Marriott Moxy Hotel | 240 Tremont Street (Parcel P-7A) | Theater District
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I thought I'd do my first post here tonight. I've lived just outside Boston for a long time now and I've been reading the board for almost four years but this is my first post.
Right now I'm studying in London for three months and if you ask me, Boston should screw NYC and start trying to be more like London. The nightlife here is incredibly vibrant and if you want a lot of history and green space scattered about you got it here.
First of all I want to say I'm very involved in the theater community and I think even though we aren't exactly New York, Boston still gets more credit in the theater community then you'd think. First of all, since the Opera House opened we've had at least one pre-Broadway run each season. We "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", "Sweet Charity", "Butley" (with Nathan Lane who's about as massive a Broadway star as they come), "High Fidelity" and "The 39 Steps" a West End transfer is previewing here before it hits Broadway. That play was a smash success in London and could do really well in New York.
I also think a lot of people don't understand the market for touring shows and the like these days when they criticize Boston's theater scene and the length that shows stay here for. I was speaking to an actress who has played Mrs. Potts in Disney's touring company of "Beauty and the Beast" among other national touring shows and she said that across the country the market just isn't right at the moment for really long runs in cities. Right now a month long run is considered pretty damn big and we're about to have both Wicked and Sweeney Todd (starring Judy Kunn and it's opening it's run here) both for a month. We have a pretty good list of shows coming this year and that could even grow more. To be realistic, yes things aren't great in Boston when it comes to the performing arts, however, they really aren't bad. Not many people realize that the Boston Ballet has actually been making money for a change which is a nice turnaround from a few years ago (plus the company is rapidly gaining recognition as one of the best in the country and picking up ground around the world as well). It's like any business with it's ups and downs and right now in Boston it's not fantastic but it deserves more credit than it gets. One other side note, for a while at the Wilbur right before they put it up for sale there was a special Boston company of "Putnam Spelling Bee" a fantastic musical, and I think that was open ended in run but don't quote me on that.
And at one point an off Broadway revival of "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" was in talks about setting up a Boston company and I think had the Wilbur not been put up for sale that it would have gone there.
Okay, now that I have that out of my system, I actually like the rendering for that building and hope they can execute their plan fully. It will give people a reason to feel like that area is a destination and that the theater isn't on life support despite what many people have convinced themselves. However, I do think it's unfortunate it's been dubbed the Times Square Project. We aren't NYC and that's one of the reasons people like Boston because it's not NYC, not that we shouldn't go for a 24-hour nightlife and such but we should do it in a uniquely Boston way. If we want to take any queues from a city, look at Piccadilly Circus. That has the lights and flash and life, but not so tacky and the architecture there is great and can speak for itself without the light on. We might do good to think about more interesting marquess like the one for the Paramount, and dramatic lighting on the buildings themselves than spending so much time on special billboards and video screens. But I do think the project is great and could really help bring life into that district.
Right now I'm studying in London for three months and if you ask me, Boston should screw NYC and start trying to be more like London. The nightlife here is incredibly vibrant and if you want a lot of history and green space scattered about you got it here.
First of all I want to say I'm very involved in the theater community and I think even though we aren't exactly New York, Boston still gets more credit in the theater community then you'd think. First of all, since the Opera House opened we've had at least one pre-Broadway run each season. We "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", "Sweet Charity", "Butley" (with Nathan Lane who's about as massive a Broadway star as they come), "High Fidelity" and "The 39 Steps" a West End transfer is previewing here before it hits Broadway. That play was a smash success in London and could do really well in New York.
I also think a lot of people don't understand the market for touring shows and the like these days when they criticize Boston's theater scene and the length that shows stay here for. I was speaking to an actress who has played Mrs. Potts in Disney's touring company of "Beauty and the Beast" among other national touring shows and she said that across the country the market just isn't right at the moment for really long runs in cities. Right now a month long run is considered pretty damn big and we're about to have both Wicked and Sweeney Todd (starring Judy Kunn and it's opening it's run here) both for a month. We have a pretty good list of shows coming this year and that could even grow more. To be realistic, yes things aren't great in Boston when it comes to the performing arts, however, they really aren't bad. Not many people realize that the Boston Ballet has actually been making money for a change which is a nice turnaround from a few years ago (plus the company is rapidly gaining recognition as one of the best in the country and picking up ground around the world as well). It's like any business with it's ups and downs and right now in Boston it's not fantastic but it deserves more credit than it gets. One other side note, for a while at the Wilbur right before they put it up for sale there was a special Boston company of "Putnam Spelling Bee" a fantastic musical, and I think that was open ended in run but don't quote me on that.
And at one point an off Broadway revival of "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" was in talks about setting up a Boston company and I think had the Wilbur not been put up for sale that it would have gone there.
Okay, now that I have that out of my system, I actually like the rendering for that building and hope they can execute their plan fully. It will give people a reason to feel like that area is a destination and that the theater isn't on life support despite what many people have convinced themselves. However, I do think it's unfortunate it's been dubbed the Times Square Project. We aren't NYC and that's one of the reasons people like Boston because it's not NYC, not that we shouldn't go for a 24-hour nightlife and such but we should do it in a uniquely Boston way. If we want to take any queues from a city, look at Piccadilly Circus. That has the lights and flash and life, but not so tacky and the architecture there is great and can speak for itself without the light on. We might do good to think about more interesting marquess like the one for the Paramount, and dramatic lighting on the buildings themselves than spending so much time on special billboards and video screens. But I do think the project is great and could really help bring life into that district.
C
ChunkyMonkey
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Great points, MK. I agree that Boston should look across the Atlantic for inspiration. Every European city I've been to has been inspirational for human scale development and quality of life.
Thanks guys.
I don't know how often I'll post on this forum, but I felt like living in London, and having an opportunity to travel to other European cities has really opened my eyes to what makes a city work and when it fails. I think Boston has tremendous potential and that we have the minds in this city to achieve it. You wanna talk about issues with NIMBYs and preservation nazis come to London. Boston is very European when we're talking about cities in the U.S., I mean there's a reason they decided to film the new Pink Panther movie, which takes place in Paris, in Boston.
I don't know how often I'll post on this forum, but I felt like living in London, and having an opportunity to travel to other European cities has really opened my eyes to what makes a city work and when it fails. I think Boston has tremendous potential and that we have the minds in this city to achieve it. You wanna talk about issues with NIMBYs and preservation nazis come to London. Boston is very European when we're talking about cities in the U.S., I mean there's a reason they decided to film the new Pink Panther movie, which takes place in Paris, in Boston.
whighlander
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Re: Theater District
London provides a lot of good and bad examples for Boston to use in planning Boston's future in the Theatre district and beyond
Like London, Boston has a long tradition in managing money, making music {e.g. Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Pops/ London Proms, Early Music Festival} and preserving its cultural heritage {in museums} and its ethos and built environment {in the neighborhoods and villages}.
Of course, London is much older, larger, and has a much more important port and airport than Boston. Further, London is a National Capital and also the seat of a monarchy and a major site for a major? Religion -- with all the drama and significance of Westminster, Downing Street and Whitehall and the glitz and tourist fantasy of Buckingham Palace
However, Boston has better universities within the city itself and just across the river Boston essentially benefits from having the intellectual equivalents of both Oxford and Cambridge situated within our own Cambridge.
We both have very old public transit systems and the T for all its faults, while smaller than the London Underground is in better operating condition.
London has taken its Seaport and built Canary Wharf and its surroundings ? some of it successfully and some a BIG mistake. With the coming of the Olympics, London is spending a lot of money to fix a number of its intrinsic problems {a lot related to transportation} and some of these Boston can learn from.
Boston also provides an ideal location for hosting the USA home offices of London-based companies, particularly in technology, bio/pharma and financial services. London has also been a major source of English Language theatricals for several hundred years and Boston could serve as the US try-out for London plays and musicals that want to ?jump the pond.?
All in all -- despite the minor unpleasantness that started in Boston about 235 years ago, London and Boston have had a long-standing positive relationship. This linkage is now tied together by well over 1000 air seats per day and a very high bandwidth fiberoptic link {Hibernia II via Novo Scotia and Northern Ireland}.
We should be proactive in taking full advantage of the existing Boston-London linkage and enhancing it to benefit fully from London?s new role as an official gateway to the EU
Westy
London provides a lot of good and bad examples for Boston to use in planning Boston's future in the Theatre district and beyond
Like London, Boston has a long tradition in managing money, making music {e.g. Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Pops/ London Proms, Early Music Festival} and preserving its cultural heritage {in museums} and its ethos and built environment {in the neighborhoods and villages}.
Of course, London is much older, larger, and has a much more important port and airport than Boston. Further, London is a National Capital and also the seat of a monarchy and a major site for a major? Religion -- with all the drama and significance of Westminster, Downing Street and Whitehall and the glitz and tourist fantasy of Buckingham Palace
However, Boston has better universities within the city itself and just across the river Boston essentially benefits from having the intellectual equivalents of both Oxford and Cambridge situated within our own Cambridge.
We both have very old public transit systems and the T for all its faults, while smaller than the London Underground is in better operating condition.
London has taken its Seaport and built Canary Wharf and its surroundings ? some of it successfully and some a BIG mistake. With the coming of the Olympics, London is spending a lot of money to fix a number of its intrinsic problems {a lot related to transportation} and some of these Boston can learn from.
Boston also provides an ideal location for hosting the USA home offices of London-based companies, particularly in technology, bio/pharma and financial services. London has also been a major source of English Language theatricals for several hundred years and Boston could serve as the US try-out for London plays and musicals that want to ?jump the pond.?
All in all -- despite the minor unpleasantness that started in Boston about 235 years ago, London and Boston have had a long-standing positive relationship. This linkage is now tied together by well over 1000 air seats per day and a very high bandwidth fiberoptic link {Hibernia II via Novo Scotia and Northern Ireland}.
We should be proactive in taking full advantage of the existing Boston-London linkage and enhancing it to benefit fully from London?s new role as an official gateway to the EU
Westy
unterbau
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blade_bltz
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Re: Theater District
Everett as well, no?
Everett as well, no?
Scott
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Re: Theater District
^ If you want the Bostonian experience according to hipsters and transients that would be your source.
As far as actual news goes that is another thing. I know of no candidate currently in the spotlight that Menino wouldn't wipe the floor with.
^ If you want the Bostonian experience according to hipsters and transients that would be your source.
As far as actual news goes that is another thing. I know of no candidate currently in the spotlight that Menino wouldn't wipe the floor with.
Ron Newman
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Re: Theater District
Hipsters are unlikely to read Boston Magazine. The Weekly Dig would be a more appropriate choice.
Hipsters are unlikely to read Boston Magazine. The Weekly Dig would be a more appropriate choice.
JimboJones
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Re: Theater District
Scott, do you live in Boston? On what basis do you make your claim that the Mayor would beat any other candidate?
Where was the article written that listed something like 50 people who might run against the Mayor? It might also have been in Boston magazine.
Name recognition can certainly be counted on, for a lot of votes. Also, complacency.
But, remember. Tom Menino only received 70% of the vote, a couple elections ago when he ran against ... no one.
Scott, do you live in Boston? On what basis do you make your claim that the Mayor would beat any other candidate?
Where was the article written that listed something like 50 people who might run against the Mayor? It might also have been in Boston magazine.
Name recognition can certainly be counted on, for a lot of votes. Also, complacency.
But, remember. Tom Menino only received 70% of the vote, a couple elections ago when he ran against ... no one.
Re: Theater District
Personally, Id vote for blank if he ran unopposed again. Its time for someone enw.
Personally, Id vote for blank if he ran unopposed again. Its time for someone enw.