I am somewhat fascinated by the impact audience reviews have on Broadway shows. There make of course always been word-of-mouth hits and there ever will be. But I don't personally know many people who select shows because of audience comments on The New York Times website or anything similar. Nevertheless, as emphasis on new media continues to grow, these "ordinary people" reviews are increasingly considered important.
One reading of this is the Sister Act confessional in the Broadway Theatre lobby, where audience members can show a video of holy praise to be uploaded onto YouTube and/or the show's website.
"People were going the record on a buzzy high," said Drew Hodges, CEO of SpotCo, the ad agency behind the tv booth. "We wanted some way to catch what masses were saying."
While I am not sure these videos translate to box office, I am impressed by the Sister Act endeavor. If you do believe these testimonials matter, this is the way to get them. It's one thing to get a Playbill insert - which Sister Act also has - telling people to publish reviews on The Times, Yelp, Trip Advisor and Broadway Box, but it's another to bring the technology to the audience, catching them as they are coming out tapping their toes. This allows the response to be recorded immediately while audience members are even on the live theater high - no thinking time allowed. The mind is so brilliant SpotCo isn't the just one to take thought of it; Barrington Stage Company has a stall in its lobby called iCritic which functions much in the like way as the Sister Act portal (though it is substantially less pretty).
The Sister Act booth, which has been at the field around three weeks, was a collaboration between SpotCo (the idea people), Associate Set Designer Andrew Edwards (the guy in charge of modelling the world after the show's confessional) and a city fire marshal (the mortal who has to read up and approve such things). While the booth is promoted by only a Playbill insert and small, unostentatious house in the lobby, hundreds of folks so far have stopped in and recorded their thoughts.
The squad at SpotCo watches each video and posts the favorites to YouTube and/or the show's website. Hodges insists that no negative videos have been recorded, but does acknowledge that some audience members record videos that have aught to do with Broadway.
"Some people bear said confessional things like: 'I slept with my best friend's boyfriend,'" Hodges shared. "You can't say if they are good or not - we don't put them up."
The videos that are uploaded are chosen for their vibrancy, as one might imagine. In the Broadway world, not all videos are uploaded because, well, not all are interesting. Out in the Berkshires on the other hand, Barrington Stage Company puts up every video, positive or negative, exciting or boring. "The sole exceptions would be if someone records a blank video or if they use vulgar language or violate YouTube's community guidelines," stated Barrington Marketing Director Laura Roudabush.
Whether any Broadway show would have it as far as Barrington remains to be seen. I find not many people would go through the drive of recording a video review in a theatre lobby if they hated a show. But there will be about and I think that it would have a real brave - possibly crazy/stupid - commercial producer to put up video slams of a production.
Regardless, these booths may very easily be forthcoming to a field near you. They can be less than traditional audience reaction commercials, be refreshed quickly and experience genuine. There is an artificial quality when a person talks outside a house with camera crews and everyone else watching; this is more real. Edited, but messy and therefore somehow sincere.
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