most come from private sources such as individuals, foundations, and corporations. Only 1 percent comes from the federal government, and another 2 percent each from state and local governments. A theatre's biggest expense is for personnel (54%), and the second largest expenses are for marketing (12%), production (11%), and rent or mortgage (11%).
The Awards Industry
One of the more curious developments in the dramatic arts during the twentieth century has been the introduction of awards for excellence. For many years these consisted of only the Oscars, Tonys, and Grammies. Originally, it was the award itself that was important. There was no money involved, only the pride of owning an exclusive statuette representing the esteem and respect of colleagues. Highlights of the awards presentation were only seen by the public in movie newsreels of the time. The coming of television changed all of that. As award shows became more visible they became economically important to the entertainment industry. The smell of money attracted a burgeoning industry of copycats. Today there are more than twenty televised award shows dedicated to various performing arts. But how has this come to be? What factors have encouraged the proliferation of such award shows? By answering these questions we can learn much about the business aspects of theatre, film, and television.
Americans are fascinated with stars and celebrities, so any show that features a big star is assured of high ratings. An awards show features dozens of big stars. When the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna show up, ratings go through the roof. As we know, commercial television sells time to advertisers in order to pay production expenses and make a profit. According to the law of supply and demand, the more people who watch a show, the more the networks can charge for commercials during that time slot. Therefore the advertising revenues from award shows can be very high. On the other side of the ledger are expenses. Under ordinary circumstances getting big stars costs lots of money, but when nominated for an award stars come for free. All that a producer needs to do is rent an auditorium with minimal scenery and lighting, hire an orchestra, a director and staff, and he's ready to go. The costs for an awards show, especially for talent, are comparatively low. The difference between high income and low expense is great profit. Is it any wonder that we have so many award shows today?
There is another reason why viewers are particularly attracted to such shows: they are usually live. We very seldom get to see big celebrities in situations in which they are not in absolute control. When we see our favorite actors in performance all their words are scripted, and in the case of film and television their mistakes have been edited out. At an awards show celebrities don't know how it's going to turn out, and much of what you see is spontaneous and unrehearsed. They really do care about winning no matter what some of them say, so there are moments of genuine drama. They also run the risk of putting their feet in their mouths or looking ridiculous. Who can forget Sally Field's infamous "You like me, you really like me!" or James Cameron's "I'm the king of the world!"? To a nation addicted to reality-based programming this is irresistible.
But the money made by the producers of these awards shows is only a small part of the story. The real financial importance is to the producers and artists involved in the nominated and winning shows and films. For instance, when the Oscar nominations are announced three things happen. First, advertising campaigns are reinvigorated and are changed to reflect a film's new status: "Nominated for Six Academy Awards!" A whole new buzz is created about the films and their stars. Second, nominated films that had long since disappeared from movie theatres are re-released theatrically, sometimes even after having gone to video. Both these actions result in an immediate increase in income just by virtue of having been nominated. Third, an intense lobbying campaign is leveled at Academy members who will vote on the winners. Cassettes of the film are delivered to their homes along with everything from Godiva chocolates to Gucci luggage. Even travel junkets are arranged for "research" purposes. God forbid they should vote without having visited the film's locations on Maui.
The awards show itself makes viewers who have not seen the nominated and winning films feel like they have missed something important. Especially as they are exposed to many film clips and even staged performances of the theme songs. Finally, a win brings more advertising, wider release, and even greater profits. As you can see, the awards show business is good for business as it brings a kind of second life to participating films, especially those that did not garner much attention the first time around. It is not just the producers and studios that benefit, but the creative artists as well. Actors especially reap immediate benefits from awards. A nomination or win can increase their salaries many times over on their next film; it also increases both the number and quality of the scripts that they are offered. The increased box office generated by a win also extends an actor's residual payments.
Film: Academy Awards
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) started this phenomenon. The first Academy Awards were given out at a dinner party at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in 1928. There were only fourteen categories and the best picture that year was a silent film called Wings about fighter pilots during World War I--an action--adventure picture, wouldn't you know. The actual award was a trophy statuette which later became known as the Oscar. The die was cast, when in 1952, the first nationally televised show set the record for the largest viewership in the then four-year history of commercial television. About thirty million homes tune in each year these days.
Theatre: Tony Awards
Seeing how successful the Oscars were becoming, Broadway invented its own award in 1946: the Tony. Its history actually goes back to World War II when a volunteer group called the American Theatre Wing sponsored the Stage Door Canteen. This was a kind of social club for off-duty military personnel who might otherwise have gotten into trouble drinking and carousing in the seamier parts of New York City. The Canteen was a big band style dance hall staffed with volunteer Broadway actresses, dancers and musicians. Soldiers and sailors could spend the evening chatting and dancing in a wholesome atmosphere. When the war ended and the Canteens were no longer needed, the group settled on an award show as a worthy activity to replace it. In 1967 it became a nationally televised event. While the award is owned by the Wing, the muscle and money behind it is the League of American Theatres and Producers: the owners of the thirty-odd Times Square-area theatres in New York. The producers saw that this show was a wonderful opportunity to promote the Broadway label to the nation. The award is limited to plays that opened during the current Broadway season. The season, like the school year, runs from fall to the beginning of summer. The show itself is broadcast early each June. The name "Tony" is derived from the name of the first president of the group, Antoinette Perry.
The impression is given that the Tonys honor the best of American theatre. With the rise of regional theatre this is no longer the case. Over two hundred new plays are professionally produced outside of New York each year, as well as many off-Broadway. None of them are eligible for the Tony. The fact that they are the equal of Broadway is attested to by the fact that most of the few new plays on Broadway are imported from this group. All the awards go to Broadway shows. In recent years it has become quite embarrassing as there has not been enough nominees in some categories to make a contest. A few years back they added a special award given each year to a specific regional theatre for overall excellence, but not for a specific play. That would be advertising for their competitors. Fortunately there is the Pulitzer Prize for drama which is often given to non-Broadway shows, in recognition of this problem.
On the other hand, the Tony show tends to be the most authentically emotional as there is less money and career-jockeying at stake. Broadway actors, who are already on stage eight times a week without a net, tend to be more poised and polished when speaking extemporaneously than their film counterparts. In recent years the producers have discovered that by selecting a host who is also popular as a TV personality that ratings go up. Angela Lansbury and then Rosie O'Donnell have driven viewership up to almost 10 million homes.
Television: Emmy Awards
The newest mode of the dramatic arts, and broadcaster of the others' award shows, got its own Emmy show in 1948. The name of the winged award was derived from "immy" a term used for an early television tube. It was modified to Emmy to better go with the feminine statuette. This show is now broadcast in several versions: primetime, daytime, and local.
Film: Other Awards
Each December the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announces nominations for its Golden Globe Awards. This group represents correspondents who report about Hollywood for their newspapers, magazines, and television networks around the world. It has gained a reputation as an important precursor to the Oscars because it tends to call attention to small and independent films that otherwise would be ignored by Oscar voters. It is said that Golden Globe votes are often influenced by studio gifts and perks. Awards are also given to television programs.
The Screen Actors Guild, tired of seeing many great performances by their colleagues going unrecognized, instituted their own award show in 1995. The SAG Awards have struggled for air time amidst the glut of other award shows. Sandwiched between the Golden Globes in January and the Oscars in March, ratings have gone down, resulting in a move from NBC to TNT on cable.
Among the many flavors of MTV awards is the MTV Movie Awards. Also in the mix are the People's Choice Awards, the American Comedy Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards ("Indies") NAACP Image Awards, American Latino Media Arts Awards, Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Entertainer of the Year Award, and Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.
Theatre: Other Awards
No other theatre awards shows are broadcast nationally, but there are many non-broadcast local award shows and awards. In New York there are the Obies for off-Broadway theatre and the Drama Desk Award given by New York critics. In Los Angeles there are the Ovation Awards given by Theatre L.A. (a consortium of local theatres), the L.A. Critics Circle Award similar to the Drama Desk in New York, the Garland Awards given by Back-Stage West/Dramalogue for all West Coast theatre, and the L.A. Weekly Theatre Awards given by a local culture newspaper which is sometimes called the "Obie of L.A." for its focus on 99-Seat Plan shows. Other U.S. cities that are professional theatre centers have similar local awards.
Television: Other Awards
Many of the copycat awards fall into the television and music categories. Some of those not already mentioned include the MTV Video Music Awards, CableACE Awards, Soap Opera Awards, ESPY Awards, and the Clio Awards for animals.
The Independent Film Movement
One of the most exciting developments of the last decade has been the success of the independent film. The classic definition of an independent film is one that is made outside the big Hollywood studio system. Throughout most of the twentieth century such films were most often amateurish and experimental--often the work of artists or poets, these works were just too strange to be commercially successful. The only other alternative to Hollywood pictures were "Art Films" which more or less meant foreign films. Some have dated the rise of the modern independent film to the success of Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies, and videotape (1989). This film was made for only $1.2 million, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film festival, and helped launched the careers of its leads, James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, and Laura "Just Shoot Me" San Giacomo. More importantly its artistic and commercial success inspired independent producers to support many more such films. The phenomenal success of Pulp Fiction (1994) marked the solidification of the independent film as a permanent feature of the American filmscape.
The major studios have even created or bought their own specialized studios such as Fox's Searchlight, Disney's Miramax and Paramount's Focus Features to produce and distribute "independent" films. Independent films have their own festivals (Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival in Utah being the most important), their own cable channel (the Independent Film Channel), and their own televised awards show (the Independent Spirit Awards, or "Indies"). Today the independent film has begun to suffer the same fate as off-Broadway: becoming so successful that its rising budgets are rivaling those of the very commercial studios it set out to be an alternative to. Miramax has been criticised for moving towards a reliance on big-name stars and less adventurous genre scripts. On the plus side is the rise of HBO as an important new producer of independent films. HBO films such as Maria Full of Grace and American Splendor often debut in movie theaters rather than on cable. Yet despite some creeping commercialism, the independent film has staked out the territory of sophisticated films made for thinking adults. Such films are frequently difficult and complex, and are intended for those who see film making as more art than entertainment.
This brings us back to why independent film is so important to dramatic art. The independent film, being more art-centered, is more like the theatre than commercial films are. Therefore, the independent film has become a major channel for the migration of theatre artists into the world of movies. This is especially true in New York which has a large population of stage actors and a strong independent film presence. Chicago, with no commercial film or television production to speak of has also been fertile ground for independent film, nourished by its active Waiver and LORT acting community. Moreover, making a first film is becoming cheaper every day. Digital film cameras and editing software are putting professional technical quality in the hands of anyone with a home computer. Anyone who wants to make a film can now go out and "just do it!"
The Avant-Garde
The theatre, too, has its non-commercial side. We have already seen that there are many alternatives to the glitzty commercialism of Broadway. At the extreme end of the alternative spectrum is that mode of theatre often called the avant-garde. This term is French and may be applied to all of the arts, not just theatre. It means the advance guard, and comes from the military practice of sending scouts out in front of the main body of an army to discover the unknown and thus avoid unpleasant surprises. It has been applied to the arts to describe those individuals and groups who are out on the fringes of the field. They are the experimenters who are more turned-on by creative discovery than commercial success. Sometimes today's avant-garde becomes tomorrow's standard practice. The theatre avant-garde consists primarily of playwrights, directors, and performance artists. There are relatively few actors and designers who self-identify as avant-garde. Actors and designers tend to go where the work is, whether commercial or experimental. An exception are avant-garde theatre companies that include actors as members. The Sixties were the heyday of the avant-garde in the twentieth century for reasons outlined in the Introduction to this book. Today there are still a number of individuals and groups who are well-known in the theatre community as experimenters, though usually unknown to the world at large. Individuals such as Robert Wilson and Peter Sellers (no, not that Peter Sellers), and theatres such as the Wooster Group and Blue Man Group continue to reach out and touch the future of performance. Performance artists run the gamut from more like art, to more like music, to more like theatre. Theatre performance artists tend to be solo performers or monologists (one who does monologues), either playing many characters or just themselves. Solo performers such as these include sandra tsing loh, Spalding Gray (Swimming To Cambodia), John Leguizamo (Spic-o-rama), Holly Hughes, Danny Hoch (Jails, Hospitals, & Hip-Hop), and Anna Deavere Smith (Twilight, Los Angeles, 1992). Their one-person shows are frequently semi-autobiographical.
Robert Wilson
It is quite difficult to generalize about the avant-garde today since the work is frequently more visual than literary, and the groups ephemeral-here one day and gone the next. But one man, Robert Wilson, might be an apt representative. This native Texan who is both playwright and director has become one of the most enduring and relatively successful practitioners on the fringes of theatre art. Reading, or even reading about, his work doesn't really capture the essence of the experience of seeing it. His plays are a series of scenes in which actors say little or nothing, but move with glacial slowness through a series of often repetitive gestures and motions. The scenes seem to have more in commom with tableaux vivants, the living pictures that were popular on stage in the renaissance (which live today each summer at the Pageant of the Masters at the Laguna Beach Art Festival in Laguna Beach, California), than they do with theatre. I saw his Monsters of Grace 1.0 in April of 1998 at UCLA. The dialogue was taken from the work of the medieval Sufi poet Rumi, and was chanted by an unseen chorus. The extreme slowness of action made me very mindful of time. What I saw of scenery and costuming could best be described as minimalism-stripped down to simple geometric shapes. There were giant wads of crumpled paper which were pulled slowly across the stage, a flying "out-house" with a light in its base that a child got into and ascended into the flies like a silent slow-motion rocket. In one scene a woman slowly swished her hand back and forth in a large mysteriously lit fish tank. This was one of the most striking images for me, as in the half-light she appeared to be a fish-like creature half out of the tank, swishing its tail to tread water. Wilson used some images that have appeared in his other works too: a man in overcoat and hat on stilts, and the woman whose dress stretches across the stage. Many of the costumes had a vaguely Victorian look to them-another Wilson trademark. What was supposed to make this production unique was the inclusion of computer-generated 3-D animated projections. They were interesting, but hardly state of the art. There was no plot, no suspense, nothing that an audience might ordinarily expect of a play. The net result is a kind of meditative experience not unlike some Japanese forms such as the ancient Noh drama. Wilson is not for everybody, any more than much modern art is.
Reading Assignment
You should be reading Chapter 19 in your textbook to get more information about contemporary American theater. After studying the chapter go to the online quiz at:
Chapter 19 - Quiz #18
Lecture Exercise
1. What is the more current name for an Equity Waiver theatre?
2. What are three main reasons why there are so many awards shows today?
Note that when submitting the answer start the subject line with:
TH101DE -- YourLastName -- L-21
Next lecture: All done!