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Was ¡¥Dreamers¡¦ really
worth it?
By Hsieh Tsui-yu Á»A¥É
The revelation that Dreamers (¹Ú·Q®a), a rock musical performed for two evenings as
part of the Republic of China¡¦s centennial celebrations, cost NT$215 million
(US$7.15 million) has caused quite a stir in arts and entertainment circles and
even among the general public.
The problem is the Council for Cultural Affairs is not very good at planning or
administration and management.
Is it reasonable to spend NT$215 million on a show that was only performed
twice? Setting aside subjective views about the merits or otherwise of the show,
we can make a few comparisons. The council, which is in charge of cultural
administration and budget control, might like to refer to these examples if it
is going to seriously consider how to make use of taxpayers¡¦ hard-earned money.
Looking at the question from the angle of promoting and strengthening performing
arts in Taiwan, let us consider for example the international arts festivals
held at the National Theater and National Concert Hall in 2009 and last year.
The overall budget for each of these two festivals was more than NT$100 million.
The 2009 festival included 56 performances of 15 programs ¡X with 48 indoor
performances and eight outdoors. Last year, there were 50 performances of 15
programs, 47 indoors and three outdoors. Both festivals included two or more
interdisciplinary and cross-cultural flagship programs created especially for
the occasion. The two festivals were seen by nearly 80,000 and 100,000 people
respectively, generating NT$40 million to NT$50 million in revenue from ticket
sales.
We can also look at the question from a purely commercial angle. The cost of
putting on Dreamers came close to that of bringing The Phantom of the Opera to
Taiwan and staging 64 performances, but Phantom was seen by more than 90,000
people and made more than NT$400 million at the box office.
From the point of view of technical scale, an example of an outdoor celebration
on a similar level was the opening and closing ceremonies of the Kaohsiung World
Games.
The total budget for those two ceremonies came to about NT$140 million. Nearly
1,000 people took part in the performances, and the ceremonies were broadcast in
their entirety.
Performances may be big or small, and the equipment used may be sumptuous or
simple. The key question is what the council was aiming for when it picked this
musical, with its record-high budget, without any external sponsorship.
Was it to bring in avant-garde concepts as a model for everyone involved in
performing arts? Was it a purely commercial proposition, to make money at the
box office? Was it to present a grand work that could go on tour overseas to
represent Taiwan? Or was it perhaps intended to become an ideal repertory show
for tourists to watch?
No matter what the council¡¦s goal was, the project should have been subjected to
meticulous planning and analysis. Every aspect of the production, be it the
subject matter, target audience, cost effectiveness or set decorations and
props, needed to be assessed if the project was to succeed.
Surely the council did not just take it for granted that the creative theme of
the Dreamers Double Ten National Day performance would necessarily be the ideal
repertoire to lure tourists. If it did, the problem would be more serious than
just the thought behind a simple fireworks display or spending more than NT$200
million on two evening shows.
Following the Dreamers incident, the council should think about how it could
strengthen its budget management skills and ditch its bad habit of not attending
to its main business. It needs to get back to its basic role and start doing a
proper job of administration.
It should also be pointed out that when people say ¡§creativity is priceless,¡¨ it
means that you can¡¦t put a price on the impression a work of art or a live
performance makes on its audience, or on the influence it has on society.
It doesn¡¦t mean that there is no concept of cost involved, otherwise it would be
very difficult to put a price on intangible assets, and that would make it very
hard for cultural and creative enterprises to attract the investment they hope
to get.
Hsieh Tsui-yu is a former deputy director of the National Concert Hall and
National Theater.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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