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[Writing Again]

With this post I have started 42% of the threads in this forum and I'm not even a playwright, nor do I plan to become one except in the case of writing plays for charities or friends.

Doesn't make sense, folks.

Come on, pitch in. Say something.

[JustinoXV]

Playwrights essentially must move to cities like New York (center of theatre), Los Angeles, London, etc.

There, the standard thing is for someone to have their playscript critiqued in what is called a reading. If you're a social person, it's pretty easy to hang out or intern and make the connections to get your playscript shown.

It's a whole different world from screenwriting or novel writing.

[Writing Again]

I knew playwriting was different, and I suspected NYC would be "the place" to be, but I never heard of readings before.

I'm also convinced that even screenwriting with all of its difficulties is easier to break into and make a living at than writing stage plays.

[JustinoXV]

Playwrights are compensated from theatre ticket sales. Which means that your audience is always going to be a lot smaller than the audience of a film.

Theatre is very easy to break into. Since it doesn't cost much to produce a staged production, places like NY will have theatres that stage dozens of productions a year. A good play which receives rave reviews can cost only a few thousand to produce. An indie film, by comparasion, costs somewhere between hundreds of thousands to 12 million dollars to produce.

An organization good at writing grants or that has made money off of previous production can easily produce a play inhouse without going to outside investors (unlike film). The economics of theatre are entirely different. Also, plays generally don't spend millions of dollars in advertising, seldom have to attract big name stars (with the exception of very big broadway production), don't have to have big name directors, don't need special effects, equipment costs are less, barriers to distribution are non existant, etc.

Every theatre company I know off does not require an agent to submit stageplays (maybe a few Broadway productions might be the sole exceptions).

Of course, a big percentage of playwrights have other sources of income.

But that's not the point. Playwrighting is one of the easiest forms of writing to break into, and is much easier to break into than screenwriting.

[Writing Again]

Much different than the picture I had of the situation.

I was primarily aware of how many off Broadway shows folded within a week and figured "One tough racket."

[SimonSays]

Writing Again -

The economics of mounting a Broadway production are a different animal entirely than mounting a regional, community theater, small theater production. There are hundreds of small theaters in LA that manage to survive even though the theaters are 50 seats, the average ticket price is 20 bucks, and they average maybe 30% capacity.

This is the norm for theater productions througout the country. A production on Broadway could never survive with those kinds of numbers.

For large, elaborate musicals - it takes millions to mount the productions. The producers of Wicked invested 14 million to bring it to Broadway - they expect to start making profits this holiday season.

But even straight plays with small casts etc. Cost a lot. The rent for the Broadway theaters is extremely high. There are fixed costs for each and every performance that must be paid whether 400 or 40 or 4 tickets are sold. Advertising and promotion is a must in order to compete with the all the other productions.

Broadway plays are often fast to close, because producers cannot afford to throw good money after bad on all these fixed and mandatory costs - if tickets are not being sold. Theater producers take huge financial risks to bring their shows to Broadway - but the benefits for those that succeed are huge, because not only can they make money off the Broadway production - but the Broadway success can lead to overseas and touring companies that bring in additional profits.

Without the Broadway success it is doubtful that shows like Les Miz or Phantom of the Opera would have become the world-wide phenomenoms they did.

Obviously for writers, one Broadway production can be far more lucrative than a dozen small theater productions.

[Writing Again]

Holy ouch!

[Ella]

Duuude.
I consider myself very lucky. I chose to live in a small city, and the opportunities for dedicated, smart artists are wonderful here. In a bigger centre, some of these opportunities wouldn't be so easy, I think.
We've produced profit-making shows in small venues, in large venues, in basements. We've performed and done extraordinarily well with local playwrights' scripts. One of my friends is getting his script published shortly. You do NOT have to live in a big city to have access to cultural venues. Don't let your location be discouraging.

Community groups and theatre organizations are a wonderful resource for playwrights. No, they're not Broadway, but shooting for Broadway and Broadway alone is like refusing to talk to your neighbour. Start with the building blocks of local and regional support, and build yourself an empire.

:Thumbs:

[Jamesaritchie]

Playwrights essentially must move to cities like New York (center of theatre), Los Angeles, London, etc.

There, the standard thing is for someone to have their playscript critiqued in what is called a reading. If you're a social person, it's pretty easy to hang out or intern and make the connections to get your playscript shown.

It's a whole different world from screenwriting or novel writing.

Well, a playwright will eventually have to move, but I think it's far better to pay your dues writing [[lays for local and regional theater groups. Moving to a big city before you've done this us likely to put you at a huge disadvatnage.

[Ron239]

Breaking into the legitimate theater in New York as a playwright is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT if not nigh impossible. So I don't know where the guy earlier got some idea that it was a cakewalk.
You can spin your wheels for years getting your stuff staged in Off Off venues, but that gets you nowhere. Most agents won't go near those Off Off productions with a ten-foot pole. Believe me, I'm here on the New York scene. The walls are every bit as high in terms of breaking into legit theater as they are in terms of breaking into Hollywood in LA.
The New York theater mafia is alive and well and it is extremely difficult to penetrate.
If your name is Moss Hart, you maybe have a chance. Maybe. (This was what Arthur Miller was essentially alluding to at the Tonys several years ago.
The legit New York theater is essentially a CLOSED SHOP, brother. Newcomes are most definitely not welcome.)

[Jamesaritchie]

Breaking into the legitimate theater in New York as a playwright is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT if not nigh impossible. So I don't know where the guy earlier got some idea that it was a cakewalk.
You can spin your wheels for years getting your stuff staged in Off Off venues, but that gets you nowhere. Most agents won't go near those Off Off productions with a ten-foot pole. Believe me, I'm here on the New York scene. The walls are every bit as high in terms of breaking into legit theater as they are in terms of breaking into Hollywood in LA.
The New York theater mafia is alive and well and it is extremely difficult to penetrate.
If your name is Moss Hart, you maybe have a chance. Maybe. (This was what Arthur Miller was essentially alluding to at the Tonys several years ago.
The legit New York theater is essentially a CLOSED SHOP, brother. Newcomes are most definitely not welcome.)

I wouldn't say it was a closed shop, but it is pretty much closed to those who haven't paid their dues. You simply do not walk into NYC and expect to become a big league playwright. NYC playwriting and LA screenwriting have a lot in common. Neither is closed, but both demand you pay your dues, and both demand the smell of big money before they give you a chance.

Simply put, there's room at the top in both scenes, but there's no room at all at the bottom.

[JustinoXXV]

"Breaking into the legitimate theater in New York as a playwright is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT if not nigh impossible. So I don't know where the guy earlier got some idea that it was a cakewalk.
You can spin your wheels for years getting your stuff staged in Off Off venues, but that gets you nowhere. Most agents won't go near those Off Off productions with a ten-foot pole."

I didn't say do an off off broadway play and expect to be rich. But starting out in Off Off Broadway theatre is a START. If over the years your work is well recieved by the public, and you start moving up to Off Broadway, you can indeed attract agents.

I agree with the person who said screenwriting in LA is like playrighting in NYC.

And yes, paying your dues with local and/or regional writing can help tremendously before you take on NYC. The samme could be said for screenwriting, as a lot of people from indie scenes in NYC or London later on broke into Hollywood in a big way.

[JustinoXXV]

Check out Tyler Perry at www.tylerperry.com (http://www.tylerperry.com)

Tyler Perry started out writing stageplays and having them produced in Atlanta. He began touring the South with his stageplays. Eventually, he became known to African American audiences outside of the South. Then he had a movie produced from one of his stageplays, Diary of A Mad Black Woman. Perry also wrote the screenplay and played 3 characters in his movie.

So this is an example of what James was talking about. Someone built a name for themselves in regional theatre, and used that to break into Hollywood. Perry could easily be in Broadway if he wants to as well.

If you can use regional or local markets to build a name and attract money, they'll love you in LA or NY because money talks, bullshit walks. LOL