Dreadful cheap imitation shows

Well, looking at the map for Whitney theres barely a seat sold so there might not be a lot of noise!

We get plenty of (to my ears) awful sounding tribute type concerts at St David's Hall here. Frankly as long as I don't have to see them they aren't hurting me and they keep the struggling venues afloat so crack on with your Roy Orbison tributes or whatnot.

To my mind it's like the big BCC/ITV/Nickleodeon tie in type kids shows- they aren't for me, even if I had kids I wouldn't want to be taking them to them. BUT they aren't impacting on my life negatively (except when Disney on Ice means you can't move in town for kids dressed as Elsa) so I just sort of think 'live and let theatre'

The exception being when I book for a thing, thinking it's perhaps another thing and end up in an awful show. But I guess that's on me for not being observant.

I've recently discovered a friend of a friend is embarking on a Bowie Tribute act career and my FB and twitter is currently spammed with Bad Bowie (not the name he's going for but it should be!!)

^Mr Snow  are you turning into a herb?

I used to work in a bookshop. Some of you may be familiar with the Rainbow Magic series? Formulaic little volumes about two human girls helping fairies do... whatever it is fairies need help with, I guess. There are over 200 of them, churned out by the half dozen by a group of authors under the collective pseudonym Daisy Meadows. Parents would ABSOLUTELY DESPAIR over having to buy these books, but the kids loved them and would clamour for more. If a kid is allowed to read the books they want to read, then they'll enjoy reading. If a kid is told their books of choice are tosh and encouraged to read something the parent considers worthy, then the kid is more likely to consider reading a chore. I watched my regular customers graduate organically from Rainbow Magic to Narnia to His Dark Materials, all the while trying not to scream when people would ask for "something for my daughter who's a reluctant reader, she loves those fairy books but I want her to read *real* books".

The first key to getting anyone to do ANYTHING in a specific venue is getting them through the door. The Site We Don't Mention had an article recently about playwrights who first entered theatres for entirely prosaic reasons and ended up hanging around. Terry Crews's advice for people seeking workout motivation is to just GO to the gym, not even bothering with DOING anything at the gym at first, as it's the habit of GOING to the gym that is the important part.

If these tribute shows get people through the door, then that's the important thing. The theatre welcomes everyone, and it is more than possible to graduate from Thank Abba For The Music to Mamma Mia! to Hairspray to Caroline Or Change to Fences. And - here's where the sugar analogy falls down, sorry - even if a person doesn't graduate beyond the tribute acts, so what? They're not hurting anyone. They're not watching tribute shows for three meals a day so they're not even hurting themselves. People aren't *only* what they see in the theatre, or watch on TV, or read, or listen to. So... live and let theatre!

AND ANOTHER THING

What if people just REALLY like the music of these acts and can't see the real deal because they don't tour near them/are retired/dead. If it's a good act in the realm of 'lets me relive a band I just really love' then I don't have a problem with it, with y'know people having fun.

With the books thing it's boiling down to snobbery again really. I first set foot in a theatre because I wanted to see Gillian Anderson. I make no apologies for that. And that's just as 'low brow' a reason as 'I like Abba so saw Mama Mia' if we're being pedantic about it!!

Damien Hirst, in response to the question "but is it really art?" replied "if it's in an art gallery it's art". I didn't agree with that and I don't agree that just because something is performed in a theatre, it's theatre.

I also think that the notion that someone who goes to see The Solid Gold Rock n Roll Show is going to have an epiphany and start progressing to legit musical theatre, plays etc is a lovely idea but hugely improbable.

In addition to the consecutive Orbison/Stewart shows in my list, five of the later ones are running on consecutive nights which means the Opera House is giving itself over to this stuff for a full week. It's sad that something with a bit more substance can't be found to fill the place for that, and let these acts slot in on the odd days when there's a gap, Sunday nights etc.

Also I'm far from a theatre snob, because as you may have noted my taste is more populist than most on here (I drew the line at The Wedding Singer though

I mean I don't disagree...but then what if I want a quiet drink in the Dog and Duck hmmm?

Please let’s not involve the Children in this! Let’s talk this through like mature adults.



I could make the argument that its better to take developing curious minds to a Pantomine than to a Justin Bieber tribute act, but that’s not the point. If the theatre is full of tribute acts, then there won’t be times to put on a Panto and that thought makes me sad.



Re the thought that just need to experience where the theatre is falls down because these acts aren’t really offering live theatre at all. If they were spoofing the act, or interpreting the songs they would belong to the grand tradition. Being a human Juke Box only teaches us how good and hard to impersonate the originals are. And like the diet analogy, take sugar you’ll just crave another fix. Arguing that eating the lowest quality food (IMO of course) is a satisfactory way to get people involved with choosing a varied healthy diet, is a very strange argument. Any if you really think obese people and alcoholics are only affecting themselves...I suppose it comes down to how much you believe value, if any, Theatre adds to society.



As I said its not a popular viewpoint today. But not all experiences are of equal value.



PS

MMM "Snobbery" - that’s done it. I won’t be liking any threads from Welsh posters this week!

PPS I’ll tell Gillian Anderson you compared her appeal to that of a tribute act. I don’t think she’ll be pleased.






Anyway note to self.   I should be doing some work!

Well Gillian does a mean Bowie in American Gods so she wouldn't mind

And not liking Welsh posts is racist.

This post, like most of my others should be taken with a hefty dose of sarcasm and a pinch of salt....