Late last week, we asked you for your opinions regarding bootlegging, or the illegal recording of live performance. To this we received many differing viewpoints.
Initially, we have the viewpoint from Mrs Zoe Jarrett, a performer in the musical Wicked.
On the 21st of February, she tweeted: "thinks people who feel so entitled that they think they can come to a live performance, record it, and be so disrespectful to the..... performers and crew who work so hard to create an exciting theatrical experience 8 times a week......these people that record it and can't even follow the simple instructions that are even announced at the start of a show stating that "recording devices are strictly prohibited" are in one word.......LAME"
3 days later, fellow Wicked performer Amanda Harrison tweeted a link to a YouTube video of her performing No Good Deed from the show. It was captioned "My Favourite of tbe illegal recordings". When asked if she was against them, she replied "Not really. It's the horrendous comment section that can be a little debilitating!"
Now to your comments.
Response 1:
Our first response was from a die-hard fan. Their stance is that they are "Thoroughly opposed to video bootlegs because of performer and audience distraction. Still making my mind up on audio bootlegs. "
Response 2:
Our second response was rather extensive!
"To be honest, I have varying views on it.
As a fan of a show I’m dying to see but can’t (beyond amateur theatre), I really want to see it no matter what because I know it’ll be awesome and frankly, I’ll take what I can get. On the flip side, I know that it’ll be a terrible quality, most likely filmed from one hidden angle, potentially obscured and out of focus. And the film student in me? The film student hates that.
Then there’s the techie in me. The one who’s often backstage, looking after the microphones. That one, rarely sees the full show at all. Unless there’s a monitor set up, and even then the colours are off and you can’t see much. The sound is awesome, but it’s the lighting I want to see too, not just where who is when. I want to sit down and watch it. So from there, again I want to see a film recording of it, because at least then the colours will be true.
As a lighting tech, I don’t mind either way. Naturally I’ll probably stare down someone if they’re making a lot of noise or being distracting but I don’t mind either way. Sometimes it seemed a little harsh to me that up at the lighting desk, I could see the whole show and do my work while all the actors, all the orchestra couldn’t see the show at all.
While I don’t perform myself, I fully believe that taping a rehearsal helps the actors improve. Seeing it from an audience’s perspective is a lot different to being on the stage yourself.
I should state that my background is in amateur theatre and school shows.
And I fully agree that a recording of a live performance – sound or video – is a cool memento for the cast and crew to be able to take away. To be able to see it, and relive it. Who wouldn’t want that? Especially the younger ones. Your first show, hell your first few shows, go by like a blur. It’s nice to be able to look back at it years on and actually see it instead of forgetting everything except maybe that one song where you accidentally hit someone in the face.
At a professional level... I guess there are more ethics at play because you’re toying with people’s actual jobs. It makes me wonder what would happen if large productions hired a camera crew (towards the end of their run, if it’s a tour) and put out a professional DVD of their performance. Would they make money from it? Would it curb the bootleggers? Would they take a loss in ticket sales?
Personally I think it’s a crying shame that there aren’t more musicals on dvd.
To sum it up, I think there’s a difference between illegally recording a show to sell / trade it and illegally recording a show to keep it as a memento for all the hard work you put into putting it together."
Response 3:
I know that bootlegging is illegal, but I still love it. It's a great way to see shows that aren't going to come here, or relive great great moments (Patrice riff anyone?) And technically, i'm now an industry professional :P
Response 4:
I know bootlegging is illegal, but I do it anyways. It's not like I profit off them or post clips to the internet where performers aren't at their peak. As an aspiring actor, it's a great way for me to learn a show's material for auditions or to further develop myself as a performer. I will only sound record though.
I have also on occasion given performers recordings of themselves. It is a fantastic, and often one of the only ways a performer can hear whether what they're doing is what they want to be doing and improve on it. It's very rewarding to go back and see a show months later and hear what the performer has done with the bits that weren't quite right before. Would I do it if cast recordings were available? Probably. Unless the cast recordings included the entire libretto too!
The other key point is that the power of the internet cannot be ignored. Take for example the career of a certain Elphaba in Brisbane/Sydney Wicked. She has become quite well known in theatre circles around the world due to 'guerrilla' advertising on sites such as YouTube. I know of people who have travelled around the world purely to hear her sing. In an industry as small as ours, the more exposure we can give our performers the better! It's not like live audiences will stop coming if the audio of a show was available. There are some shows on West End that allow audio recording, but not video recording and have benefited from this.
In summary, bootlegging is not necessarily a bad thing if done without distracting fellow patrons and performers.
Response 5:
I've made audio recordings of every single theatre performance I've seen
over the past 15 years (musicals, plays, concerts, I only spare ballet!).
Even if I go to see a show more than once, I record it again. I love
listening to my collection, every recording brings back great memories.
Moreover, listening to and comparing different performances/productions of
the same show, or tracing back a performer's career across the years is an
extremely inspiring and enriching past time on rainy Sundays.
I never trade my recordings, only occasionally make copies for close
friends who loved (or missed) a particular production.
Although I always pay attention not to be caught inside the theatre, I
don't consider myself a criminal and intend to go on recording my shows in
the years to come.
Response 6:
It's absurd how some can justify their wrong-doings!! This behavour is totally disrespectful to the whole production.
Response 7:
Totally against video recordings. I won lottery seats for Wicked when a friend pulled her phone out and held it right in front of her face for most songs during Act 1. You had performers less than a meter in front of us and you could tell it was putting them off and was complete unfair for the rest of the audience.
I support audio recordings though as it less obvious and in most cases is done quietly and does not affect a performance. I was a huge fan of Patrice Tipoki as Elphaba in Wicked and after seeing her on more than 10 occassions I had lottery seats for her last performance. She sung her heart out that night and had so much passion and energy, she was spent by the curtain call. Luckily someone was recording the audio and I can now listen to her whenever and wherever I like and be reminded of why she was so damn good. It's a way to keep the passion alive long after the show has moved on and I still get goosebumps just hearing her through my ipod.
Any comments or responses to these, leave them down in the comment section. We want your opinions too if you have them!
