Occupy Broadway!

Occupy Wall Street Protesters Make Broadway Debut in Times Square

My wife and I had come to New York to celebrate our 1-year wedding anniversary by seeing a show–The Adams Family , featuring the still attractive but not-very-talented Brooke Shields. Those tickets were $75 a piece from TKTS.

We also had front-row seats to a much larger Broadway spectacle. Unbeknownst to us, Occupy Wall Street had decided to make their debut on the Great White Way on Oct. 15, in the heart of Time Square. That show was free.

Their performance was just beginning as ours was ending. To be honest, we missed the big event–3000 or so protesters hemmed in by police barricades while thousands of tourists tried to get the shows they’d paid exorbitant fees to see. We did catch the overture, though–about 20 protestors carrying various band instruments over their heads, weaving through an expectant crowd. Cardboard signs started to pop up amidst the masses sporting vaguely anti-capitalist slogans from a variety of niche political activists. We went to dinner.

But not before I shot a bunch of pictures.

It’s not unusual to see tourists actually photographing the massive digital billboards surround the area which flash and transform constantly. They are photographing the adds! How messed up is that?

For the protestors, their signs and slogans became the foreground message and theme that contrasted, often ironically, with the massive commercial messages in the background. I’d argue that this was a theatrical act–a public

performance set in what many view to be the center of American theatre. I’m not convinced innate theatricality of the occupation was evident to its organizers, however.

It turned out that The Addams Family, though far from a great show, was more entertaining. Except for a bit of jaunty music and some group chanting, nothing memorable–or entertaining–really happened. The Occupy movement had managed to get a lot of attention, but squandered an opportunity to put on a truly memorable show.

They need a couple of dozen dedicated theatre artists in their ranks to them how to make their protest into good political theatre. As Broadway debuts go, I’d say it was less than inspiring.

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