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I've forgotten the specifics but in an interview with a director in the Financial Times some time back the director talked about the differences between New York and London audiences regarding a particular play. He said the English audience giggled at the references to God and were stilled by the talk about money, whereas the American addiences giggled about money but went quiet at any mention of God.

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“There’s an embracing of sentimentality in America that is scorned or derided here,” says Poster, echoing the British producer Nick Salmon, who thinks American audiences are “more welcoming, less demanding, tending to like the more schmaltzy”.

I’d say that’s true in some circumstances, but I see also how the works by Wendy Wasserstein and Tina Howe mentioned just prior to that statement might not travel well for other reasons entirely. I’d be interested to hear opinions from regular playgoers (and others, too, of course).

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I really can't add much to British and American tastes...but I surely hope Stoppard's 'Coast of Utopia' survives the trip across the Atlantic. I will be seeing all 3 parts next month at considerable cost and most reviews have been mixed.....

As to 'Faith Healer' in addition to Fiennes it also had Cherry Jones, a New York favorite.

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My recollection is that it got mixed reviews at its premiere also, but I could be mistaken. I am not Stoppard’s biggest fan but if I were in the neighborhood I’d be plunking down my dollars, too. When you do see it, please tell us about it -- I would be very interested to hear your opinion.

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Some of Nightingale's examples are perplexing. For instance, I find McNally wretchedly sentimental and superficial ("Love! Valour! Compassion!," which he singles out for praise, is especially bad in this regard); and so, on the other hand, are pretty much all the British musicals I've seen, along with many of today's American musicals, which seem factory-produced with the tourist class in mind. (The old classics are another matter.)

When it comes to culture in general, having spent a lot of time on both sides of the Atlantic, I still think the difference really is just the old dichotomy, American optimism vs. British pessimism. Each side can have difficulty adjusting to the other's mindset, but it's worth making the effort, and I think the best audiences do that.

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I think the cynicism vs. schmaltz dichotomy is true to an extent, but I think the cultural and cultural reference issues are at least as important. I'd never really thought that the focus of "Carousel" was the Industrial Revolution until I saw the Hytner/MacMillan production at the National in London. :blush:

But I think that's also true of productions in New York vs. productions elsewhere in the United States as well. There are a number of productions that have done extremely well in New York that have only done mediocre business elsewhere in the U.S. (like "The Producers") or in some cases outright bombed (like "Fiorello"). Actually, as I recall even with NY audiences, Matthew Broderick noted that the matinee and evening audiences at "The Producers" didn't laugh at the same things at all in many cases.

I think in some cases casting may be an issue as well. When I was going back and forth across the pond a lot, I saw a number of productions that transferred between London and the U.S., and in some cases the original and transferred casts were not comparable in some important aspect or another which I think has affected the success of some productions.

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