Is there a little bit of Broadway in everyone?

Another project I have been involved in this semester is through a class I took called History of Television. The final assignment for this class was to create our very own television network. We had to present two ideas and then our teacher picked one of them. I had to write a paper proposing the network, mentioning who would watch the show and giving a fuller description of the network and the shows. Then we had to make a 30-60 second commercial of some sort pitching the network to Comcast, Verizon, etc.

Of course my network is a network devoted to theater. It is called Backstage Gaze. It is a network filled with a variety of types of theater-related entertainment. Highlights include: behind-the-scenes of shows, interviews, highlights of theater around the world, reality television shows, sitcoms about aspiring actors, and more. The goal of the network is to get people who aren't necessarily theater buffs to watch. I had to come up with enough types of entertainment that didn't center 100% around theater so that people who weren't theater fans would watch it. However, there are plenty of theater fans out there, so if the network only were to get people like me, that would be okay too. There are more theater fans out there than people think. I went to some of the theater message boards to try and get a sense of how many people post on these websites each day. The numbers were too out of control for me to get a true sense, but one thing I do know, theater geeks are dedicated. We may not make up a huge population of this world, but we are committed!

I used as my inspiration for the commercial a snippet of Heidi Klum during the Tony Awards in 2007 when she said that she thinks there is "a little bit of Broadway in everyone." While it is true that the majority of the population doesn't really care about theater and Broadway, I think many people have a teeny bit of an interest and might watch a little bit on a Broadway-based network. They wouldn't be religious viewers the way someone like I might be, but they would still watch a little, especially if there were enough variety of types of entertainment that weren't all screaming theater.

One of my shows is a sitcom called "Hi-Ho, The Glamorous Life" that centers around working actors and aspiring actors living in New York City. All of them go in waves of haviing success with their careers and the show is about how they deal wiith it, and the challenges they have even when they are working. However, the show does not focus only on the theater, so it can become a show that non-theatrical people can hopefully watch and grow interested in. The show will center around several characters: Susan, a 50 year-old woman who has had an extensive Broadway career, but is now struggling to get work; Jonathan and Kelsey, two 22 year-olds fresh out of college trying to break into show business; Chester, a 30 year-old man who has consistently been getting work on Broadway and on soap operas, yet worries if he is making the right chocies because has so many options; Madison, a 9 year-old girl with Broaway dreams. The show will focus on how they deal with this rejection and move on with their lives.

My other show is a show called "Around the World." The show will have documentaries and spotlights on what goes on in other countries as far as their theater and performing arts. Every week will be a different country and style of theater. For instance, one week will be a focus on Natyanjali, the theater in South Indiai, and another week will focus on the kabuki theater in Japan. The show will consist of a documentary of the history of the this type of theater, interviews with actors and designers, discussions with how this style affects American theater, and a large sample of performances in this style.

Of course I am naturally very disappointed that this network does not actually exist. Fortunately, theater websiites like broadway.com and broadwayworld.com are filled with tons of pictures, videos, interviews, samples, etc, but it really would be so great to have a network entirely devoted to the theater. I could stay entertained for hours. Even though I get a theater overload with my insane BFA lifestyle, somehow I would still like this network to exist. I don't know how I haven't gotten sick of theater after all these years, but somehow I haven't really. And there are many people who are like me.

Who knows if this network would sell? I feel like it could. One thing I learned in this class is that there are too many networks on television (there is seriously a network for EVERYTHING!), so no one individual network can get the amazing ratings that NBC, CBS, and ABC got when those three networks were the only ones that existed. So maybe this network could someday happen. Check out my commercial, and ignore the fact that the quality is pretty horendous. I am not a video-editing major.