Q: There are so many interruptions to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade by Broadway show snippets. Do they have to pay a fee?
—George Cannon, Cumming
A: NBC chooses five Broadway musicals to highlight during the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The performances generally “are either highly popular, family-friendly or feature celebrities,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
This year’s 3-minute performances included songs from “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Finding Neverland,” “The King & I,” “On Your Feet!” and “Something Rotten!”
Broadway producers pay for the extra rehearsal time, which this year cost approximately $50,000 for “Something Rotten!” which the shows say is worth it because of the added exposure to a national TV audience. About 22.3 million viewers watched this year’s parade, NBC stated in a release.
Advance ticket sales increased $300,000 in two weeks for “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella” after a performance in the 2012 parade, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Other musicals earn a spot in the parade through corporate sponsorships, such as “School of Rock,” which rode on the Gibson guitar company’s float last month.
Q: Why does Georgia perform executions only at night?
—Bob Markert, Roswell
A: The time for executions in Georgia traditionally has been 7 p.m., a Department of Corrections spokeswoman told Q&A on the News in an email, but "there is no legal reason to hold an execution at a particular time of day."
“The time of the execution is set at the discretion of the commissioner,” she wrote.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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