(01-25-2015, 02:44 PM)admin Wrote: That was a great interview.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed! Guy was a blast to interview.
(01-27-2015, 10:03 AM)admin Wrote: What is "the truth"? I have read for a while that Paul O'Neill is a perfectionist and can be a tyrant. I also read from an interview with Alex Skolnick that he appreciated the TSO gigs but he felt stifled creatively. It is Paul's way or NO WAY.
I guess he controls the money and the direction. Obey or else.
He (they) have put together a money making machine after so many years of struggles so I guess you can't blame him that much. Why mess with what isn't broken even if it does feel stale and choreographed at times.
"controls" is the optimal word there. I get where many of the original and early performers are coming from though - When the show started out, and for many years - there wasn't anywhere near the amount of control or direction that is present with today's show - especially with the West touring troupe. They were basically told to go out and sell the show. And sell it they did, using their personalities and talent. The West troupe in particular really connected with the audiences and helped to build the fanbase. So from their point of view, why mess with what isn't broken by making them secondary and the lights/dancing/fire/hair what the show is about now? As Michael Lanning stated, "What do lasers and fire and giant cranes have to do with Christmas?" I can understand that.
I would imagine that the newer folks that are hired in today never feel that way because it is tight direction from the start.