PERCEPTIONS By Steve Feitl: Stunt casting is detrimental to theater’s future.
By: Steve Feitl
There’s a disturbing trend in live theater right now.
That is a somewhat surprising statement when you consider my impetus for it. I saw "The Producers" on Friday with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprising their starring roles as Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, respectively. And as wonderful as they were and as great a show as it is, I truly believe this is a prime example of what’s wrong with live theater.
Let’s call it stunt casting the practice of bringing in stars from television and motion pictures to help sell a few tickets on Broadway. It’s been done in the past as occasionally stars would return to their roots as a stage actor for limited engagements. But it’s never been as prevalent as it is today.
Look no further than the Playbill that was distributed to theatergoers Friday. In it lists 24 shows currently on Broadway and half of them have what I would consider outside stars in billed roles.
"Aida" has R&B singer Deborah Cox, while "Beauty and the Beast" has the synergy of Disney Channel star Christy Carlson Romano. "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" boasts the star power of Ashley Judd, Jason Patric and Ned Beatty, and "Sly Fox" isn’t far behind with Richard Dreyfuss, Eric Stoltz, Bronson Pinchot and Elizabeth Berkley. Ray Liotta is in "Match," while Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche share top billing in "Twentieth Century."
Now surely, some of these actors and actresses have previous experience in the live theater, but that can’t explain all of them. What can explain the trend, however, is box office receipts.
When "The Producers" opened in the St. James Theatre in spring 2001, it was the talk of "The Great White Way." Lane and Broderick helped the show garner praise and awards, while turning a pretty profit, even in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
But after Lane and Broderick returned to roles in film and television, the juggernaut began to struggle. Tickets were no longer impossible to find late last year when the actual producers announced the original "producers" were going to return.
Weekly grosses for the show ranged from $885,338 to $1,096,292 for the month of December and theater occupancy sat between 77 and 96 percent, according to data provided by The League of American Theatres and Producers and posted on Playbill.com. Once Lane and Broderick returned to kick off 2004, everything spiked. Attendance has not fallen below 100 percent this year, and the weekly grosses have resided in the $1.3 million area, even hitting $1.6 million their first full week on the stage.
So it’s rather easy to see why a Broadway show would seek out a big-name star to pad its revenues. But is this a short-term solution that does long-term damage?
With so many shows claiming star power, it raises the expectations for shows that choose to go without either for philosophical or financial reasons. And once a show starts stunt casting, how can it go back? Even a show as mighty as "The Producers" showed audiences may be more drawn to the names on the marquee than the name of the show. It seems to set a bad precedent.
But its most damaging impact might be on the yet-to-be-famous professional stage actors and actresses. Less available starring roles means more and more actors could be out of work, fulfilling the long-standing cliché of actors paying the bills by waiting tables. If it discourages enough young actors and actresses, where will that leave live theater years down the road?
Julie Angelo, executive director of the American Association of Community Theatre, a national organization representing more than 7,000 community theaters, said she hasn’t seen a true trickle-down effect at the community theater level. Occasionally, a production will bring in a paid guest artist or an age-appropriate artist to fill out an otherwise young production, she said. In those cases, it is often valuable experience for the less tenured artists, she said.
Perhaps Lane and Broderick are having a similar impact on the cast of "The Producers" and the show will be stronger because of it. It’s a possibility I’m willing to concede.
But at the same time, I hope theatergoers continue to turn out to the Mel Brooks musical after Lane and Broderick take their final bow, because it’s a fantastic show and live theater is an important artistic outlet.
It doesn’t matter if it’s on Broadway or in a high school auditorium. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a virtual unknown stage actor or a Hollywood powerhouse.
Because "Jekyll & Hyde" was just as good with Broadway veteran Robert Cuccioli as it was with Skid Row front man Sebastian Bach.
And they were both a heck of a lot better than Baywatch’s own David Hasselhoff.
And that’s just another reason not to stunt cast.
Steve Feitl is the managing editor of The Lawrence Ledger and will accept limited bookings for any Broadway production. He can be reached at [email protected].