chapter 4 Summary

Commercial Theatre:

A chapter of history on the commercial theatre.

Centered in New York (think Broadway and off-Broadway) the commercial theatre is influential to the city, and to nearly all entertainment media. first acting company came to N. America in 1752. It was one of the leading forms of entertainment up until about 1914 when electronic entertainment began to grow in popularity. it was much easier to view a television in your home, than to go out to the theatre. Up until about 1960 theatre declined in popularity and consequently, many theatres closed. but during the 1930s, when the theatre was at its lowest point economically, many of the greatest works were produced (Maxwell Anderson, Elmer Rice, Robert sherwood and others) 1960-1990 is considered the "retrenchment" period of the theatre. The commercial theatre has always had a high failure rate (it wouldn't be stage theatre if it didnt) in current times, one of the most significant happenings was the stage version of Disney's "beauty and the beast" it brought major corporations and the stage together. the late 90s was also a time of closing for a number of long running shows such as "Cats", "Les Miserables", and "Miss Saigon."
An issue theatre can encounter is copyright laws. A stage may not be able to produce a show that it desires to, due to price to purchase royalties for the show. a good description of some federal copyright laws and points to keep in mind are found on page 86. other aspects of the show to be considered are the royalty pools, the actors guild, and putting the show on the road for an off broadway tour. plus many many more things.