Research Catalog

Title

[Interview with Rocco Landesman : raw footage] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]

Publication

New York, 2003.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Landesman, Rocco, 1947-
• Kantor, Michael, 1961-
• Hunt, Mead
• Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.
• Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Description

1 videocassette (VHS) (45 min.) : sd., col. SP; 1/2 in.

Summary

Raw interview footage used for the documentary Broadway, the American musical. Theater owner, executive and Broadway producer Rocco Landesman describes how mounting a show on Broadway has changed since the days of David Merrick, whose last show 42nd Street opened in 1980. With the average musical costing $10 to $12 million to produce, Broadway has become a business of "hit and flop," and there is little room for moderately successful shows such as Merrick and his contemporaries offered. Producing now requires large groups of producers and investors and, frequently, corporate sponsorship. The era of the solo impressario with a singular vision is over, Landesman feels, the only exception being Cameron Mackintosh. Landesman speaks of the expenses involved in producing for the theater, a "handmade," highly labor intensive process that offers no way to streamline its costs. He discusses the three main theater operating groups on Broadway: the Shubert and the Nederlander Organizations and his Jujamcyn Theatres, all of which have increasingly become involved in Broadway producing; Mel Brooks' The producers, which marked a return of the traditional book musical to Broadway; the operettas of Andrew Lloyd Webber; producer Cameron Mackintosh; and his own shifting roles as producer of the musical comedies Big river in 1985 and The producers in 2001. Landesman turns to the increasing involvement of corporate entities on Broadway who are attracted by the potential for profits via the "franchising" of their shows worldwide. The effort to reach ever broader audiences has resulted in a "much more homogenized product, much safer product" on Broadway, and the effect in the long run, he believes, will be the production of less idiosyncratic shows. Landesman also discusses the redevelopment of Times Square; the shows currently running on Broadway which he feels possess vitality; Broadway's current marketing techniques; the contemporary Broadway audience; what Broadway meant to him as a youth, and his first experience seeing a show; what he views as the inherently American qualities of the musical; the lack of career opportunities on Broadway, and its need for writers with diverse skills; the risks of producing on Broadway; the most exciting time for him while working on a show; the production of revivals; the future of producing on Broadway; and his favorite Broadway musicals.

Alternative Title

• Broadway, the American musical
• Broadway: the American musical

Subject

• Landesman, Rocco, 1947- > Interviews
• Brooks, Mel, 1926-
• Jujamcyn Theaters
• Theater > New York (State) > New York
• Musical theater > New York (State) > New York
• Musical theater > Production and direction
• Theater management > New York (State) > New York
• Theater > Economic aspects > United States
• Theater audiences
• Mass media and theater
• Theatrical producers and directors > Interviews
• Broadway (New York, N.Y.)

Genre/Form

• Documentaries and factual works.
• Musicals.
• Unedited footage.

Note

• This interview is one of a group of interviews with 90 individuals used in making the documentary Broadway, the American musical. The completed production is available on NCOX 2058.
• Credits for completed production from pbs.org: A film by Michael Kantor ; produced by Jeff Dupre, Michael Kantor and Sally Rosenthal ; written by Marc Fields, Michael Kantor, Laurence Maslon, and JoAnne Young ; directed by Michael Kantor.
• Time code on frame.
• Contains various takes, at occasional brief intervals, audio continues without sound.

Credits (note)

• Cameraman: Mead Hunt.

Performer (note)

• Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Rocco Landesman.

Event (note)

• Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on August 9, 2003.

Biography (note)

• Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Call Number

NCOX 2162

OCLC

145566410

Title

[Interview with Rocco Landesman : raw footage] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]

Imprint

New York, 2003.

Credits

Cameraman: Mead Hunt.

Performer

Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Rocco Landesman.

Event

Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on August 9, 2003.

Biography

Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Local Note

Gift of Broadway Film Project, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET, 2005.

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Added Author

Landesman, Rocco, 1947- interviewee.

Kantor, Michael, 1961- interviewer.

Kantor, Michael, 1961- director.

Hunt, Mead, cameraman.

Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.

Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Research Call Number

NCOX 2162