Relationship Between Company, Forum, and Individuals

[ERinVA]

I have copied this part of a review from the April Reviews thread here to a new thread for discussion.

Thursday 19th April
Thirdly there is now far less interaction between the cast and fans outside the theatre. With my connections I know how close Billy was to winning the coveted and illusive Olivier Audience Award. The difference can be as simple as the adult cast acknowledging the fans instead of being faced with stony faces and silence. A management decision of course. What performers would not want to great the fans and hear praise? When many forum members are telling me they did not vote for Billy because of the way the forum is treated, surely the management should take heed. Contrast with the US tour and Broadway where the cast had so much time for the fans, backstage tours, photo’s and autographs and a friendly chat. London should learn that every show needs to keep its fans happy, not treat them as the enemy.

Let's get something straight about "how the forum is treated": This forum is an online community. There are members of this community who attend multiple shows, both in London and here in the US, but they are individual people. No doubt some of them have created an impression on cast members, whether good or bad, and that might affect management decisions about access to the cast. But they are not "the forum" itself.

The management at the VP has always been very cordial in dealing with the forum administration, such as letting us know that photos will be allowed on special nights, giving us a heads up about merchandise close outs, etc. , in order for us to give notice to our members, so I do not feel it makes sense to complain about "how the forum is treated." Some individuals may feel that they have not been treated in as friendly a manner as they should have been because they want more access to the cast and are not allowed to have it, but that does not translate into the forum being treated badly. Being a member of this forum does not entitle anyone to special access to the cast, and I strongly disagree with anyone who thinks it should, or that "the forum is treated badly" because access is denied.

In fact, this sentence from our Rules and Policies says it all: As members of the Forum we have no special privileges other than seeing and enjoying a fantastic performance!

[patc]

When many forum members are telling me they did not vote for Billy because of the way the forum is treated

Hmmm. I'm sure that all our current fantastic Billys, Ryan, Adam, Kaine and Harris are very pleased to hear that some fans of their show didn't vote for them. I don't know ANY Forum members who didn't vote for Billy so I doubt that the word "many" is even close to being accurate.

Pat

[Todd]

The difference can be as simple as the adult cast acknowledging the fans instead of being faced with stony faces and silence. A management decision of course.

Seems a little strange that the management would tell the adult cast to not mingle with fans after the show. I would think that - as adults - they could make their own decisions whether they wanted to stop and chat with fans or head straight out the stage door without stopping to visit. If they are in fact telling the adult actors to not stop and talk with anyone when they leave - after already having shut down any communication between the child cast members and the fans quite some time ago - this would seem very odd indeed.

I've only been to two other shows in London besides "Billy Elliot" - "Oliver" when it was at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and "Spamalot." I didn't visit the stage door after "Spamalot," but after "Oliver," pretty much all cast members - even the children and Rowan Atkinson - were accessible to fans, much like they are in the U.S. productions.

For those of you who have been to a number of different shows in London, would you say that the way "Billy Elliot" handles the cast/fan interaction after shows is more the norm, or would "Oliver" be more typical ?

[Billy Whiz]

I think I read somewhere that the children in Matilda are not allowed to sign autographs at the stage door - but I could be wrong.

[Brad]

Let's get something straight about "how the forum is treated": This forum is an online community. There are members of this community who attend multiple shows, both in London and here in the US, but they are individual people. No doubt some of them have created an impression on cast members, whether good or bad, and that might affect management decisions about access to the cast. But they are not "the forum" itself.

The management at the VP has always been very cordial in dealing with the forum administration, such as letting us know that photos will be allowed on special nights, giving us a heads up about merchandise close outs, etc. , in order for us to give notice to our members, so I do not feel it makes sense to complain about "how the forum is treated." Some individuals may feel that they have not been treated in as friendly a manner as they should have been because they want more access to the cast and are not allowed to have it, but that does not translate into the forum being treated badly. Being a member of this forum does not entitle anyone to special access to the cast, and I strongly disagree with anyone who thinks it should, or that "the forum is treated badly" because access is denied.

In fact, this sentence from our Rules and Policies says it all: As members of the Forum we have no special privileges other than seeing and enjoying a fantastic performance!

Firstly I can do nothing more than agree completely with what ErinVa has said here. We experienced this kind of stupidity in Oz where people seemed to think that because they were a member of some online forum they had some right of access or priviledged standing with the cast and production company - seems some are still living in a cyber world that holds no plausible link to what is real in this life.

Thursday 19th April
Billy will only survive in London if the audience go home and tell their friends and relatives what a great show they have seen and make them come and see it too. I don’t think this is happening now. With the speeded up and thus less enjoyable show, with the more clinical acting and the attitude of the adult cast and management at the stage door to the fans, I fear the show has started a slide that will soon result in all us passionate London fans having to tour the USA to get our fix of what is still the best show on the planet.
Alex

This comment seems to come form the perspective of someone who has seen the show multiple times. While by its very existence, this forum contains many such people, we can all remember the first time we saw the show - wherever that was and that was what we all went home and told our friends a relatives about. I still believe that most first time viewers will do the same as we all once did - spread the good news of this great show - not whinge and whine about the changes that have occurred, that they don't agree with. Many have expressed delight at some changes and as with anyone who has seen multiple shows over many years, there are changes that people don't like, but interestingly, they keep going back.

People who are members of forums really shouldn't get too caught up in their own self importance. In Oz and referring to the FOBE Forum, I once did a rough calculation and members of the forum were responsible for less than 1% of ticket sales in both Sydney and Melbourne. Even as a share holder in a company, a less than 1% share doesn't give you a great deal of standing with anyone except your own self inflated ego.

In closing and purely based on the VPT experience, there is nothing to complain about. I have on two occassions that I have travelled to the UK thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the experience, before, during and indeed after the show

[ERinVA]

I have split out the current discussion going on about "Management" and "Forum" in order to get it out of the April Reviews thread. Please continue the discussion here if you wish.

[Brad]

Why thankya Miss Ellen - would happily discuss this one for quite some time

[dancingboy]

In answer to Brad, let me say this. I am a relative newcomer to the show. I saw the show probably 4/5 times in the first five years and have now seen it probably 120 times in the last two years and about a year ago I discovered the Forum and since have made many friends with whom I meet at the VPT on a regular basis. I can assure you that nobody and I mean NOBODY that I know has EVER said or thought that they have a right of access or privileged standing with the cast or Company. In the same way that Forum members, including myself, like to praise the show as much as we can, surely we have the right to criticise it if things are not to our liking and this also incorporates the Management of the show, whose lack of rapport with the fans is very evident.

[ERinVA]

Some individuals may feel that they have not been treated in as friendly a manner as they should have been because they want more access to the cast and are not allowed to have it, but that does not translate into the forum being treated badly. Being a member of this forum does not entitle anyone to special access to the cast, and I strongly disagree with anyone who thinks it should, or that "the forum is treated badly" because access is denied.

I wanted to add to this a bit. I know there have been some unpleasant stage door encounters between individuals who happen to be forum members (and some who are not) and chaperones. As I said in the original post: As members of the Forum we have no special privileges other than seeing and enjoying a fantastic performance! If an individual continually goes to the stage door and tries to engage cast members, especially the children who are being picked up by parents , such as small and tall boys and ballet girls, or even Billys whose families happen to be taking them home for a break, this can certainly give the chaperones pause and, unfortunately, create an unfavorable impression.

As we all tend to do from time to time, they can over-generalize to assume the "the forum" is a bad thing. The reality is that the forum itself has nothing to do with this situation, and can do nothing to improve it, except to ask members to read and comply with our guidelines about behavior at the theatre and stage door. It's not the forum that creates this situation; it is individuals who continue to seek contact with the cast.

People who complain because stage door access on the American tour (and formerly on Broadway) is more open than it is in London need to get over it. Insisting on showing up at the stage door in London again and again expecting contact with the cast and feeling that this is something one should have, for whatever reason, especially when it's obvious that you are not wanted there, is a surefire way of giving management a bad impression.

On the US tour, I doubt that anyone concerned with management is even aware of the forum, much less cares about it. They just have a plan for dealing with fans who come to the stage door, and that's how they do it. London just doesn't do that, that's all, so why push it?

[Billy Whiz]

This is a quote from the Daily Telegraph about the 4 girls who play Matilda.

They love meeting young fans but, for reasons unfathomable to them, the girls aren’t allowed to sign autographs unless their parents are present, which makes it rather stressful watching expectant little faces crumble at the rejection of proffered pen and programme.

This is exactly the same at BETM when the parents are usually more than happy for the youngsters to sign autographs. So no signing autographs is not unique to BETM.

Here is a link to the full article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/thea ... ivier.html