| "TANZ" VS "BOOH" | |
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Posted by: |
steven_stuart 12:02 am UTC 08/22/10 |
| I can't remember who but someone said that "Tanz" took much less time to be produced than "BOOH: The Musical" is taking. This may be true but there are some important differences between "Tanz" and "BOOH". Before I start my list, I would like to state that most of what I will write has already been published on the internet (although some a long time ago), either on this board, BatMusical, Jim's blog or elsewhere. 1. "BOOH" is more expensive. Much more expensive. Just the motorcycle ballet is going to cost a fortune (partly because the bikes need to be modified for a theatre). Then there's the animatronics, another example of something that costs a lot of money. Then there's Hook's SkyPod. There is a very long list of things that make "BOOH" more expensive than "Tanz". 2. "BOOH" is going to be a West End show. The West End is a much tougher market than Germany (just finding an available theatre with a large enough stage is a nightmare - I'm not giving anything away because posters like Scaramouche have already talked about this - but they were hoping for the Apollo Victoria - nobody could have predicted that "Wicked" would go on forever - although finally they have found a really good venue that's going to be available - finding a theatre that can accomodate a really large show is another reason for the delay - "Tanz" didn't have that problem - although I have great respect for what "Tanz" has achieved on the continent). 3. "Tanz" was and is owned by the German producers. Jim was brought in to write the music but it is not his show in the way "BOOH" is. The correct title for "BOOH" is "Jim Steinman's Bat Out Of Hell The Musical Spectacular". There are very few musicals which are the complete vision of one genius (take note all those who say that Jim is no longer creative - Jim has written a fantastic book - other script writers just couldn't get it - a bit like people not getting the original BOOH album). It is naturally going to take longer to mount such a grand vision (as most of you already know it is set in a post-apocalyptic world called Obsidan - that is going to take a long time to design and build). 4. "Tanz" had no connection to an entertainment legend who was not directly involved in the show (Polanski was of course the director). Like it or not, "BOOH" will always make people think of Meat Loaf (which is why I thought it might be dangerous not to involve Meat at all - I actually thought he would make a great Hook). Already the publicist who announced Pixie Lott playing Wendy described the show as "Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell The Musical". 5. We don't really know how long it took to put "Tanz" together from the moment Michael Kunze or the producers got the idea for a musical based on "Fearless Vampire Killers". I think some people are thinking about how long it took once Jim became involved. 6. I am guessing that the producers of "Tanz" already had the budget raised when Jim became involved. The producers of "BOOH" were unlucky to get a group of investors who wanted to spend 50,000 pounds on an ad and a website. They talked Jim into thinking it was a good idea and this made it very difficult for the producers to argue against it. They just threw up their hands and said "okay, let them do it" (but not after considerable fighting). The investors got their way and went bankrupt soon after because of a failed Beatles show and they were unable to pay to renew their option. This is why they disappeared. Although there is a much better group of investors (a large and famous professional company) and a new executive producer in place now, so there is no need to worry. Getting all the pieces in place can take a long, long time. Trevor Nunn spent five long years getting his "Gone With The Wind: The Musical" up in the West End and he is a very bankable director. If Jim and the producers were going for a lower budget, less ambitous show in the German market, it would probably be already up. The fact is that many things are in place. The creative and production teams are almost complete. It has taken a long time but I would like to tell posters like Rob and Conas that something is going to happen. I would like to give you some details like the name of the director but I am not allowed to. I asked permission to talk about Kasim and that was granted but when Rob started to quiz me a few days ago, I asked if I could reveal the director's name but the answer was "no". I will just say that he will not have the same kind of creative control over "BOOH" that Polanski had over "Tanz" (another difference). One thing that I am allowed to say is that Jim's script has been through many changes and that it is now brilliant. He told Elva he is more proud of the book for this musical than he is of anything he has ever done before, including his "children" (his songs - although I personally think that its all wonderful, the music, the lyrics, the book, the speeches, the artwork, I can't say that one is better than the other). I do agree with Rob that the 3,000 who signed up at the "official" website are unlikely to sign up at another "official" website in the future. The website and the ad may have damaged the show and at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter who was to blame, it happened and I just have to hope that some kind of apology will bring those 3,000 back on board. I'm sure Rob hopes for the best too. | |
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