Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - 2024

[Being Alive]

Jan 31, 2024 13:27:56 GMT Jon said:

The Open Air Theatre may be a charity but they still need bums on seats which is why you're not going to see big risky shows there. Urinetown and Steel Pier would die a death there.

Precisely. You have to play to your audience and Regents Parks audience (from what I can tell from previous years and sales) want a classic musicals they know, with songs they know, rather than something like Legally Blonde (which comped its way through a good portion of it's run)

[fluxcapacitor]

I knew as soon as I was asked which shows I’d stage that someone would immediately lift some and tell me how unsuitable they are. You make a fair point that they need bums on seats. I was just listing shows off the top of my head which haven’t been staged in the UK for a while and which I feel are ripe for a new production, in order to demonstrate the reason for my frustration at what I personally perceive as lack of imagination in the Open Air’s latest choice of revival.

This is really snowballing from a personal opinion I shared in a hastily typed reactive post. If you’re happy with Fiddler, I’m glad for you. Honestly. It’s a great show when done well. Personally, I just don’t feel the need to see another production so soon and would have preferred something we haven’t seen in a while. That’s all.

[Jon]

Jan 31, 2024 13:37:06 GMT Being Alive said:

Precisely. You have to play to your audience and Regents Parks audience (from what I can tell from previous years and sales) want a classic musicals they know, with songs they know, rather than something like Legally Blonde (which comped its way through a good portion of it's run)

Legally Blonde was an odd choice although I think one year they should do Spamalot as it's the sort of show would lend itself to the setting.

There are times they do something different and it doesn't pay off like Once on This Island and Ragtime.

[ladidah]

I think it's an impossible task to pick a show that appeals to diehard MT fans and yet will also attract tourists.