The Playgoer: Apologies to Meredith Willson...

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Thursday, June 10, 2010

Apologies to Meredith Willson...

“If you have a show that speaks to a certain audience...then you need marketing to let them know that. But you can’t trick an audience—or not for long. What I believe in is product. Don’t waste your time trying to figure out how to get a young audience to see The Music Man. If you want a young audience, don’t fucking do The Music Man.”

-34-year-old Broadway mogul Jordan Roth.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

A valid thought, but it begs the question: do we abandon our cultural heritage? Don't fucking do Mozart? Don't fucking do Shakespeare?

Maybe we need to expose a younger audience to something other than what they are used to?

Aaron Riccio said...

There's always been a bit of age bias here, though. Younger audiences are told that they must be exposed to something other than they are used to, but older audiences HATE seeing things they're not used to.

It seems to me that what works best is getting young audiences interested in the medium first (with contemporary, more readily accessible shows), and THEN slowly exposing them to the deeper history of theater.

It's true that some children do fine with being thrown straight into the deep-end, but it's not a recommended way to teach your kid how to swim.

Solange De Santis said...

It's spelled Meredith Willson!

Playgoer said...

You are so right, Sally! Thank you. The heading is now duly corrected, and I am duly shamed.

Matt said...

I didn't know you could use words like "fucking" to sum up one's artistic philosophy, but it works. I'm on board.