RE: London Rocks! (2014 to Present)
I know this will probably piss many people off, but it isn't all for the bloody children. And just because society prefers naked teens on demolition equipment to classical literature, doesn't mean everyone needs to pander to the lowest common denominator.
I think Shakespeare would be great in the Globe. There are an infinite number of modern interpretations of his plays, which might be easier to sell to the masses, if that is what has everyone concerned.
That said, I don't think the park has demonstrated the taste level recently to pull off traditional Shakespeare, much less an edgy modern version. He Who Must Not Be Named would probably come up with some super-cheesy dinner theater version with out of date pop references and poorly choreographed song and dance numbers.
On another note, I don't think my objections to the re-theme have been accurately captured, either.
I believe it simply makes no sense to represent "England" with architecture and decorative arts from a single historical period. The simple fact is that European cities are amalgamations of centuries of styles all cobbled together, building on each other. So, I am a bit more flexible with specific historical eras.
What I am concerned about it the taste level I saw demonstrated at the unveiling of London Rocks. I cannot fathom how anything reflective of that cheesy, adolescent, thrown-together mess could still be attractive. At the end of the day, to me the most important thing is that the hamlets are pretty and the park as a whole remains beautiful. Stereotyped, faux English British Invasion decorations, modeled after snow globes in Heathrow's tourist shop are not beautiful.
Cody pid=91526 dateline=1391522489 said:Think about the kids man!My kids would not sit through a Shakespearian style show. They will sit through Beatles music because they played it on Rock Band! I know what the park is doing. The stuff that grabbed you when you were young, mostly, will not grab a kid in 2014. The last 5 years or so at the park have been an attempt to lure in the younger crowd. A kid see a neon green sign that says "Busch Gardens", that looks cool. A kid sees a sign that says "Busch Gardens: the Old Country", they focus on the word "Old". The young have very short attention spans and need to be wrangled in with "shiny" stuff. My businesses main colors are lime green, orange and red because they pop and catch your attention. People noticed the London Rocks! tree at CT. They danced to the music as they passed. It worked! Here are some more examples:
Bitten = Twilight
Verbolten = fast cars, black lights
Entwined = Once Upon a Time, Snow White and the Huntsman, Hansel and Gretel, every other "hot" fairy tale show and movie out.
Blood Banquet = Vampire Diaries/True Blood/Equality movement in america
Fiends = sex sells
Young people just walk through Banbury to get to the shiny stuff! I am not saying you have to like it, but it makes good business sense. Since their marketing department can't get the job done, they have to get the kids already going to tell their friends, "Come to Busch Gardens. They have new shiny stuff". Right now Banbury is a Librarian in a brown and tan dress, they want to make it the hot chick in the red dress. Again, not saying it is right or wrong, but that is the 21st century mentality.
I know this will probably piss many people off, but it isn't all for the bloody children. And just because society prefers naked teens on demolition equipment to classical literature, doesn't mean everyone needs to pander to the lowest common denominator.
I think Shakespeare would be great in the Globe. There are an infinite number of modern interpretations of his plays, which might be easier to sell to the masses, if that is what has everyone concerned.
That said, I don't think the park has demonstrated the taste level recently to pull off traditional Shakespeare, much less an edgy modern version. He Who Must Not Be Named would probably come up with some super-cheesy dinner theater version with out of date pop references and poorly choreographed song and dance numbers.
On another note, I don't think my objections to the re-theme have been accurately captured, either.
I believe it simply makes no sense to represent "England" with architecture and decorative arts from a single historical period. The simple fact is that European cities are amalgamations of centuries of styles all cobbled together, building on each other. So, I am a bit more flexible with specific historical eras.
What I am concerned about it the taste level I saw demonstrated at the unveiling of London Rocks. I cannot fathom how anything reflective of that cheesy, adolescent, thrown-together mess could still be attractive. At the end of the day, to me the most important thing is that the hamlets are pretty and the park as a whole remains beautiful. Stereotyped, faux English British Invasion decorations, modeled after snow globes in Heathrow's tourist shop are not beautiful.
