A Steady Rain Poster?- Page 3
A Steady Rain Poster?
Cape Twirl of Doom
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#50re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/1/09 at 11:27pm
They're only signed by Hugh & Daniel.
Look, I do understand where people are coming from re: the prices, but just because you may not be able to afford something doesn't mean they have to sell it for less. The price has fluctuated between $300 & $400. The first night, they were $300 and if they had only sold one or 2, they probably would have lowered the price, however they sold so many that they had to raise prices so they would not completely run out!
this is in fact what they are doing... I could maybe afford $50 for a poster... If i were to go up to them and say he's $50 1 poster please theyd say no sorry $400. In terms they are saying we don't want your cheap donation. In return perhaps their response would be... But you can give us the $50 and we'll keep it and you can go on your merry way.
But you can apply this to anything. What if a show sells a poster for $50, but you can only afford $20? Must they then be willing to sell it to you for $20?
I do think it would have been a good idea to sell the Playbills for $50 however. The posters sell like crazy, but the Playbills not so much. Had they been $50, I know I would be selling out each night, and it would give more people a chance to get something.
"It's Phantom meets Hamlet... Phamlet!"
#51re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/1/09 at 11:54pmI'm sorry, they're charging $400 for a windowcard?
#52re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/1/09 at 11:57pmYes, $400 for a signed window card of A STEADY RAIN to benefit BCEFA. They are not selling unsigned window cards for this show, so the only way to get one is to bite the bullet and pay $400...
#53re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 12:03amLOL. That really is just laughable. I don't consider spending $400 on this "biting the bullet". They can bite my ass for charging that much, charity or not. I donate a lot of money to BC/EFA in various different ways throughout the year but I just find this offensive.
#54re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 12:08am
If your theatrical experience is incomplete because you can't get a signed whatever, you need to re-evaluate why you go to see a show.
It's for charity, for Christ's sake! People are obviously willing to dole out that much (which I think is silly but whatever), and more power to those that can pay and more power to the production to be able to GET people to pay that much in these times. It's not like the money is going to line the pockets of the producers. It's going to Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS- an INCREDIBLE charity. CHARITY.
You don't NEED a signed Playbill or windowcard; your life will go on without it.
A lot of people can't even afford to go see the damn show.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
Cape Twirl of Doom
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#55re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 12:17amBasically what it boils down to is this; even at the high prices the demand is there. There's no reason for them to sell the posters for less. I'm not sure the number of posters they get each night, but it usually looks to be around 15. Sure, they could price them at $50 and every single one would be gone in 5 minutes. Or they could do what they are doing, and still sell 10 or so per night. It's not like if they sold them for $50, they'd have 100 of them per night. There were a finite number of posters printed, and they're not getting any more. Pricing them very low would not give more people a chance to buy them, they would just sell out in minutes, before even half of the audience would even have a chance to get to the bar.
"It's Phantom meets Hamlet... Phamlet!"
#56re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 12:24am
I will say that I am surprised at the amount of people wishing to donate these amounts of money in exchange for autographs and photo ops.
I suppose that, from a business standpoint, it does make sense.
And they do call it show business, not show art.
Nonetheless, as I stated before, my point - my concern - is that this business of expensive autographs and photo ops only serves to obscure the most important thing - the play. With circumstances as they already were for "A Steady Rain," it was already obscured enough by fan frenzy outside the stage door.
I can't see anything that serves to diminish the salience of the primary focus of what is going on - staging a play - to be a positive thing. There is a definite compromise.
To thieve a little bit from one of my favorite writers, Walker Percy, it is now inevitably more difficult than it was before to "find" the play amid the commotion.
I'm beginning to feel like a beatnik.
2010
Updated On: 11/2/09 at 12:24 AM
Feb. 28 - Looped, Feb. 28 - Next to Normal, March 4 - Hair, March 11 - A Little Night Music, March 24 - Time Stands Still, April 6 - La Cage Aux Folles, April 10 - Anyone Can Whistle (City Center), April 10 - Looped, May 9 - Enron, May 15 - A Little Night Music, May 15 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Little Night Music, June 20 - A Little Night Music, June 23 - Red, June 23 - Sondheim on Sondheim, July 13 - A Little Night Music, July 18 - The Grand Manner (Lincoln Center)
#57re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 12:41am
I never thought people would get so hung up over a window card.
It's an impulse buy AT BEST, charitable impulse buy but an impulse buy nevertheless. If you dont plan on being buried with it, chances are you dont really need it.
Q
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/05
#58re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 12:48am
". . . they're charging $400 for a windowcard?"
No, they're ASKING for a donation to charity, and that's what they're using as incentive - which is in direct response to an observable demand, and is having a tremendously positive result.
At least it is seen as positive by those who have even a rudimentary sense of what constitutes an appropriate priority.
Those who can't see that need to step back and re-evaluate.
fengshuihellnyc
Broadway Star Joined: 3/8/05
#59re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 3:11am
Everyone... Its not necessarily about the amount they are charging... its the fact they aren't giving people the option to get the item themselves.... SUPPOSED respect for the people that pay 400$. Its that people who want to outside get the autograph on a playbill etc are being refused. Thats whats wrong. People would still but the posters inside. Its a charity. But not everyone has that kind of money. I can't... but i donate my 5 buck to the bucket but would still like to wait outside . Right now its Give 400 or screw you. really insulting.
THE WHOLE POINT IS THE SHOW in the end. but it is tradition and they should stop messing with it. Straight to the point and simple.
Q
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/05
#60re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 7:14am
Feng - the only way I would buy your analysis is if they were lining their own pockets. But they're not - it's for charity! They're cashing in on the insane interest they generate to raise THOUSANDS of dollars - and if you think they could do that without creating the limited supply then you're nuts.
What's truly insulting is that you seem to think they should abandon what obviously works just so you can have your precious little autograph. YOU'RE the one saying "Screw you!" to people who need these funds to try and have a more comfortable existence while they deal with being ill.
You want 'straight to the point and simple'? here you go - you're a pathetic slimeball with an outrageous sense of entitlement.
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#61re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 7:40am
"Everyone... Its not necessarily about the amount they are charging... its the fact they aren't giving people the option to get the item themselves.... SUPPOSED respect for the people that pay 400$. Its that people who want to outside get the autograph on a playbill etc are being refused. Thats whats wrong. People would still but the posters inside. Its a charity. But not everyone has that kind of money. I can't... but i donate my 5 buck to the bucket but would still like to wait outside . Right now its Give 400 or screw you. really insulting.
THE WHOLE POINT IS THE SHOW in the end. but it is tradition and they should stop messing with it. Straight to the point and simple."
Why do people have this sense of entitlement that they must get an autograph or some tangible object for the show?
Yes, I've done the stage door thing before and have gotten my fair share of autographs and pictures. I don't see anything wrong with the practice, but I also understand it can't always be expected. I don't see how it is insulting that Jackman and Craig refuse to sign during the charity event. So you basically feel insulted because you can't stage door and get their autograph and the show is messing with tradition?
If it matters to you that much, you can still meet Craig and Jackman after the show and show your appreciation. No one said they weren't acknowledging the fans at the stage door. If you are looking for something tangible, go buy a shirt and/or a keychain. If you don't have the option to get a certain item, well boo-hoo. You need to reevaluate the entire purpose of charity. Just put your money in the bucket like you said, and keep moving.
If you really feel that the entire point is the show (so much a point that you put it in CAPS LOCK), then you really contradicted yourself in your post.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#62re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 7:47am
Having a friend who runs an AIDS organization, I know that their state and federal funding was cut 20%. That is a lot of money. I am thrilled that BC/EFA is getting these dollars at this point in the economy.
"To thieve a little bit from one of my favorite writers, Walker Percy, it is now inevitably more difficult than it was before to "find" the play amid the commotion. "
The only people having trouble finding the play are the ones hung up on getting a signed Playbill or windowcard to complete the experience. I know plenty of people who saw the play, loved it, and left the theatre without incident. It's only the rabid, single-minded fans at the stage door who are complaining. Get over it.
Seriously, these items are not necessities.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
Q
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/05
#63re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 8:17am
"People would still but (I assume you mean 'buy') the posters inside."
If you honestly believe that they would sell them at the same rate if other options were available, then we have no way to find common ground. It's a fairly obvious situation of supply and demand. Would SOME still pay simply to make a donation? Possibly - but I can't imagine that the number would remain at the level it is. There must be SOME who are buying them at that price NOT because they're primary concern is making a donation.
#64re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 8:54am
BB, I'm sure many people have been able to find the play. What I'm saying is not that it is impossible, but that it is made particularly difficult and that this exorbitant charity business only aggravates that further.
You people who keep bringing up the entitlement point have no credibility in my eyes because you are so high on your horses I cannot even find you. It's clear that you are either not reading what anyone else says or feel free to gloss over or generalize our points to something we do not intend to say.
I agree with Fengshui. I do not give a flying **** about getting an autograph from either of these men. However, part of the Broadway experience is the *possibility* that you will get something like an autograph. To have the possibility *forcibly removed* is not only classless but unsettling.
Some things just do not have the right ring. This does not. The end does not justify the means here because the means interfere with the show by creating a caste system within the theatergoers - when they should all be equally part of the show they are seeing, and like it or not this changes that - and cashing in on the celebrity frenzy. Encouragement of the celebrity frenzy only helps to obscure the show, which is always a negative thing.
It's great that they can raise this kind of money for a charity, even if the prices are tasteless and greedy and the means to do so obscure the show. However, to striate the fans this way is to divide them. To tell people (amount of money OR ELSE) is unsavory.
And, by the way, there is a convenience to buying pre-autographed items and photo sessions. People who have the kind of money to buy these things usually have enough disposable income as it is. I strongly disbelieve there would be a significant reduction in the amount of purchases of these things if the actors still signed a few autographs and took a few pictures outside - especially the pictures; there's a big difference between a quickly snapped photo in a rushed situation and a nicely choreographed photo session with a professional photographer. Also, we all realize by now that not all people who stage door this show are successful - these two guys are hard to reach.
The fact is that at the end of the day the celebrity rules the show, not the show itself, and that's bad enough, but that this is being exploited so belligerantly and crassly is worse. The prices serve to obscure the play and make theatregoers anxious, and the act of refusal outside will inevitably make Gloria from Peoria, anxious to get Hugh Jackman's autograph and with no idea what BCEFA is, leave with a negative experience.
There's a difference between an actor slipping out an alternate exit because he or she is tired and walking right past you and saying "sorry, I can't sign, but there are posters for (amount) in the lobby." Even the simplest person can understand that.
It should also be clarified that I'm sure we can all agree that it is lovely that these actors continue to take time to do these things sans profit. It says a lot about them, and I'm sure they believe they are doing the right thing by the outside refusal, even though they will likely soon regret it. It is obvious that they warrant more commendation than criticism. It is rather the concept itself, the prices, the striation and the overall way this charity effort is being conducted that sits painfully wrong with many of us. It inevitably mars the theatrical experience for many because the theatrical experience is different for everyone. The possibility of an autograph means a lot to people, particularly at a show like this one where people are coming to see the celebrities, not the play. To take it away from them forcibly is crass. It's not the same thing as Morgan Freeman sneaking out the stage door of another theater. The play suffers as a result, and likely so too does the vigor and performance of the actors who are out in the middle of all this.
2010
Updated On: 11/2/09 at 08:54 AM
Feb. 28 - Looped, Feb. 28 - Next to Normal, March 4 - Hair, March 11 - A Little Night Music, March 24 - Time Stands Still, April 6 - La Cage Aux Folles, April 10 - Anyone Can Whistle (City Center), April 10 - Looped, May 9 - Enron, May 15 - A Little Night Music, May 15 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Little Night Music, June 20 - A Little Night Music, June 23 - Red, June 23 - Sondheim on Sondheim, July 13 - A Little Night Music, July 18 - The Grand Manner (Lincoln Center)
Cape Twirl of Doom
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#65re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 11:09am
To tell people (amount of money OR ELSE) is unsavory.
LOL. Funny, I can't remember threatening anyone.
The prices serve to obscure the play and make theatregoers anxious
You keep saying this, and yet it keeps not being true. The only one upset here is you, and you weren't even going to see the show anyway. I haven't heard any complaints at the theatre. Most people who see the show just care about seeing the show. Their experience is not "obscured" or affected any way. Most people who would want an autograph are happy enough to just meet the guys at the stage door. As for the few people who would be upset by not getting an autograph because that's all they care about, well, too bad so sad. An autograph is not guaranteed. Simple as that.
You may not see it this way, but the more excuses you give, the more entitled you seem.
"It's Phantom meets Hamlet... Phamlet!"
Updated On: 11/2/09 at 11:09 AM
Q
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/05
#66re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 11:16am
I just have to laugh at this supposed 'caste system' being created by these evil people denying equal access to scribled names. Obviously, the fact of different price levels for different seating in the theater - which actually DOES have an effect on the 'show' you experience - doesn't qualify.
It's all rationalization for a completely inappropriate - and yes, ENTITLED - point of view.
I think you should start a YouTube account, and start posting videos for us all to learn from. May I suggest 'FoolOfBroadway' as a screen name?
#67re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 11:27amQ, I say this with love: Step away from the keyboard.
Cheyenne Jackson tickled me. AFTER ordering SoMMS a drink but NOT tickling him, and hanging out with Girly in his dressing room (where he DIDN'T tickle her) but BEFORE we got married. To others. And then he tweeted Boobs. He also tweeted he's good friends with some chick on "The Voice" who just happens to be good friends with Tink's ex. And I'm still married. Oh, and this just in: "Pettiness, spite, malice ....Such ugly emotions... So sad." - After Eight, talking about MEEEEEEEE!!! I'm so honored! :-)
Q
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/05
mamaleh
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/04
#69re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 11:43amThere are rumors that the no-autographs, no photos with the stars-ruling at the post-show stage door ends this coming weekend--but I'm assuming that the post-curtain BC/EFA auctions continue. Anyone in the know here?
#70re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 12:32pm
Twirl, save for the caste system and obscurity remarks, especially the obscurity remark, I agree with you. I find it mildly distressing that you don't seem to recognize or acknowledge that.
Bottom line, I believe that the staging of a play is compromised by all these add-ons and ensuing palaver. I haven't attended this show so I cannot talk from specific experience as far as "A Steady Rain" is concerned - I am talking more about overall principal and precedent.
I can't see the continuation of something like this becoming a positive thing. I view this not unlike how I view buffalo chicken strips being served at the cinema. It's just a basic opinion.
2010
Updated On: 11/2/09 at 12:32 PM
Feb. 28 - Looped, Feb. 28 - Next to Normal, March 4 - Hair, March 11 - A Little Night Music, March 24 - Time Stands Still, April 6 - La Cage Aux Folles, April 10 - Anyone Can Whistle (City Center), April 10 - Looped, May 9 - Enron, May 15 - A Little Night Music, May 15 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Behanding In Spokane, May 30 - A Little Night Music, June 20 - A Little Night Music, June 23 - Red, June 23 - Sondheim on Sondheim, July 13 - A Little Night Music, July 18 - The Grand Manner (Lincoln Center)
#71re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 12:54pm
Rudy2, wasn't your first reply (a lot) longer? Didn't get the chance to read it, but I guess it was yet another rant of you bringing down everything that is related to this play and Hugh Jackman in particular. And you haven't even seen the show.
At first I thought it was a bit awkward, but I'm not at all upset over their decision. They're doing it for a good cause and they obviously are very grateful and respectful towards the people who donated. Good for them, I'm sure that A Steady Rain will break The Boy From Oz' record.
#72re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 12:55pmNevermind, the rant was just a few posts higher up...
Cape Twirl of Doom
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#73re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 2:12pm
There are rumors that the no-autographs, no photos with the stars-ruling at the post-show stage door ends this coming weekend--but I'm assuming that the post-curtain BC/EFA auctions continue. Anyone in the know here?
What I heard was that they may only do the photos/T-shirt auctions for the first two weeks of collections (this coming Friday marks the two-week period), and then only have the signed materials afterwards. The decision depended upon how sales were and if the actors wanted to continue (it takes a while to do 10+ separate photo meet & greets.) If I hear word on what the decision is, I'll let you know.
"It's Phantom meets Hamlet... Phamlet!"
NYadgal
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/04
#74re: A Steady Rain Poster?
Posted: 11/2/09 at 2:24pm
Nobody is buying a f*c$%^&* thing!
People are making a donation and receiving goods as an incentive to increase giving.
Show me where on your ticket you are purchasing anything more than the show you are going to see? Where does it promise the opportunity to stage-door and seek an autograph?
It is not a right. It is not an entitlement.
"Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. . ."
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