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can we talk about shows during previews? | thoughts about early feedback for new theatre openings
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Mickey Jo
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ACAST helps creators launch, Grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com so based on some of the stuff that I've been seeing online over the past couple of days, it seems like this would be a great time for us to discuss previews. Preview performances in theatre. What they mean, what they're for, but particularly who who is allowed to talk about the show after seeing one of them? Who is allowed to say negative things about a show? Having seen an early preview performance? Is it everyone? Is it individuals who have bought a ticket? Why don't critics review shows during previews? Or do they? And is that all beginning to change? Anyway, plenty to talk about, as well as a little bit of online drama to unpack as we dive into the world of theatrical preview performances. But just before we do, an introduction to me. Oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to those of you listening to this on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. Who am I? Well, I am a full time theatre critic, content creator and pundit. Which means I spend every day of my life either seeing or talking about theatre. Which is what we're gonna do right now. Because every time I open TikTok or Instagram, where you can also find me sharing short form content, incidentally, I see more and more commentary about a couple of shows which until very were in previews, which is to say they had not yet officially opened, they hadn't had their press night. One of these is Dracula, starring Cynthia Erivo at the Noel Coward Theatre in the West End, imminently about to open. The other is Legally Blonde, which now has had its press night performance. Although to say that it's open to the critics would imply that critics are allowed to review this particular tour. More on that later on. But alongside the audience responses to this show, I'm seeing a lot of dialogue in the comments about whether all of this is inherently unfair because people may have been to see preview performances. And the notion that people ought not to review a preview ought not to review a show until after it opens is one that over the past decade or so has now become better understood by the masses. But is it at exactly the same time growing a little more redundant? So today, as well as bringing you my thoughts about whether or not audience members are entitled to share their thoughts on shows they've paid to go and see during previews. We're also going to define what exactly a preview performance is and talk about the way in which it works for critics, both in the West End and on Broadway. Spoiler alert. There's a big difference, one which does in fact make the whole don't review during previews conversation a little bit confusing. But I'm getting ahead of myself. There are plenty of moments in this conversation in which your feedback would be very valuable. In the comments section down below, what do you think about all of this? Would you share your thoughts online publicly on a large platform? Having seen a preview performance? Do you deliberately book or Avoid preview performances and who do you think is entitled to talk about them? Meanwhile, if you enjoy listening to my thoughts and would like to hear more of them about all things theatre, make sure you're subscribed here on YouTube or following me on podcast platforms. But let's get straight into it, beginning with a conversation about what preview performances actually are. So let's back the party bus all the way up here and talk about what we actually mean when we talk about preview performances. And this explanation is perhaps a long time coming because I do think the theatre industry increasing thinks of preview as a dirty word. And often it seems as though they are kind of eschewing the idea of disclosing to an audience that what they're seeing is actually a preview. Certainly a lot of producers seem not to be pricing their shows as if previews exist, in spite of the fact that they still do. Basically, when almost any theatrical production begins its run, and I'm talking about a sit down run in one location rather than a tour stop, potentially, there will usually be a number of preview performances. The exact number tends to be somewhat proportional to the length of the run. If something is only going to be playing for a month, then there will generally be less than a week of previews. This varies based on the producer, the institution, the theatre, all of these ideas. If something is only going to be playing for a week, there might be only one or two preview performances if any. Shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe tend to have like a first weekend of previews, whereas new West End musicals might have up to month of preview performances, especially if they are big shows. Paddington the Musical had about a month of previews. Often something will have a few weeks. Most Broadway productions, I want to say, have about three weeks of previews, some slightly more, some slightly less, depending on where they've transferred from. Basically, previews give you time to put the show on its feet. And of course you do so much of this during the rehearsal process. You run the show, you get everything sort of locked in in terms of learning lines and that everything flows seamlessly and everything is going to work. But there is a certain element of creating live theater that you can't really plan for or understand or respond to until you have an audience in the space. And it's not just doing the show on a stage for the first time and getting it on its feet and doing it with lights and costumes. That's what dress and tech rehearsals are for. It's actually the conversation that it enters into with a live audience and how they respond to things. A preview process is as much for actors as it is for creatives to tinker with their own performances, as it is to tinker with the overall show. And songs have been written and added into shows during preview. Stephen Sondheim used to love throwing a new song in during previews, often some of his best work. Additionally, songs have been cut from shows during previews. A lot of people have bragging rights over having seen now huge shows very early on in their run and having seen songs that have never been performed since. And so there is an excitement about going to see a show during this time, because from one night to the next, you might be getting a completely different version of it. That being said, these days, new theatrical productions seem to fluctuate less in comparison to the way in which they would during the 1970s or 1980s. And by and large, preview performances are often a little more seamless. Not always, but often. One of the most common things that you might notice is the sound design might not be perfected by the first preview, because getting all of those audience bodies into a room is actually going to affect the sound balance, and they then have to work on that thereafter. The running time, for various technical reasons, can often be much longer on a first preview than it will be even a few days later. Burlesque noticed this at the Savoy. So did the Hunger Games. And having said that, previews are for actors and creatives, they are also for the crew members and for the technical teams who haven't had the same kind of effective rehearsal time as everyone else, because they can only really begin to start doing their various jobs once the thing arrives in the theatre and is actually in performances now. The very first of these, the public performance of a show, after often a private or invited dress rehearsal, will be the first preview. And an issue that we are facing which kind of blurs the lines of understanding is this is often falsely referred to as opening night because the show is accepting a public audience for the first time and the doors are open and it's the first one you can buy tickets to. So in theatrical terminology, you see this and you think, oh my gosh, it's opening night. And when the show's social media account reinforces that idea by doing a countdown to opening night and you know that's the first preview, I think that actually does more damage than you might realize. You may think I'm being facetious here, or that I'm grasping onto a pointless, trivial detail, but there are big problems which arise from not clearly enough indicating to an audience that These are actually previews. And that opening night is when the thing is really done and open and ready. Because even without a thorough understanding of what these words mean, I think opening night communicates a very different idea to a ticket buyer than first preview. A concept which, by the way, is not unique to the world of theatre. Restaurants have this, theme parks have this, and customers in each of those instances know what that means and what to expect. Meanwhile, the official opening night, sometimes referred to as press night because it's the night when press will attend and review, or sometimes referred to as a gala night or gala opening, comes at the end of the preview period, although that doesn't necessarily mean that that is the first performance at which the show is finished and ready. Usually the show will get frozen, meaning no further changes are going to be made late into the preview period, but not at the very end. The reason why has to do with the way in which shows are reviewed, particularly on Broadway. But before we get to that, I do want to talk about one important detail that is usually present during a show's preview period and that is a reduction in ticket costs. And I do think that we tend to look back on the past with somewhat rose tinted glasses. But I personally seem to recall more of a difference between pre opening night prices and post opening night prices in years gone by than you would see now in newly opening West End shows, for example. And a question that I have asked here before is how much cheaper do we think previews should be if there is an expectation that audience members are going to see them differently, that they are going to, you know, not bring the same level of scrutiny or not criticize them publicly afterwards? Do they need to be just £10 cheaper per ticket? Do they need to be half the price? Do they all need to be a set price? And I'm very curious to hear what you think about this in the comments. Certainly I think there does need to be some kind of a difference. And there was a show recently, I won't name the individual producer, but they took to social media after some harsh first preview audience feedback and said, don't people know what preview means? And my response to that would be that, you know, it isn't for the producers who don't know how previews ought to be priced to bring that particular complaint to social media. Because this show had discernibly no difference in ticket prices from first preview to opening night, to the day after opening night, to the end of its run, other than the dynamic pricing that happened when tickets began to become scarce and the show sold very well, but I think that's heinous to not have any kind of reduction during previews and to then criticize your audience for daring to talk honestly about their very poor first preview experience. Anyway, we could keep talking about this, but I feel as though I have conveyed what previews are. Let me talk about the way in which they work for critics. So are you have been very lucky to have the opportunity to review shows in an official capacity on either side of the Atlantic, but I obviously do it much more here in the uk and the way that it works here is shifting a little bit. But the culture generally is that critics will attend a show on its opening night, which is often referred to as press night, and very often will be a slightly earlier performance. For the most part, shows begin in the West End at 7:30. A press night performance very often will begin at 7pm instead. It gives the newspaper critics time to go away afterwards and write a review and have it filed ahead of a midnight deadline, which I believe is based on the times at which things are going to go to print. Everything about this concept is sort of a remnant from the way in which things used to be done and hasn't necessarily shifted in response to the digital age. But it's also not a big deal. And admittedly there's not a lot of critics like me at a press night who take minimum 90 minutes to turn around a full video review, for whom, you know, Bringing the performance 30 minutes earlier doesn't make that much of a difference. But this is not specifically about me. Very often it is not possible to get all of the critics into that one press night performance either, because there is not enough capacity within the audience. Because for that press night, you also have to invite, you know, all of the creatives are going to be there, writers, if it's a revival, people from yesteryear, guests of the performers, celebrities, a lot of other people need to be factored into the opening night seating plan. And you do have this slightly interesting dynamic of critics rubbing shoulders with celebs and with the creatives who worked on the show and family members and all of these types, which is only as awkward as we all make it. A critic may also not be able to attend press night because of their own schedule, because in spite of everyone's determination that things aren't going to clash between which sometimes they do. There are so many theatres around London. There are also theatres all around the country and you are going to run into issues inevitably, in which instance PRs will occasionally invite critics to attend a later or if they're lucky, an earlier performance. Occasionally it is possible to see the show one or two performances in advance under embargo, meaning that you are allowed to see it a couple days ahead of its opening night after the show has been frozen in previews. And you are allowed to put a review together, but you're not allowed to publish it until everyone else is going to publish theirs after the press night performance. For the most part, if you see a review of mine go out at the same time as everyone else, it's because I saw something early and not because I am suddenly the flash. We both just happen to look great in red, and that is the way generally in which it is done. In London, when we head over to Broadway, there is a completely different system, because I was surprised to learn a couple years ago when I first started to do this and to engage with the industry over there, that Broadway's critics do not attend opening night performances. And I thought if anything, they would be more likely to, because Broadway opening nights are buzzy and glitzy and exciting and you see a lot of outlets and media representatives on an opening night carpet, the likes of which we do not have as much of in the UK simply because we don't have the pavement space. But it turns out Broadway critics don't attend that big, flashy the gala opening night. What they do instead is attend one of a handful, usually of press preview performances. And when you hear that phrase, it starts to get very confusing when we just issue this blanket statement that no one is allowed to talk about a show during previews because it turns out on Broadway, that's exactly when a show is getting reviewed. Only these press previews are specifically towards the very end of the preview period. They are usually only in the final four or five days, if that, before a show's opening night. But the notion of don't review during previews with no context whatsoever, that is somewhat pierced by this idea. And someone who buys a ticket could end up sitting next to the critic from the New York Times. And just because it's a preview, they may feel as though they can't say anything about the show, when in fact the show is being reviewed at that very moment. So perhaps what we really mean is don't review a show during early previews. But even then, it's hard for audience members often to discern whether what they're seeing is a pre or post opening night performance. If it isn't made clear to then go that extra step and try and figure out whether this is an early preview, a late preview, whether it's technically been frozen, this kind of information isn't necessarily even available publicly. Interestingly, the British system does seem to be changing a little bit. We have more and more Broadway producers beginning to work over here, and it seems as though some of the London PR representatives are absorbing that way of working. And we're seeing more and more London openings doing a press preview style of invitation, a system which I actually welcome completely. And speaking of making my life easier, if we're talking about how critics review, I think we also need to talk about new critical voices on social media, to use a somewhat reductive term. Let's talk about the influencer critics, the majority of whom you can find these days on TikTok, also on Instagram, but it's really on TikTok that people are embracing that platform to broadcast their thoughts about a show that they have just seen. Some of them are invited by the production specifically to create review style content. Some of them are invited by the production to create influencer style content. And it's worth pointing out those are two distinctly different things, because especially on Broadway, a show's marketing or social media representatives are inviting influencers in order to create something fun, engaging and inherently positive about a show. Whereas the PR team, if they are inviting influencers, which I find happens fairly infrequently, are doing so in order that someone can create an honest review with no prior understanding between parties that this is necessarily going to skew positive. The problem that we get is there are a lot of people who are being treated like influencers, but behave more like critics as they are entitled to the content that they make is more in line with honest reviews. And yet they're being invited by social media teams and marketing teams, and social and marketing don't really tend to invite people to the press preview. Sometimes they might happen to, or they might be able to, but by and large they want people in as early as possible. They are inviting for the first preview or the second preview, or the first week, or sometimes the invited dress rehearsal, at which point it is obviously completely inappropriate to create review style content. And yet, just occasionally, it does happen because tickets are expensive, schedules are full, and sometimes these are the only opportunities that social media content creators will have to go and see shows. And especially if they have something positive to say. If it's a limited run, if it's not selling particularly well, they want to be able to help with their positive review style content as early as they can. And make no mistake, no one is mad at an early social media review if it's really positive. But in my opinion, the rules of engagement when it comes to when and how we review theatre ought not to change based on whether or not we liked it. And yet, I do think that Broadway in particular is creating its own problem here by not treating social media critics as critics and inviting them through PR channels to press preview performances by passing them over to social media and marketing. And I've literally had this happen to me on a number of occasions. They are creating inherent challenges within the landscape. And every time I get shuffled over to a social media person just because the content I'm putting together happens to be on YouTube, I feel like a bomb arriving in their inbox, threatening to arrive and create this potentially negative review of their production that they're just trying to build enthusiastic buzz around. In other words, if a show's producers don't want early preview reviews on social media from content creators, then they need to treat those content creators like critics if they want them to act like critics. And the reason why I wanted to bring up social media creators in addition to print and online critics is because I think, especially when it comes to social media and TikTok, people will emulate the behavior which they see. More and more people are taking to social media and power to them. And I love that this is happening and creating their own theater blogs or just talking more about the theater that they go to see, even if they don't have a separate website, even if they don't have branding, even if it's just like, I'm seeing a lot more theater these days and I want to talk about it online, people will emulate the behavior that they are seeing from the biggest creators in that field. And so if they see people going to a first preview, booking tickets in some instances to a first preview, and then delivering something that they don't necessarily say is a review, but looks like a review and sounds like a review, people are going to emulate that. People are going to do that for themselves. They see it getting great engagement because it's the first preview, it's the first one out the gate. The print critics are actually getting a little bit annoyed about all of the social media discourse around previews. Evita was a great example of this. When there was so much discussion about the balcony and Rachel Zegler and how it was playing on the street and what it was achieving and how it was playing inside the room, by the time the show eventually opened, it felt moot to even review the thing because for weeks, everyone had already been discussing it, and the critics felt like they were in the back seat of that conversation. And sometimes it's actually even more egregious. And peers of mine, friends of mine, and I've told them how I feel about this, have gone to see first previews, invited dress rehearsals, and then published something that is called a review, which I think then gives way to all of the other problems we are beginning to see, two of which we're going to talk about right now. Let's talk about Dracula and Lee.
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Mickey Jo
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Chase Mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JP Morgan Chase Bank NA Member FDIC Blonde. So it is no accident that these are the two productions right now which are being discussed in previews or which were being discussed in previews. It has to do with the level of hype surrounding the shows as a direct result of the casting and people I think are very excited about a popular show like Legally Blonde coming back. But were it not for the fact that Amber Davis is starring as Elle, Hannah Lowther is understudying the role and also appearing as Margot. If that weren't happening, it wouldn't be getting the same level of extraordinary social media scrutiny on the likes of TikTok. Same thing with Cynthia Erivo in Dracula. If this was just a production of Dracula in the West End, people wouldn't be losing their minds during previews and battling each other in the comments section about whether or not they're even allowed to say how they feel about the show. Now, my algorithm must be doing me some kind of a favor, because all I am seeing about Legally Blonde is people speaking out against the criticism of performers in the show based on curtain call footage. I'm not actually seeing the criticism itself. I'm just seeing people pushing back against that idea. But the notion that people are taking bows footage from first preview invited dress rehearsal, which they had at the Leicester Curve, where the Legally Blonde Twitter has recently started performances. The idea that people are scrutinizing performers based on choreographed bows is wild to me. And you know what my position is on this. I've said it many times before. If you haven't seen the show, then you can't. You inherently can't form a fair and robust criticism. This goes, and I know it's controversial for people who have only listened to a cast recording or only seen. Seen a bootleg. There are things you can say. You can talk about the score and the writing, and you can talk about an awful lot of it, but unless you've had that legitimate, in person, full theatrical experience, then you can't talk about it entirely. And honestly, I don't think so. And the idea of looking at Bao's footage and saying, like, I don't believe her, like, I'm just not getting l from this or whatever nonsense people might be saying I think is so spectacularly stupid. Especially when shows like Sunset Boulevard and other Jamie Lord productions were criticized for their very somber bows and people saying, like, why can't they just smile and be themselves now? People aren't in character enough during the bows. Clearly there is no way to make everyone happy on the Internet. And I get that people are desperate to see this show and might not be in the right part of the world to see it and might not be able to afford to see it. So they are gripping onto do this thing, but then respond with positivity. I couldn't imagine hating on bows from the other side of the country or from the other side of the world. What's even the point? And also just do it privately. If you want to dislike something for yourself and hold that within your heart, you go right ahead. But why people have to share that and broadcast it is so bizarre to me now, all of that being said if people have gone into the theatre and paid for a ticket during previews, I do think that that audience is allowed to talk about the show and marketing and producers and pr. They want them to. They want positive buzz to begin to form. And if negative buzz forms, then, you know, they can't say no to that. It always tickles me when you see audience members being filmed. When the marketing team comes in and they're getting people to do vox pops and they're giving them microphones, they're saying, saying, what did you think of the show? People, especially a British audience, will either politely decline to do it or, for the most part, will always respond positively. And it's not a brutally honest reflection of the entire audience. You're getting positive, excitable, polite responses and they're not necessarily untrue, but they're also not necessarily reflective of the entire auditorium. They're pulling people who look like they had a great time and who are going to tell the camera as much. But I do think that anyone who paid money to see a piece of theatre is of course allowed to talk about their experience. What I would hope is that people do so in the context of having seen a preview, and hopefully they are aware of the fact they saw a preview. Hopefully they have paid a lesser price for having seen a preview. If they haven't, then this all gets a little bit tricky to justify and that then goes back to the producers. If you want people to treat your show with grace and with kindness and with patience during those early weeks, then charge them lesser prices. But I do hope that when people take to social media, especially people who are influencers, not even just from within the theater realm, but who know the power of their voice and the reach of their platform, I hope that people would say this was a preview. Things are subject to change. The show may not yet have been finished creatively, and, you know, this is what we signed up for. And to acknowledge the elephant in the room on this one somewhat. There has been a lot of conversation about the early preview performances of Dracula. And just to prepare you, I think there's going to be a lot of conversation about Dracula over the coming days. And while a lot of the Legally Blonde stuff is, I think, just happening because Amber Davis has been so public facing recently and she was so scrutinized while she was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, the Dracula star, a lot of this, make no mistake, a lot of the negativity around the production is spawning from misogynoir targeted towards Cynthia Erivo, but more so by sort of trolls that you're encountering in the comments section. The people starting these conversations are doing so because it's something that they want to talk about. They saw the production, they have strong feelings because it's a piece of theater that evokes strong feelings. This is another one in the same style of the recent West End and Broadway production of the Picture of Dorian Gray, starring Sarah Snook performing every role within the narrative, Cynthia is doing the same thing for Dracula, once again adapted and directed by Australian theatre maker Kip Williams. And much of this preview conversation, some of it from other actors in the industry who have seen this performance, has been about show delays and Cynthia apparently not being able to recall all of her lines and utilizing autocues in order to do so. And she is performing on stage all of these roles, all of the words of this like 20,000 word monologue. She's basically reciting the book that is Dracula, which I have recently been rereading, having read it before. And I wouldn't want to have to do the whole thing from memory either. But that's what people are talking about. And with a celebrated performer like Cynthia Eriva, I imagine it is a very jarring experience to go into the theatre and experience anything less than a completely polished performance. It's just not what people expect in London's West End either. Even in first previews. And I would highlight here if people want to go and check out recordings that were made of, I think was the first Broadway preview of Sweeney Todd and listen to Angela Lansbury, one of the greatest theatrical talents who ever lived, trying to navigate the complexity of the worst pies in London or by the sea. I think we might all find it within ourselves to grant the likes of Cynthia Erivo a little more grace, because first previews can be very challenging. And like I said, the product nowadays tends to be a lot more finished before anyone sees it. But embroiled in this whole idea of misogynoir and everything that is directed against Cynthia. Everyone's talking about this as though she is the first performer ever in the history of the world to not be able to recall all of her lines on stage. And there are many other examples of when this has happened. Recently there was talk of this having happened to Denzel Washington in early previews of Othello on Broadway. There are actors who in their later years understandably wore an earpiece on stage. Angela Lansbury, not to harp on Angela again, but kept performing, coming so extensively in her later years and understandably utilized an earpiece. And had an off stage prompt. Meanwhile, Dracula is one of those productions which is incorporating cameras and screens. And so there's obviously something very awkward about an auto cue being in the frame and people noticing it. However, I want to move away from this idea that an auto cue is a completely shameful thing and people have to, per the great Shakespearean tradition, take to the stage and have memorized all of these things. I don't think a great acting performance, and this is maybe one of the more controversial things I've ever said is about memory. Just recently, the New York City Centre Encores series have reintroduced the idea of holding scripts on stage to allow actors to give stronger performances. These being very limited runs, which take place after an incredibly limited rehearsal process and originated as very semi staged concerts that have become, become bigger and bigger over the years. But I don't know when exactly we decided that everything an actor does on stage must be completely unaided. And you know, what's so wrong about having an earpiece that feeds someone a line if that's something that they need in order to give their performance? We all have different brains when it comes to memory and recall. And is it really such a bad thing if someone requires as a prompt, if someone is pulling a line from somewhere other than, you know, everything that they're holding in their mind and people will always say, like, x other actor did a longer solo play or this person didn't need this, or this person wouldn't have to do it, which is fine, but everyone is a different human being with different needs. And you know, no one is a better actor for doing it without the support. This just feeds into the whole like method actor thing. And what makes it a more legitimate performance? If you are able to convince the audience of a character without wearing makeup or prosthetics, does that make you a better actor than somebody who utilizes them? If you don't need to wear an appropriate costume, if you can tell the story without that, do these trivial details really matter? Is there even such a thing as a better performance than another? I'm getting into very murky territory here, but the whole idea that an auto cue is dreadful. Are the news readers meant to start doing the news? Are TV hosts meant to start doing morning shows without autocues because it's disingenuous to read a preordained script? Are we really so incapable in the theater of creative imagination suspension of disbelief, that being reminded that this actor isn't coming up with these words on the fly, that somebody wrote this, that Dracula isn't An entirely new concept happening before our eyes is going to ruin the immersion of the entire thing for us. And maybe your answer is yes. I don't want people to use earpieces. I don't want to see auto cues, I don't want to see scripts in hand. And that's fine. And maybe that's a valid and even the correct answer. But I think it's something worth reflecting on while a lot of this conversation sort of becomes over.
- [36:35]
Mickey Jo
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- [37:42]
Podcast Host/Co-host
Why would they sell jeans with holes in them? I'm going to speak to the manager. Mom, that hoodie is giving. You should get it yolo.
- [37:49]
Mickey Jo
Thanks to the Chase Mobile app, your kid can shop independently while you keep an eye on their spending. So you can go from we can be twinsies to how was shopping? Saw you stayed on budget.
- [37:59]
Podcast Host/Co-host
Thanks, Mom.
- [38:00]
Mickey Jo
Freedom for kids, control for parents. That's family banking from Chase accounts subject to approval.
- [38:05]
Podcast Host/Co-host
Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JP Morgan, Chase Bank NA Member, FDA Amplified. Meanwhile, my thoughts on who gets to share their thoughts online, even if negative after a preview performance, is that critics are expected to adhere to a code of conduct, especially when they have been invited by the production to review. If they haven't been invited, then things change a little bit. And I teased that thing about Legally Blonde at this time. And this may change. The show is not currently planning to invite national critics, by which I mean critics who cover in London and around the country. It's sort of one of those things that people say that no longer means anything, but they're no longer inviting nationals to review the show. It will get reviewed by regional outlets at each tour stop. But the likes of what's on stage, for example, won't be invited to review Legally Blonde until such a time potentially as A Further Life or West End Transfer, which has not yet been confirmed. Nobody get excited. Excited. There is something of an issue when more and more productions are calling themselves development runs which are not going to be reviewed at all because the show is still changing, the material is still metamorphosizing. And it's interesting because we do review shows at the Fringe, which is sort of the earliest stage of development. So to have fully staged productions at sizable London venues calling themselves entirely development runs which won't be reviewed for their duration, will come back again, still won't be reviewed for their duration, that I begin to find a little bit puzzling because I think if you as a producer are charging any audience a ticket price, you are open to scrutiny. And so for these one night only concerts, when they say, well, it doesn't need to be reviewed because it's just a one night only thing, or if it's a public workshop charging high ticket prices, then I have a little bit of an issue issue, because I think anything charging audiences money deserves scrutiny. Now at the same time, I think an expectation of perfection, the moment something is put on a stage for the very first time is unrealistic. And I think if you're booking an early preview performance, then again, hopefully you've paid a lesser ticket price and you have perhaps more license to be critical if you haven't in your eyes. But I do think that that ought to be met with a certain quantity of grace. And I actually think from these dual situations and from this entire conversation, I don't have a set of instructions for audience members who go and see a preview performance. If anything, I have more instructions for producers about how the preview process needs to be reframed. And I think, and my friend Ashley Hufford from New York City said this very well not too long ago over on TikTok, that we should be utilizing audiences at preview performances more meaningfully. And there should be QR codes around the building and they should be saying enthusiastically and loudly, this is a preview. You will, through your response to the show, have the chance to help shape its direction based on when they laugh, based on how they engage with it. That is going to make changes, changes to the show just by being there, just by experiencing the show. But also QR codes around so that they can give meaningful feedback and so you can poll the audience who you had in the room rather than just trying to watch them and listen to them and infer from the noises that they do or don't make whether or not they enjoyed it. The bullet that has to be bit, I think, is acknowledging that these are previews charging less for these as previews, which during financially trying times is a bitter pill to swallow. But ultimately that is going to safeguard producers against potentially challenging preview periods. For the shows that open pretty much as final products and are instantly ready, then it's less of a concern. But it's a bit of a gamble to assume you'll be in that position only to find out that you aren't. So what to conclude out of all of this? Well, we know what preview performances are. I think there needs to be more transparency from producers, from marketing and social media to audiences about the nature of previews. I don't think we should be sharing these big celebratory graphics and social media posts until the opening night performance. I think that does need to be delayed and we should celebrate openings when something is officially opening and not just in previews. Meanwhile, I think word of mouth during previews has always existed. It just looks a little bit different now and we are encountering it it in a slightly different way. At the same time, I think people ought to be responsible about online platforms. Not just content creators who have some expectation of how large a post might become and the audience that they're speaking to, but also anyone who feels emboldened enough to go on an app like TikTok and record their thoughts and feelings, because these need to be shared with the world. Everyone has to understand the possibility of, of virality, especially if they're doing this about a show that everyone else is talking about and that this could get disproportionately big. And on that basis, people should still be talking about shows, whether they're audience members, content creators, full time critics. People should be talking about shows responsibly, in context, which is to say this was a preview. Things might change. I'm going to grant this some grace and, and kindly and respectfully. And it doesn't mean that we can't criticize things that we didn't like, or talk about problems, or talk about the fact that mistakes were made. And undeniably, I think there is now more pressure on shows during previews because this has become a possibility. And as the way in which we have these conversations changes, and as the world continues to change, it will be interesting to see whether the theater industry on either side of the Atlantic meaningfully responds. On which note, at the exact time that earliest audiences are seeing or hearing this conversation. I may already be at the final preview performance of Dracula, to which I have been invited in order to put together a review under Embargo, a review which you will be able to listen to for the first time late Tuesday evening this week. Stay tuned for that and if you don't want to miss it, make sure that you're subscribed here on YouTube with the notifications turned on or following me on podcast platforms. Those of you who are subscribed can look forward to more industry conversations just like this one, as well as many other reviews. In the meantime, thank you for listening to this. Make sure to share all of your thoughts and feelings in the comments section down below. As a critic, I don't tend to attend many preview performances. Those of you who do, I would love to know what you think about this. And as always, I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.
- [45:08]
Mickey Jo
Shopping with your parents can be embarrassing.
- [45:10]
Podcast Host/Co-host
Why would they sell jeans with holes in them? I'm going to speak to the manager. Mom, that hoodie is giving. You should get it yolo thanks to.
- [45:16]
Mickey Jo
The Chase Mobile app, your kid can shop independently while you keep an eye on their spending. So you can go from we can be twinsies to how was shopping? Saw you stayed on budget.
- [45:27]
Podcast Host/Co-host
Thanks Mom.
- [45:28]
Mickey Jo
Freedom for kids, Control for parents. That's family banking for Chase Account Subject to approval.
- [45:33]
Podcast Host/Co-host
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Mickey Jo
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Podcast Host/Co-host
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Mickey Jo
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Podcast Host/Co-host
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Mickey Jo
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Podcast Host/Co-host
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