There are so many musicals streaming online right now it's hard to keep up!
Today alone, the 8th of May, there are THREE filmed live musicals being made available for a limited time for free (not to mention all the musicals already available online)! If you are so able, please consider making a donation to the institutions providing these streams, especially the independent theatres. Times are tough for everyone right now, and the theatre industry is facing an incredibly difficult time. Theatres rely on ticket sales to bring in income, and with the shutdown, many institutions are facing serious economic difficulty. If we can, let's give back to the places that give us so much joy. Pieces of String A new British musical set simultaneously in 1940 and the present day exploring LGBT themes, and the impact of secrets on generations. Free to watch from 10am - 11.59pm (GMT) on May 8 only at Mercury Theatre Colchester. If you miss the free screening, it's also available for a small fee from Digital Theatre. The King and I Bartlett Sher's gorgeous Lincoln Center revival starring Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe filmed live during its West End run at the London Palladium. Free watch party on May 8 at 8pm (EST) hosted BroadwayHD and Playbill. Only available in North America. Also available through a BroadwayHD subscription. By Jeeves Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn's musical based on the book by P.G. Wodehouse. Will be available to stream for free from 2pm on May 8 for 48 hours on YouTube. Royal Court Livestream Missing being inside an actual theatre? This one is not a musical, but London's Royal Court theatre is live-streaming from within the empty auditorium on May 8th with Caretaker, a "durational installation" by Hester Chillingworth. 7.30pm GMT. Visit Royal Court for more info. Still want MORE musicals?! You can visit the Filmed Live Musicals database and search for musicals to watch online! There are currently 75 musicals listed as available online, with more being added each week. Happy viewing!
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Cities around the world are banning public gatherings of more than 1000 people. Some places are implementing city-wide lock downs. Broadway has shut down for at least a month. Productions, tours, concerts, and events are being cancelled at a rapid rate, and venues across the globe are closing their doors to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Can the show go on in the face of a worldwide pandemic? It seems that with performers wanting to share their talents (check out the delightful thread started by Tony Award winner Laura Benanti encouraging school-age performers to share their songs, #SunshineSongs), and audiences with internet connections sitting at home seeking theatre in a time of crisis, the show indeed must go on, online. The Met Opera, always a leader in making digital content available to audiences around the world, has already announced it will provide nightly screenings from its filmed live catalog beginning March 16. BroadwayWorld have begun hosting #LivingRoomConcerts, featuring intimate performances by Broadway performers including Jagged Little Pill's Katherine Gallagher, Dear Evan Hansen's Andrew Barth Feldman, and Pretty Woman's Andy Karl and Orfeh. As reported on BroadwayWorld, Broadway Licensing have announced that 400 plays from their Playscripts catalog have been specially approved for live-streaming, so watch this space for more new content to be made available in the coming weeks and months. To help you find content in the meantime, I've added a new page to the site: Where to Stream Live Theatre Content. It's a wide-ranging list of legal, already existing, companies streaming theatre content to the world. A lot of it is viewable for free, or available at a discount during this unprecedented time. And finally, below is a list of upcoming musical theatre livestreams. This post will be updated on a rolling basis as new online productions are announced. Online with the show! Calendar of Livestreams March 13, 2020
March 16, 2020
March 17, 2020
March 20, 2020
Ongoing Streams (follow the artist/channel for regular content!)
Don't forget, if you're fixing for a full-length musical, you can always search the filmed live musicals database for some inspiration! Know of other musical theatre events live-streaming during the pandemic? Let me know! Written by Luisa Lyons
follow me @filmedliveMT and @luisalyons Filmed Live Musicals is a labor of love that takes many hours of research and hundreds of dollars to run. Please consider supporting the site by becoming a patron today! With thanks to Star patrons Mercedes Esteban-Lyons, Jesse Rabinowitz and Brenda Goodman, and David and Katherine Rabinowitz for their ongoing support. My dance card is getting full! The end of 2018 is shaping up to be something wonderful for Filmed Live Musicals with several new filmed live releases on the horizon. Find out what's coming to a cinema near you!
October Emma, a new “soundstage musical” created by Paul Gordon (co-creator of Daddy Long Legs, the first off-Broadway musical to be livestreamed), was released on the newly launched Streaming Musicals on October 3. Funny Girl starring Sheridan Smith and filmed live on the West End by Digital Theatre will screen globally in select cinemas on October 24. Go to https://www.funnygirlincinemas.com/ for local listings. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the hit Broadway musical Wicked, NBC will present "A Very Wicked Halloween” on October 29th. The concert will be performed at the Marquis Theatre, with original leading ladies Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel hosting. November Filmed live in London, An American in Paris will air on PBS on November 2. It will also be available to stream through the PBS website on November 3, and is already available to stream on BroadwayHD. The West End musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie will be screened in select cinemas across the United States on November 7, with encore screenings on November 11 and 14. To find local listings visit https://www.jamieincinemas.com/. The acclaimed Lincoln Center revival of The King and I transferred to the West End this year, opening at the Palladium. The production was filmed live and will be released in the United States on November 29 and December 4 under the title The King And I: From The Palladium. Find local listings at https://www.kingandimusicalcinema.com. “I'm sorry theater only exists in one place at a time but that is also its magic.” Lin-Manuel Miranda There is a widespread belief that watching theatre on screen means you’re no longer experiencing “theatre.” While I would agree that the phenomenon of theatre on screen needs a new name, there is a small but growing body of research to show that watching filmed live theatre is just as exciting a way of experiencing theatre as being in the room where it happens. Given that the vast majority of filmed live theatre is coming from the United Kingdom, it should come as no surprise that the research is also being conducted there. Arts Council England, the Society of London Theatres (SOLT), UK Theatre, and, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), have all released reports investigating audiences’ responses to watching live theatre on screen. A finding across across all the reports is that watching theatre on screen is not a replacement for live theatre, but an alternative way to consume it. In writing about enjoying opera on the cinema screen, British commentator Clemency Burton-Hill wrote while there is nothing like sitting in the plush red velvet of the Royal Opera House stalls, waiting in anticipation for that legendary red-and-gilt curtain to rise, watching it in the cinema is an exhilarating alternative when I can’t be there in person." The research also shows that audiences can have strong emotional reactions to live theatre on screen. During real-time live broadcasts, audiences have reported feeling a part of the live experience, despite not being physically in the theatre. Shakespeare scholar Erin Sullivan reiterates this in the newly published Shakespeare and the ‘Live’ Theatre Broadcast Experience, adding that audiences do not even need to be viewing a broadcast in real time in order to be moved by theatre on screen. Watching a live performance on screen, even years after the performance has taken place can still generate an emotional response. Sullivan also discusses how social media has allowed audiences to engage with content in a new way, making “spectatorship visible in a way that has not been previously possible.” The internet is not only creating new ways of interacting with theatre, recent reports suggest that streamed theatre attracts a younger, and a more culturally, and economically, diverse audience. As columnist Christopher Zara has noted, “streaming media [makes] Broadway more accessible,… ultimately preserving it for the next generation.” And what about the room where it happens? Is theatre on screen negatively affecting ticket sales in the theatre? The Audience Agency, a British charity aiming to help arts organizations use national data to understand audiences, recently found that there was “a small net increase in arts attendance in areas where there had been a screening.” In an earlier blog post, I took a look at how Broadway ticket sales are affected by filmed live theatre and found that ticket sales were not negatively affected. In an article comparing the experience of watching Kenneth Brannaugh’s Romeo and Juliet on stage and screen, British theatre critic Peter Bradshaw noted “People watching a football match on TV as opposed to in the stadium can still have a great time – without worrying that it’s inauthentic, or that they have somehow made a wrong or disloyal choice.” While academics Bernadette Cochrane and Francer Bonner believe comparing live theatre to live sport on screen will reduce the “cultural capital” of theatre, the research is showing that live theatre on screen is a viable alternative to being in the room where it happens. The magic of technology means we can experience theatre magic in a room thousands of miles from where the action is taking place. Will you be in the next room? Sources Articles
Filmed Live Musicals is a labor of love that takes many hours of research and hundreds of dollars to run.
Thank you to Star patrons Mercedes Esteban-Lyons, Jesse Rabinowitz and Brenda Goodman, and David and Katherine Rabinowitz for financially supporting the site. Become a patron today and support original research into filmed live musicals. For just $1 a month, you will receive a monthly newsletter with bonus content not available on the site. $5+ patrons also receive filmed live musical reviews. Musical lovers, we live in a whole new world. Not only can we stream filmed live musicals on demand, we can experience them in 360º. Well, stand alone numbers, at least for now. In the past few years, musical theatre producers have started filming production numbers in 360º and releasing them for free on YouTube. Although perhaps best experienced in VR, 360º captures are available to anyone through a regular screen or mobile device. Let’s take a brief chronological tour of 360º musical theatre captures! In October 2015, School of Rock released a first-of-its-kind promotional 360º video which attracted over 1 million views within 3 days. A month later, Disney released its own 360º video of the opening number from The Lion King, which was filmed in front of a live audience. In the lead up to the 2016 Tony Awards, CBS released a 360º video of the Hamilton cast preparing for the ceremony. In November 2016, The New York Times launched “The Daily 360,” a daily series of 360º videos as a way of providing readers with a “new way to experience” journalism. The series capitalized on the success of the newspaper’s 2015 launch of NYT VR, an app for viewing specially created VR content. Broadway themed videos have included rehearsal footage from Cirque du Soleil’s Broadway show Paramour, the chance to descend in Glinda’s bubble from Wicked, and “last looks” at Amelie and Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Never afraid to use new technology to promote his shows, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera released a video of the Broadway cast experiencing scenes from the show in VR in August 2017. In September 2017, Dear Evan Hansen released a 360º video celebrating fans of the show, though the video did not include footage from the musical. Carnegie Hall also jumped in on the 360º action with the release of “Cool” from a new production of West Side Story directed by Marin Alsop. Since September 2017, NBC Nightly News has been releasing 360º clips from Broadway musicals including Come From Away, Anastasia, The Band’s Visit, School of Rock, Once on This Island, and Waitress. To celebrate Wicked’s 10th anniversary in London in December 2017, TimeOut London released a 360º video featuring backstage footage from the Apollo Theatre. In June 2018, Disney released another 360º video, this time featuring “Friend Like Me” from Aladdin. The video features bonus content activated by turning “over, sideways, and under” as you scroll around. It might be a little while until we can experience 360º captures of full-length musicals, but in the meantime, let’s hope more more producers allow us to take virtual spins through musical worlds. Filmed Live Musicals is a labor of love that takes many hours of research and hundreds of dollars to run.
Thank you to Star patrons Mercedes Esteban-Lyons, Jesse Rabinowitz and Brenda Goodman, and David and Katherine Rabinowitz for financially supporting the site. Become a patron today. For as little as $1 a month you can support original research and gain access to bonus content not available on the site. We live in exciting times. There are now multiple companies offering what is essentially Netflix for theatre. While we still can’t stream currently-running Broadway or West End shows, there is plenty of filmed live content out there for us to (legally) get our theatre fix! Here, in alphabetical order, are companies providing online streaming of filmed live musicals content. All subscription prices are in America dollars, except for Digital Theatre which is listed in British pounds. Amazon Search "live musicals" on AmazonPrime, and you can find many filmed live musical titles including Spongebob, Newsies, and RENT: Filmed Live on Broadway. Subscription Cost: Varies - some are included with an AmazonPrime subscription, some are available to rent or buy Where to Watch: www.amazon.com BroadwayHD Founded in 2015 by Broadway producers Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley, BroadwayHD aims to provide “the best of Broadway and beyond!” The service currently has over 50 filmed live musicals in the catalogue, with content from Broadway, off-Broadway, the West End, and regional American performances. Other content includes documentaries, plays, Cirque du Soleil, theatre in languages other than English, and concerts. Some titles can also be accessed through an Amazon Prime subscription. Subscription Cost: $8.99 per month or $99.99 for 1 year Free Trial: 7 days Where to Watch: www.broadwayhd.com Cennariam Founded in 2014 by Brazilian producer Harry Fernandes, Cennariam offers “Performing arts from around the world in high definition for you to watch anytime, from anywhere.” The site currently has 10 musicals on offer, and claims to be adding new content every week. Titles include Dangerous Liasions, Debussy Alone on Stage, and Tanguera, the Argentine Musical. Most musicals are in languages other than English with subtitles. In addition to musical theatre, Cennariam offers circus, comedy, concerts, dance, documentary, drama, interviews, and opera. Subscription Cost: US$9.97 per month or $95.64 for 1 year Free Trial: 10 days Where to Watch: www.cennarium.com. Some productions are also available on Amazon Prime in the US. Digital Theatre Founded in 2009 by British entrepreneurs Robert Delamere and Tom Shaw, Digital Theatre is a leader in providing on-demand theatre content. The site currently has 5 filmed live musicals, including the Regent’s Park Open Air production of Into the Wood, two in-development Perfect Pitch productions, and a new musical, Pieces of String. Other theatre content includes productions from the RSC, and Stage Russia, and content from the West End and across the United Kingdom. Subscription Cost: £9.99 a month, or rent individual productions for £7.99 Free Trial Offer: not available Where to Watch: www.digitaltheatre.com Great Performances on PBS The multi-award winning PBS television program Great Performances specializes in showcasing performing arts from around the world. Current musicals include the Broadway production of Holiday Inn, and the West End productions of 42nd Street, Kinky Boots, The King and I, and An American in Paris. Other content includes concerts, plays, and documentaries. Subscription Cost: $5 per month or $60 for 1 year Free Trial: n/a Where to Watch: www.pbs.org/show/great-performances/ Kanopy Founded in 2007 by Australian entrepreneur Olivia Humphrey, Kanopy partners with universities and public libraries to provide free movie streaming. There are over 30 movie musicals currently available through the site, though no filmed live musicals. In addition to a wide range of cinema titles (including 400 titles from the Criterion Collection), there is plenty of theatre content, including Shakespeare, Chekhov, and productions from Stage Russia. Subscription Cost: free with a library card Free Trial: n/a Where to Watch: www.kanopy.com (To find theatre content, go to Browse: The Arts: Performing Arts: Theatre Performance) Stage Founded by Rich Affannato, Stage offers a range of theatrical content in the form of original series, interviews, and documentaries. Subscription Cost: $47.88 annual subscription, or $4.99 per month. Use code GETWELLSOON for 50% off (valid until Broadway re-opens!). Free Trial: 7 day trial Where to Watch: www.watchstage.com/ If you’re a student, check if your institution has access to the platforms below to gain access to more streamable theatre content! Alexander Street A plethora of resources from around the world including scripts, performance videos, and design archives. The site also provides access to some BroadwayHD content. Digital Theatre + Digital Theatre for educational institutions includes lesson planning and behind-the-scenes content and interviews. Know of other (legal) streaming sites? Let me know in the comments, on Twitter, or on Facebook! (This post was originally published in May, 2018. Updated March, 2020). The recent cinema livestreams and releases of filmed live musicals An American in Paris and Everybody's Talking About Jamie show how live musicals are increasingly going to the movies. This week, we're taking a look at some of the new technology being rolled out in cinemas around the world that provide exciting possibilities for the future of filmed live musicals and the cinema-going experience. 4D 4D cinema, also known as immersive cinema, is considered by some as the new frontier of the cinema going experience. With its motion-enabled seats, water spray, lighting effects, scented air, wind machines, and even bubbles and snow, 4D is no longer just for theme parks, it’s coming to a local cinema near you! First commercially developed in the 1980s, 4D cinemas are now in operation around the world. At the time of writing, there are approximately 40 4D theatres in operation in the United States. Tickets cost around $30, and the admissions guidelines read like an amusement park ride warning — “If you are pregnant, elderly, physically or mentally sensitive or have any of the following health conditions, you should not use a 4DX auditorium: high blood pressure, heart conditions, allergies, neck or back conditions or epilepsy.” Over 100 films have been viewable in 4D, with the vast majority of films falling into the blockbuster, action movie, and animation categories. Titles have included Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, Avengers, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and, most recently, The Incredibles 2. Can 4D be effective for other film genres? More importantly for Filmed Live Musicals, could this technology be applied to the filmed live theatre experience? Could we somehow re-create the smell of theatre in which a musical was filmed, or the strong perfume worn by an audience member? Would bursts of air be felt when an actor walks past us on the screen? Would we feel a spray of water to mimic the sweat of a dancer during a tap routine? ` North American theatre chain Regal Movies describes their 4DX theatres as the “Absolute Cinema Experience” that makes you feel like you’re “in the movie” (my emphasis), but reviews suggest 4D cinema is not all it’s cracked up to be. Several critics have described attending 4D cinema as akin to riding a bad rollercoaster, and that the attempts to make the experience “immersive” only serve to bring the viewer out of the film. Do you think 4D cinema will catch on? Moviebills An exciting new technology that is more likely to be compatible with filmed live musicals are Moviebills. Developed by US cinema compamyRegal Entertainment Group, and launched in April 2018, Moviebills comprise of a 28-page print magazine, phone app, and website, which provide users with print and augmented reality (AR) content including interviews, bonus footage, behind-the-scenes info, and more. Looks super cool right? Moviebills are only available for select blockbuster movies, and only in Regal Cinemas. I’m hoping other companies, and perhaps even live theatres, will want to jump in on this fun innovation. New York City's Classic Stage Company only offered digital programs for their recent production of Carmen Jones, and the UK's National Theatre provides digital programs through their Backstage app for a small fee (only available in the UK). On Demand Cinema With so many entertainment options available to audiences at home, the cinema industry has been working hard to lure customers back into the theatres. An interesting new development in this endeavor is on-demand movie theaters. In 2013, Australian distributor Leap Frog Films launched Demand Film, a service that books film screenings of niche films in cinemas based on audience demand. Users request a movie, and Demand Film organizes a screening. The user must sell a minimum number of tickets for the screening to go ahead, and once the minimum is met, the user can make money from the ticket sales. Demand Film is currently available in Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland, Germany, Canada, and the United States. Chinese online entertainment service iQiyi announced in May the launch of Yuke movie theatres. The cinemas are like mini movie theatres, with 2-10 comfy seats and a large screen. Users select content from the extensive iQiyi library and watch it in a Yuke cinema, at the time and location of their choosing. Could we one day get a group of friends together at our local cinema and watch a Broadway or West End show? Whether or not these technologies take off, one thing is clear: these new innovations are making more and more content available to us in ever more exciting ways. I'll be checking out the filmed live London production of An American in Paris at the cinema in a few weeks. Follow on Twitter for updates! This content originally appeared in the July edition of the Patron-only newsletter. If you would like first access to bonus content, join the Filmed Live Musicals Patron today! Filmed Live Musicals is a labor of love that takes many hours of research and hundreds of dollars to run.
Many thank you's to Star patrons Mercedes Esteban-Lyons, Jesse Rabinowitz and Brenda Goodman, and David and Katherine Rabinowitz for financially supporting the site. The following interview was originally published in the July edition of the Filmed Live Musicals Patron newsletter. When you become a patron, you will be supporting the running of this site, and original research into the ever growing field of filmed live musicals. Previous newsletters include content on upcoming screenings, new movie technology, and 360º captures. Star Patrons also gain access to filmed live musical reviews. To gain access to Patreon-only content, become a Patron today! British actor and writer Carrie Sutton has performed in many West End musicals including Sister Act: The Musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Little Women, Cabaret, Imagine This, and Kiss Me, Kate. She also worked as a dresser on the recent West End musical The Wind in the Willows. You can catch Carrie performing as Laurey in Oklahoma! later this month at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage. Imagine This, Kiss Me, Kate, and The Wind in the Willows were all filmed live. I recently chatted with Carrie about her experiences working on these filmed live musicals. What difference is there between acting for camera and acting on stage? How does that translate when you’re filming a live stage show? You’re still giving a theatrical performance, but there is an awareness of the camera. It’s a different scale. I aimed for the middle of the audience rather than the back, and in close-up moments, I tried to be still. The audience is recorded too, and that energy translates on camera. For “Kiss Me, Kate” and “The Wind in the Willows,” we did pick-ups after the performance. For example, a mic went down during the show, so afterwards we re-recorded some scenes out of sequence. You knew Kiss Me, Kate was going to be filmed from the outset. Did you rehearse for the stage or for the camera? We rehearsed it as a piece of theatre, and it was filmed as a piece of theatre. In fact, John Wilson [the conductor], told us to “chip your teeth on the words” because Royal Albert Hall is so big. You really have to work hard to make yourself understood in that space. So we definitely worked for the live performance of it. We had rehearsals at the Town Hall in Belsize Park, and then the camera guys would come in and see the work. They would check angles and close-ups, and compare it to marked-up scripts. There is a lot of back and forth between the director, the DP [director pf photography], and the choreographer. It’s very much a group effort. "Kiss Me, Kate" aired during prime time on Christmas Day. That was so exciting for me. A real bucket list item. Stage musicals are sometimes altered when the cameras come in. What aspects of Imagine This were changed for the filming? Some slight blocking changes were made to accommodate the cameras, but from the actors’ perspective very little was changed. What was it like working as a dresser on “Wind in the Willows”? It was filmed over three days. We had a dress rehearsal for close-ups, and where they got pick-up footage for when things go wrong in live filming, like a child screaming in the audience, or costume failure. The costumes had to be immaculate — it has to be perfect for film. What passes on a regular show won’t pass on a recording. Socks have to be level, ties have to be straight. There is extra attention to detail on quick changes because all the clothes use velcro, ties are stuck on with velcro, shirts do up with velcro, it has to be exact or it doesn’t look right. How do contract negotiations work for filmed live musicals? All the negotiations are done through the producer. For “Imagine This” we were given a fee for filming, or perhaps we waived it, and were bought out for the broadcasts. “Kiss Me, Kate” was all done prior and we just signed a standard BBC contract. If you had a step out, you received extra. You get reimbursed for royalties. It’s all worked out with the cast and crew and everyone is allocated points based on how much you work during the rehearsals and during the show. Like in “The Wizard of Oz,” we ended up distributing points based on word count. The female ensemble had a lot more to do in that show, so we were given more points. EPKs [Electronic Press Kit] are included in new contracts. We spend around a day in the theatre shooting scenes for promotional copy. The scenes are different from what’s in the show, we learn new blocking that works better for the camera, like a dance will be more spaced out, or the angles will be slightly different. “The Wizard of Oz” were on Children in Need. We did a montage specifically for that show. It was covered in the EPK as “reasonable promotion.” What do you think of filmed live musicals or filmed live theatre in general? It’s both theatre and film. It’s a record. It is important to have records of shows. People who would otherwise never be recorded are able to have a record of their work, especially ensemble members. It creates revenue for the production. It brings art back to the people. It makes the West End accessible to people who are far away. Do you have a favorite filmed live theatre event? The entire Kenneth Branagh season. I saw it filmed live, and I watched the films. I loved the Royal Ballet’s “Alice in Wonderland.” I felt really involved in the production, even though I was watching it in the cinema. Also the RSC’s “Henry” plays. Why are filmed live musicals important? The “Imagine This” DVD potentially gives that show a future life. It honors the work of the all the people that create the show, all the creatives, and the cast. The level of work that went into the show is incredible. Everything was handmade for the production, and every moment of work is captured. It was just a flash in the pan, but all the work, and commitment, and artistry, it isn’t lost. Learn more about Carrie at www.carriesutton.com and http://www.londonvoiceover.com/carrie-sutton/. This site is financially supported by the generosity of patrons
Mercedes Esteban-Lyons, Jesse Rabinowitz and Brenda Goodman, and David and Katherine Rabinowitz. Become a patron today and support original research into filmed live musicals. Critical reviews carry a lot of weight, despite being the opinion of just one person, who is usually white and male. Positive reviews can generate hype and ensure a show’s success, while negative reviews can quickly close shows. In addition to providing contemporary audiences with (hopefully) educated opinions, reviews also serve as a public historical record of the theatre. When it comes to filmed live musicals, the critical analysis and historical record is rather thin. At the end of the day, very few filmed live musicals are being critically reviewed. Is it that theatre critics don’t review films? Or that film critics don’t review theatre? Perhaps it is a lack of critics who understand both theatre and film, and more importantly, the hybrid that is formed when the two come together in a filmed live theatrical event. Or perhaps it is simply the fact that filmed live musicals are not taken seriously as an art form. Filmed live musicals on television are sometimes reviewed for inclusion in “What’s On” guides. Prime time specials like Jesus Christ Superstar Live also draw a lot of attention, but these are the exception rather than the rule. Filmed live musicals that are consistently reviewed are those that are released on Blu-ray. The official Blu-ray site, www.blu-ray.com provides outstanding reviews of filmed live musicals that analyze the content of the film, as well as technical aspects, such as image and sound quality, of the Blu-Ray. There are currently only 7 filmed live musicals in the database that have been released on Blu-ray. A rather dismal number for the review situation. Social media, particularly Twitter, is useful for anecdotal reviews. It can provide an insight into fan-base reactions to filmed live content, but these “reviews” may not be widely read. The ever increasing frequency of filmed live musical events, encore screenings, and the prevalence of bootlegs, show audiences want filmed live musical content. Official critical responses will help increase the legitimacy of filmed live musicals, and give them their rightful place in the history of theatre. This site is financially supported by the generosity of patrons
Mercedes Esteban-Lyons, Jesse Rabinowitz and Brenda Goodman, and David and Katherine Rabinowitz. Become a patron and gain access to bonus content! With the introduction of sound on film, cinema underwent an identity crisis. What to call these new fan-dangled talking pictures? In 1928, film trade newspaper Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World led a campaign to try and come up with a new name. Common labels included “talkies,” “soundies,” “lispies,” “synchronized pictures,” and “audible pictures.” Suggestions ranged from “audien,” “cinelog,” and “dramaphone,” to “pictovox,” “viewvoice,” and, my personal favorite, “vivavox.” For the purposes of this site, I define a filmed live musical as a stage musical that has been legally captured and distributed to the public. The deeper question I would like to look at today is, what is the final product that is distributed? Is it theatre? Is it cinema? Filmed live musicals are distributed and advertised under different names, including “filmed live theatre,” “live cinema,” “transmission,” “HD transmission,” “cine-cast,” and “live capture.” Makers and distributors of filmed live theatre, including The National Theatre and Digital Theatre, describe filmed live theatre as a hybrid of theatre and cinema. “Filmed live” can be a confusing label. How do we distinguish between a musical that is broadcast live, and an encore screening of that live broadcast? Is it still “live” if the screening takes place months, or even years, after the actual event? I would love to find a new name for filmed live theatre that reflects this hybridity. Several studies show that audiences see attending filmed theatre at the cinema as an equally authentic way to experience live performance as going to the theatre. Recent studies also suggest that audiences have more emotional responses to filmed live theatre than they do in the actual theatre. As evidenced by the success of National Theatre Live, Met Opera Live, the growth of theatre streaming services like Digital Theatre, and BroadwayHD, and the persistence of bootlegs, audiences are craving filmed live theatre content. We need to clearly define filmed live theatre, and label it, to make it accessible and searchable. For now, “filmed live musicals” is the term I’m going with (hence the name of the site!), but I think it would be fun to come up with other terms that help filmed live musicals reach new audiences. What do you think? Share your suggestions on the Facebook page or on Twitter! Filmed Live Musicals is financially supported by the generosity of patrons
Mercedes Esteban-Lyons, Jesse Rabinowitz, and David and Katherine Rabinowitz. Become a patron today and support original research into filmed live musicals. |
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