Let’s talk about bootlegs. Let’s talk about illegally filming stage shows and concerts. Let’s talk about why artists don’t condone it, and why we do it anyway.
On one hand, filming IS technically stealing. You have a production crew busting their asses to make sure everything turns out the way they want it to. You have directors and writers giving their efforts to make their vision a reality. You have artists who put their souls to make it come to life. When you give that much time and energy, into a project that matters to you, of course it’s wasteful (is that the right word?) to just see someone record it and spread it. And from a standpoint, it is distracting to the person on stage to see a giant camera where it shouldn’t be, and it’s generally rude because it’s unfair to the people who bought tickets. After all, the main point of theatre is to live in the moment and experience the magic right before your eyes. In real time, no edits, no CGI. Just pure genius and talent combined to make a masterpiece.
On the other hand, there are people like us who live and breathe bootlegs just because it’s the only way for us to access theatre. Not everyone lives in New York. As much as we want to, we simply can’t travel to NYC just to see a show. Sure, there are national tours, but let’s go beyond that. What about those outside the country?
Speaking from personal experience, I can assure you, as someone who lives in the Philippines, theatre is hard to come by. Most tours for more recent plays and musicals don’t come by here, and as lucky as I am to have been able to fly to NYC to see a broadway show, there’s so much we had to go through. You have to get a visa (costs Php 8,000 a person, that’s about $153, and you’re only lucky if they give you one on the first try), something that’s not granted easily, then you have the concern of travel costs and hotels and restaurants. That’s so much money already. Sure, on the occasion a play comes here, we pay to watch (which still isn’t easy even if you earn enough and live in Metro Manila, but not if you’re in other regions). But generally speaking, not everyone has the luxury of being able to pay for the experience, especially if they have to travel far. We don’t like the fact that we’re basically stealing by doing so, but what can we do? Do you think we like watching plays through tiny screens with low to decent quality in terms of both visuals and audio?
Have a show filmed with the original cast and then release it to theatres, release it to streaming services, just like Newsies Live and Bandstand. Trust me, people aren’t going to stop coming to see the show live because true theatre fans believe that there is nothing, I mean nothing, quite like live theatre. Nothing beats the excitement of seeing the lights dim and knowing that the show’s about to start. Nothing beats the feeling of escaping into this building and just immersing yourself into a different world and seeing it in high definition with no screen to separate you. Nothing beats the feeling of awe during the fifteen minute intermission. Nothing beats the wave of sadness during the curtain call, the tears streaming as you clap and cheer as the actors take their final bow. Nothing beats the euphoria after the show and going “Oh my god, I can’t believe I witnessed that and lived. How am I gonna on with my normal life now?” Nothing beats stage dooring and having your playbill signed.
You’re not going to lose money, if not you’ll earn more. I’ve seen Newsies multiple times on Netflix, will see Newsies more on Netflix, and will still be willing to pay to see it on Broadway again. The same goes for everyone (I’m assuming). Not only will you make theatre more accessible, you’ll probably keep earning even after the show’s run is over, and you might just gain more fans.
It’s a compromise we can live with.
