254 posts
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Post by lolalou on Jan 28, 2023 18:12:44 GMT
Do production companies record an archive copy (not a pro shot) of an original cast?
To show potential casts going forward? For historical purposes? If so where are they stored and would they ever be able to be seen by the public?
Interested in RUG as an example.
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2,847 posts
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 28, 2023 18:37:56 GMT
Not always, but most shows make archive copies (often just house-cams or a camera from the back of the stalls). Usually the original cast, occasionally replacements are filmed too. RUG probably has its own archives, with some shows in the Lincoln Center archives (not open for the public) and some shows at the V&A. The National Video Archive of Performance (NVAP) has over 300 high-quality live performance recordings made since 1992, including a pro-shot of The Phantom of the Opera recorded in 2003 and Les Miz recorded in 2004 (since you were asking about replacement casts). I think they can be accessed only for academic/ research purpose. The National Theatre Archive is great and can be accessed by anyone on appointment. |
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Post by alessia on Jan 29, 2023 14:28:22 GMT
A few months ago the V&A had a special weekend of screenings from their archives, I went to see the original production of Jerusalem (which was strange, having seen the play 3 times last year, and seeing the different actors in the first version). The recording was very basic, and the audio quite bad- nothing like the NT live level of quality- in case anyone is wondering! Still worth watching to see the slight changes that were made. The V&A theatre section is moving to Stratford, so that archive is not going to be available-to researchers or the public- until they reopen there.
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4,171 posts
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Post by anthony40 on Jan 30, 2023 14:54:01 GMT
Although I also saw the show live, I caught a screening of American Psycho at the V&A and remember thinking at intermission that despite being one of the largest museums in London, out of the whole population of the city, there were only about nine people,
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Post by sph on Jan 31, 2023 3:38:05 GMT
It's very common for larger productions to record the show for archival purposes. Usually just from a static camera in the stalls. In the US I believe many Broadway productions from over the decades are stored in the Lincoln Center library.
In London, shows are filmed like this frequently, usually so that producers can "check up" on a show. For example, if the show has American producers and they want to see how the new understudy is doing and can't be in London.
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Post by alessia on Jan 31, 2023 6:10:04 GMT
Although I also saw the show live, I caught a screening of American Psycho at the V&A and remember thinking at intermission that despite being one of the largest museums in London, out of the whole population of the city, there were only about nine people, I thought the same with the screening of Jerusalem, there were just about 10 people in the room. I was expecting a queue lol. The previous screening (Posh by Laura Wade) also had about 10 people. I think it was a combination of train strikes and not much advertising done by the V&A |
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Post by NorthernAlien on Jan 31, 2023 9:48:07 GMT
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Post by cavocado on Jan 31, 2023 9:59:31 GMT
Although I also saw the show live, I caught a screening of American Psycho at the V&A and remember thinking at intermission that despite being one of the largest museums in London, out of the whole population of the city, there were only about nine people, I thought the same with the screening of Jerusalem, there were just about 10 people in the room. I was expecting a queue lol. The previous screening (Posh by Laura Wade) also had about 10 people. I think it was a combination of train strikes and not much advertising done by the V&A I wonder where/how it was advertised. I go to exhibitions and talks at the V&A sometimes but don't remember seeing anything about this. It's a shame if it wasn't publicised properly - I imagine lots of people would have been interested. Re the NT archive, they did tours during the Open House weekend last year. It was interesting to see what they have there - worth going along if they do it again this year. |
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Post by alessia on Jan 31, 2023 10:49:37 GMT
I don't think they did any publicity other than a tweet from one of the theatre curators- to which I was alerted to by a friend of mine who works in museums collections, and follows this curator. There was a page up on the V&A website but even that was quite hidden, you had to search for it to find it!
Maybe they were worried to get crowds, but they ended up with the opposite.
On the day itself, they had hardly any signage (and zero posters) about the event around the museum, I had to ask a few times to find the lecture theatre.
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Post by cavocado on Jan 31, 2023 19:42:06 GMT
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Post by alessia on Feb 1, 2023 10:08:04 GMT
I hope so too, and perhaps next time they'll have a better space for screenings, the LT in the V&A has very uncomfortable seats and the A/V is bad (on top of the poor audio quality of the recording!) - maybe they will do a similar even when they have moved to their new home. |
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