medium.com: There is nothing on earth like sitting in an audience waiting for a show to begin. The anticipation shared with those around you when you have no idea what you’re going to feel next. Whether you are laughing or crying or angry or frustrated, you are doing it in real time as part of a shared experience. That’s what I fell in love with and that’s what I miss. But, while we remain in this forced intermission, maybe we could rethink a few things.
5 comments:
I think this article brings up some really interesting points. It is no secret that live theatre is not generally very accessible to people who don’t have a lot of money to be spending on tickets. I would say this is the biggest downfall of this industry. During this time of quarantine, there have been a lot of theatres and people releasing recordings of their shows for people to watch. I hope efforts like this will continue after the isolation is over because so many more people are able to watch experience theatre. I have been watching a lot of shows on BroadwayHD recently, and I think if more shows make professionally done recordings like those of the show on that website people would love to watch those shows. I don’t think I agree with this article that some shows should let people take videos or pictures of the curtain call or some parts of the show. Something I love about being in the theatre is that no is on their phones. Also, the article brought it up but there are copyright issues and other issues with taking pictures and videos of shows and posting them.
I think this article poses some interesting points. I've actually realized recently that a big turn off to theatre in a lot of people is the fact that people see the hobby as annoying and pretentious. I think lots of shows rely on avid theatre-goers as their audiences, and it's bound to be hit pretty hard when no one else is actively interested in seeing shows. I know this is kind of harsh of me to say, and maybe I'm wrong even, but this is what I have come to see personally. I agree that it's discouraging trying to take a photo of my Playbill before a show when the service in the theatre is trash, but I also think the repercussions of making that service more accessible is greater. If you tempt the people to be on their phones, they will be. Especially, the non-theatre people you want to attract who don't know the etiquette. I remember in Conservatory Hour, someone mentioned that one of the matinees for Into the Woods was for the football players or the sports department or something like that, and apparently they were all on their phones, and somebody even had their laptop out doing homework! This is getting a little off-topic, I guess, but I'm just saying... it's going to be hard to get non-theatre people to be interested and engaged. IT's a niche industry with a niche fan-base. I do agree that making theatre more affordable is a huge step. I saw this really great article on here about maybe Shakespeare in the Park? was it? that gave free tickets to NYC public high schools, and the students who came were so happy and engaged. Making theatre affordable and adding it to education I think is a huge step. A lot of my early interest in theatre came from field trips to go see plays in elementary school.
I think that planning for what is to come in the future and planning on how we will bring the world back up to where it previously was is a really helpful way to get through this incredibly stressful period. I think that this article brought up some really great ideas. The first point that was made about bringing theatre to more people digitally is one that I have also thought of as well. I think that this would be a great way to welcome people into the world of live theatre, and I'm not just talking about right now while everybody is stuck inside their houses. I think that even after all this is over and people are able to attend live shows, broadcasting them live would be a great way to let more people appreciate the art that is being presented to them. Now I'm not saying that it should be absolutely free for anybody to go online, but maybe it could be cheaper to pay for a login code as the article suggests. I really like all of the points that were brought up as they all seem to have the main idea of inclusivity for anyone who might be interested in theatre and not just the people who happen to be able to afford it or have the ability to go attend a production.
I agree with EVERY point made in this article! As upsetting and damaging as quarantine is to the theatre industry right now, this is a good time to brainstorm solutions for the industry when issues like this one arise and just for normal life. I especially agree with more online shows available. Dick Block was able to recommend a show from Britain because it was put online and I would not have been able to see it otherwise. If more theatre’s were to take advantage of this, they would be able to make more money, which will be essential after this coronavirus craziness. Now, as much as I love these ideas, they have been suggested many times before, and there has yet to be a change. This article is not the first to think of these ideas, but theatre’s should be thinking about making it one of the last. When this is all over, they are going to need more ways to make money fast. Taking advantage of these ideas would allow them to do just that. This time can help save the industry.
I think that this article makes a few good points. I have always been really lucky to get to see live theatre in my town since I live very close to LA, and it has really changed the way I see theatre. I think it is so important that many people have access to seeing theatre performances, and this quarantine is revealing that a lot of theatre have professional recordings of their shows that they can release! There are productions that some of us will never be able to see that are still watchable on the internet which is so amazing. The fact that I paid no money at all to see Eva Noblezada perform in Miss Saigon is,,,, amazing. And Falsettos with Christian Borle and Andrew Rannels. Its just really cool that we can see these amazing artists in their broadway prime without leaving our homes, and that theatre can be accessible to people who maybe cant afford a trip to new york and tickets, and it makes theatre be much more widespread and amazing! Yay theatre!!
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