Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2003 Corporate Theater: The Revolution of the Species Susan Russell Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact
[email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF THEATRE CORPORATE THEATER: THE REVOLUTION OF THE SPECIES By SUSAN RUSSELL A Thesis submitted to the School of Theatre In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2003 The members of the committee approve the thesis of Susan Russell defended on October 30, 2003. Mary Karen Dahl Professor Directing Thesis Carrie Sandahl Committee Member Laura Edmondson Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members ii My Thesis is dedicated to all my artist friends who dreamed of Broadway. I carried you in my heart every night. My thesis is also dedicated to all my artist friends in Phantom of the Opera. You were never invisible to me. Most of all, my Thesis is dedicated to my Wife, Elizabeth Nackley, whose love awakened me to the miracles, and whose artistry shows me the possibilities. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………............ v INTRODUCTION ..…………………………………………………………………………….. 1 1. CHAPTER ONE: ARTISTIC CAPITAL …………………………………………………… 22 2. CHAPTER TWO: THE ECONOMY OF REPITITION ……………………………………. 43 3. CHAPTER THREE: PROFITS FROM PAIN …………………….………………………… 62 CONCLUSION ….………………..……………………………………………………………. 83 AFTER THOUGHT ……………………………………………………………………………. 89 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………...…………………………………………….… 95 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ………………………...………………………………………...100 iv ABSTRACT My thesis explores the artistic effects of two different kinds of financial investment on Broadway. I define and then trace the rise of what I term the “corporate producer” over the past twenty years, then document the fall of the independent creative producer, which had been the traditional means of producing shows on Broadway prior to the 1980s.