Comment Re:Ahhh... I Finally Get It! (Score 1) 973
So, full disclosure, I am an appreciator of Jason Robert Brown's music, and I have met him on several occasions, though we're not at all close.
I think something that a lot of people miss on this thread, and your post touches on a little bit, is that JRB is not a rock musician, or in a band - he's a musical composer. Fundamentally, he spends a whole bunch of time writing a show, creating the music, spends months, usually years getting it right until it's finally performed for the first time - and then that's it. He's done. He doesn't get to go on tour and perform it, nor does he get to sell the sequel.
His only real revenue sources come from:
- show licensing
- cast recordings
- sheet music
What would he go on tour with? Himself performing the parts from his show?
Also, for anyone who talks about the era of shakespeare as the golden era of theatre has no idea what they're talking about. In those days, playwrights had to create shows in days or weeks , get them in the theater, after which the good parts were stolen by other playwrights, and yes, no one considered the idea of a play to be something "special".
Guess what? 99% of them were terrible. Even talented writers would churn out show after show of utter shit, just because, why not? They're not going to get paid once the show is performed, so what's their incentive to make quality over quantity?
Meanwhile, JRB can spend a year or years writing a show, because he knows that if the market accepts that his show is worthwhile, he'll make his time and money back.
As an example along those lines, Stephen Sondheim has talked about how his royalties from west side story allowed him to focus on creating new, great work instead of stressing about shows.