Emerson College's Paramount Center
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Ron Newman
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Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
The Wang has fallen way below its potential -- to see how such a facility can be run properly, you need to visit Columbus, Ohio and see the programming schedule of the gorgeous old Ohio Theatre.
The Wang has fallen way below its potential -- to see how such a facility can be run properly, you need to visit Columbus, Ohio and see the programming schedule of the gorgeous old Ohio Theatre.
Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
They're magnificent buildings.
I'll stand by that. Check out the scheduling. Better this year than last, but I can do as well in Charlotte (not reputed as a cultural center).
They're magnificent buildings.
Boston02124
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Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
I'm happy that I get to see these buildings in action for the 1st time in my life! very nice IMO!
I'm happy that I get to see these buildings in action for the 1st time in my life! very nice IMO!
Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
Another Theatre that is doing very good is the Wilbur Theatre.There are having shows every single weekend,in addition they just got there liquor license and added a new maquee sign outside.I went and seen Sinbad here last month and the place was sold out. With that being said I think the Boston Theatre Distict just needs time.
Another Theatre that is doing very good is the Wilbur Theatre.There are having shows every single weekend,in addition they just got there liquor license and added a new maquee sign outside.I went and seen Sinbad here last month and the place was sold out. With that being said I think the Boston Theatre Distict just needs time.
Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
Should not be so ... but is.
If it were, it wouldn't deserve rave reviews. I've seen the Boston Ballet, and ... strange to say ... the North Carolina Company is a lot better.
Should not be so ... but is.
blade_bltz
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Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
Who else here caught Sleep No More? If that doesn't knock your socks off, nothing will.
Who else here caught Sleep No More? If that doesn't knock your socks off, nothing will.
Ron Newman
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Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
I did -- loved it. Some of my friends went 3 or 4 or more times.
I did -- loved it. Some of my friends went 3 or 4 or more times.
Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
As a young artist who grew up in Boston this is a really interesting topic to me.
I think the opening of the Paramount Center and the future opening of the Modern are MAJOR events for Boston's theatre scene. To be honest I think the best way to look at a cities vitality in the arts isn't to figure out how many touring broadway shows are coming through the area. Boston is always one of the top cities for that in the country. If the pickings ever seem slim that is more a result of our national economy and the changing economic situation for Nationally Touring Broadway Productions.
Much like every other context for Boston, if it's theatre scene wants to grow, you can't compare it to New York i.e. Broadway. We've had several pre-broadway runs and sit down productions in the past years which would make many major cities in the country green with envy.
The Huntington Theatre which just extended the run of Stickfly, is also seeing it's third show in the past five years that was produced at the Huntington open on Broadway. LyricStage and Speakeasy also bring a much needed alternative theatre scene with quirky but equally brilliant shows like Adding Machine, Grey Gardens and Jerry Springer the Opera (I promise you it was a brilliant show).
Ablarc, I would give Boston Ballet a second look. Mikko Nissenan has turned BB into one of the most vital ballet companys in the country, and gained HUGE respect worldwide. The fact is they're the only major ballet company in the country that has made a serious commitment to new works. Most companies in the country, while entertaining, act more as museums, displaying the same productions of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty over and over. I'd also be quick to point to the three very successful tours they've made to Canada, South Korea, and Spain.
The programming at the Wang is terrible. frankly that house is too big for most events to even want to be in that space. It's beautiful, but the sight lines are awful and it is impossible to create a feeling of intimacy. They need someone with a really bold vision to step in and shake things up.
Also Boston deserves it's own grand opera. At this moment there is no theatre space, or company for that matter that can really handle the needs of big time opera. After spending three months studying theatre in Moscow, and then traveling to St. Petersburg it is clear to me that if we want our theater to thrive we need to look inward, what's important to the people of Boston? What do we want to see, and what will get us talking? Not worry about how they make theatre in New York, Toronto, London, or which broadway shows are coming through each year. And you can trust me on this, Moscow makes London look like they don't give two shits about their theater. I never saw a single show in that country where people weren't sitting in the aisles it was so packed.
As a young artist who grew up in Boston this is a really interesting topic to me.
I think the opening of the Paramount Center and the future opening of the Modern are MAJOR events for Boston's theatre scene. To be honest I think the best way to look at a cities vitality in the arts isn't to figure out how many touring broadway shows are coming through the area. Boston is always one of the top cities for that in the country. If the pickings ever seem slim that is more a result of our national economy and the changing economic situation for Nationally Touring Broadway Productions.
Much like every other context for Boston, if it's theatre scene wants to grow, you can't compare it to New York i.e. Broadway. We've had several pre-broadway runs and sit down productions in the past years which would make many major cities in the country green with envy.
The Huntington Theatre which just extended the run of Stickfly, is also seeing it's third show in the past five years that was produced at the Huntington open on Broadway. LyricStage and Speakeasy also bring a much needed alternative theatre scene with quirky but equally brilliant shows like Adding Machine, Grey Gardens and Jerry Springer the Opera (I promise you it was a brilliant show).
Ablarc, I would give Boston Ballet a second look. Mikko Nissenan has turned BB into one of the most vital ballet companys in the country, and gained HUGE respect worldwide. The fact is they're the only major ballet company in the country that has made a serious commitment to new works. Most companies in the country, while entertaining, act more as museums, displaying the same productions of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty over and over. I'd also be quick to point to the three very successful tours they've made to Canada, South Korea, and Spain.
The programming at the Wang is terrible. frankly that house is too big for most events to even want to be in that space. It's beautiful, but the sight lines are awful and it is impossible to create a feeling of intimacy. They need someone with a really bold vision to step in and shake things up.
Also Boston deserves it's own grand opera. At this moment there is no theatre space, or company for that matter that can really handle the needs of big time opera. After spending three months studying theatre in Moscow, and then traveling to St. Petersburg it is clear to me that if we want our theater to thrive we need to look inward, what's important to the people of Boston? What do we want to see, and what will get us talking? Not worry about how they make theatre in New York, Toronto, London, or which broadway shows are coming through each year. And you can trust me on this, Moscow makes London look like they don't give two shits about their theater. I never saw a single show in that country where people weren't sitting in the aisles it was so packed.
JohnAKeith
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Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
Mmm. Who knew? The rebirth of that area on Washington Street wasn't reborn by building the Ritz Towers but by letting colleges come in. And waiting 20 years.
Mmm. Who knew? The rebirth of that area on Washington Street wasn't reborn by building the Ritz Towers but by letting colleges come in. And waiting 20 years.
kennedy
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Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
I don't know, maybe because they helped make the market for new theater spaces, but it was the colleges that made all of the progress. The Ritz towers are fairly anti-urban and really don't interact with the street. The W is better at that.
I don't know, maybe because they helped make the market for new theater spaces, but it was the colleges that made all of the progress. The Ritz towers are fairly anti-urban and really don't interact with the street. The W is better at that.
czsz
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Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
^ Anti-urban? They're not the best, but they've injected a furniture store, a hotel's port-cochere, a restaurant, and a major cinema into the area. The cinema alone brings hundreds of pedestrians to that block every day.
I would say the two developments are independent of one another, but have both done good things for the neighborhood.
^ Anti-urban? They're not the best, but they've injected a furniture store, a hotel's port-cochere, a restaurant, and a major cinema into the area. The cinema alone brings hundreds of pedestrians to that block every day.
I would say the two developments are independent of one another, but have both done good things for the neighborhood.
Ron Newman
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Re: BRA approves Emerson College's Paramount Center
My main beef with the Ritz is that, so many years after it was built, it still has large empty street-level retail or restaurant spaces.
My main beef with the Ritz is that, so many years after it was built, it still has large empty street-level retail or restaurant spaces.
