Why it’s always showtime!
A motorcycle stunt in the FMX Show produced by Showtime Entertainment Productions of Dubai. (Image courtesy of Medhy Menad/Showtime Entertainment Produc- tions).
Opinion among park operators and show producers
alike is that this “expansion” is being fuelled by two symbiotic forces – audience demand and technological progress. Audiences are demanding more jolts per minute of excitement and technology is enabling show producers to deliver those jolts. But that in turn only feeds audience demand for shows that take “spectacular” to the next level. This new level immediately becomes the standard that all others must now meet. Of course then somebody comes up with an even slicker piece of hardware that ups the ante again and the cycle repeats once more. Julie Owens at Knotts Berry
Lazytown Live at Butlins Resorts, UK. (Image courtesy of Oddpost Entertainment)
Farm recalls a time when “... an audience would be fine with sitting through a 45- 90 minute show which included long sections of ballads or slower moving scenes. Today we live in a microwave world in which people expect immediate results. Video games are fast and furious. Today’s media is so much more visual and continually changing that ... it’s kind of a rule of thumb that no one element in our shows lasts any longer than 45 to 60 seconds without something within the scene changing.” “A trip to a theme park is a day’s experience. Audiences
expect more,” explains Paul Hammond, whose London- based theatrical company produces shows for parks and
resorts. “Theme park guests are not generally a theatre- going public. We tailor our shows to park audiences who are used to moving around from attraction to attraction. If you can keep them captivated for 45 minutes, you’ve done your job!” Captivating people is what extreme stunt shows and
dazzling special effects spectaculars do best. Naturally, the people who produce them know all about using the hottest and the coolest technologies to ratchet up the “Wow” Factor.
Yet they’re the first to admit that it’s a constant scramble to stay ahead of their audiences’ expectations. Take Medhy Menad of Showtime Entertainment Productions of Dubai
for example. His high-octane stunt shows
have wowed guests at Disney, Universal and Paramount parks and still, even he concedes that between Hollywood’s special effects blockbusters, the internet
and the surging popularity of extreme sports, “It’s harder now to surprise an audience. They can easily see amazing performances in the media, so they expect something unique in a live show.” Recently another breed of producer has come on the live
shows scene; one who uses the newest high-tech gizmos to create old-fashioned, no-tech emotional connections
30 InterPark May-June 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72