[Mb-hair] Visceral connections

[richard haase]

capeman was an abortion
remember even with the most brilliant people
trying to come up with a property
90% + fail
i am trying to package HAIR commercially
trying to rival the current bid on the table
so these contingencies of making it viable
are of supreme importance to me
also
to the life of the project
?


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Martin Eayrs" <martin at eayrs.com>
To: <mb-hair at islandlists.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 12:53 PM
Subject: [Mb-hair] Visceral connections


> 
> Richard
> 
> I wasn't belittling the Iraq war - just saying times were different 
> and people were being conscripted back in the 60s - 'be the first one 
> on the block to have your boy come home in a box' is not so relevant 
> today. Not yet.
> 
> But your second point is a good one, if confused. (Not you confused, 
> the point confusing two things). If HAiR arrives DOA it is DOA in the 
> commercial sense. Most (all really) of my theatrical life has been in 
> amateur theatre where making money is merely hoping to cover costs if 
> you couldn't find a sponsor.
> 
> Nothing wrong with amateur theatre (yeh, I know, 'theater' to you 
> guys) and nothing wrong with professional theatre either (and a 
> guy/gal has to eat) but the confusion comes in when you consider how 
> to rate success.
> 
> If success is measured in $$ signs then we're betraying values we 
> once believed in (maybe rightly, who am I to say). But a show can be 
> a great show and not make money. Does that make it any worse a show. 
> The public is notoriously fickle, often intellectually challenged and 
> mentalised by reviewers and such. Why did Paul Simon's Capeman flop ?
> 
> Maybe HAiR will never have the impact it once had - maybe it won't 
> have the long runs - but that doesn't make it any worse. Sure, people 
> won't react viscerally to the issues - it would be odd if they did if 
> you think about it - but it's not the fault of the musical itself or 
> the production.
> 
> The decision to stage HAiR can't be an easy one today given the cost 
> of mounting any show - but if I had an amateur theatre group of young 
> people wanting to stage a fun musical and learn about themselves 
> maybe HAiR would still be a good candidate.
> 
> Martin
> _______________________________________________
> Mb-hair mailing list
> Mb-hair at islandlists.com
> http://www.islandlists.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mb-hair