Observer: As a child living in Manhattan, the magic of Broadway was everything. But as an adult with an autoimmune disease living in California, I thought I’d never attend a Broadway play again. Sitting still for hours without the ability to prop my legs triggers pain and vasculitis, and even pre-COVID, flying was difficult due to my health.
12 comments:
I was lucky enough to see this Broadway revival production of Jagged Little Pill in March, the last weekend the Broadway was open before it shut down for COVID. I went with my high school for my Senior trip, and I remember Jagged Little Pill was the show that touched everybody the most. Some of my friends were crying, others, like myself were in wonder of the technical aspects of the show. The cast was bursting at the seams with talent. It’s interesting that the fan base for this show grew throughout the pandemic. For me, I found myself less in love with the music, and more so the way the show was constructed and how perfectly all the puzzle pieces of the set and design and lighting choices fell together. It was magical. Accessibility in live theatre is something that I will continue to advocate for. As somebody who didn’t get to watch much theatre as a kid, solely because of the cost of seeing a show, I know that something definitely needs to change in this industry.
Chronic illness is often ignored by the mainstream and many suffering try to hide it. Getting to Broadway and being able to afford it have been challenges for people of all abilities. I am appreciative of the digital world for providing and outlook, but I do miss in person theater as well. It is a difficult balance but it is an important one. It is hard to know what the balance will be but it should not prevent anyone from trying, especially if it is increasing accessibility. Theatre is an art form and there should be no barriers of ability or access. Seeing new audiences being brought into the community and cultivating a passion for theatre is beautiful. I know even if I saw a production in person or virtually I would love to see it again. I love the idea of virtual theatre capturing the experience. Sitting for long periods of time in silence is not accessible for so many and I look forward to seeing an awareness and change in the community.
Accessibility in theatre is an issue that is miles behind where is thou be in todays age considering the technology that we have access to. If it took a pandemic to show that streamed theatre and online theatre is not only profitable but also required to reach audiences for various reasons. If anything keeping "streamed theatre" as a normal part of broadway and off broadway shows would only increase their viewership and success. Without proper advertising, how are people supposed to know to come see the amazing show that so many people put so much effort into? And as the article pointed out the idea of "going dark" to try and draw audiences in is simply not logical in my mind. I have never really wanted to go see a musical before without having heard the soundtrack first. And not only would streamed shows be advantageous for disables audiences, but also for audiences that would not have the funds or resources to come in person to broadway. The wider audience that shows could reach by incorporating streaming or other virtual shows into their normal routine post covid is one hundred percent reason enough to keep them around.
Theatre is a very inaccessible industry, in that it requires in person attendance, small seats, cramped areas, and a lot of money. It also often requires significant travel, which cant often be accommodated by people with a disability. With the pandemic going on in the world, it has proven once and for all the inaccessibility of Broadway. It is one of the only industries that has had to be put completely on pause/shifted into a different format. For people who ALL THE TIME cant leave the house due to risk of illness or getting hurt, or people who's bodies work differently, even in regular times they have to watch all their entertainment from home. Broadway is extremely elitist in that tickets are expensive and require travel. Seeing theatre should always be as accessible as it currently is. If one good thing came of the pandemic theatre industry, it is that we are now streaming shows so that anyone can watch them from home.
I think accessibility for live theatre is very important. Theatre is meant to be an artform for all to enjoy, but aspects such as location and ticket prices, among other things, can be extremely restrictive for many potential audience members. Covid has certainly opened the door to new realm of possibilities in the way of accessibility. It has proven that livestreamed theatre is absolutely possible, and can be very beneficial to many who may not be able to attend in person, Covid or not. Of course, watching a live piece on a screen does not equal the grandeur and spectacle of experiencing it in person, but this can be accounted for. If “admission” prices for livestreamed broadcasts are lowered, that will increase accessibility for many who may not be able to travel to major theatre houses which put on productions. The accessibility benefits extend beyond just monetary or travel restrictions, though. As outlined in the article, for patrons who may be hard of hearing or deaf, livestreams can have closed captioning or ASL interpretation on screen for their viewing only. These, as well as countless other benefits, should be reason enough to maintain virtual livestreaming of productions, but only time will tell if virtual theatre will stick around.
I never really thought about virtual theatre being accessible to those with disabilities. I will admit, I have done my fair share of complaining about theatre being full online and missing seeing shows live but now I never realized how beneficial it could be. Now that I can look at these digital performances through a new lense, it gives me a new sense of appreciation toward these filmed shows. In this age of technology I always knew theatre would end up somehow digital but being thrust into it like this was like being thrown in the deep end of a pool and not knowing how to swim, but for many others it was a long time coming. Jagged Little Pill, in the show itself, does such a great job at addressing really heavy topics, that it is no surprise to me they handled accessibility well too. Props to them for portraying what this can be on a much larger scale and paving the way for may others to do the same.
The theater industry in America has always been so exclusive, so it is uplifting to hear that some people truly want to change that. Like the article said, these online performances or streams can be profitable, so there is really no reason not to have them. I always think about these hurdles in the theater industry, and how privileged I am to be able to be where I am now. Without being exposed to theater at a young age, I would not have gotten into it. To attend shows, you not only need the money, but you also need the time, and someone who cares enough about you or has prior experience with seeing live theater to bring you to see one. To get into working on theater, you need an accessible community theater or school theater, and you need to be able to devote a portion of your schedule to that. To be able to have a portfolio ready to apply to colleges, you need a robust enough theater that had allowed you to have the experience a college is looking for, and you need enough dedication to have worked on several projects to fill up that portfolio. Lastly, to apply and get into these colleges you need time, money, good grades, that portfolio, dedication, and support, as most people will discourage you from going into college for theater. I always think about this chain of requirements I was able to fulfill to get to where I am now, and it makes me wonder about how there are likely people who could have been incredible artists or workers in the industry, but they missed one step of the requirements and then the theater industry became completely inaccessible to them; therefore, I appreciate articles like these, where these requirements are broken, and theater slowly but surely becomes more universal and accessible.
After reading this article, I have a new perspective on virtual theatre. I had no idea how great it is for people with disabilities. It makes so much sense that virtual theatre is making the industry more accessible. I believe that it will be around for awhile, but now I hope that money will be put into the development of better live streaming technology, and that the art form will expand.
It is interesting to hear that the virtual theatre performances have been profitable, which furthers my hopes for its development. Theater is very inaccessible to people with disabilities, and also to people who do not have the luxury of time and money to be able to see a broadway show. There can be a huge profit if the virtual productions are done well and remain accessible.
I have definitely always thought that going virtual was going to be a big step for Broadway but also a very difficult step. With the world entering an age where entertainment can be found anywhere for a fraction of the cost of a Broadway show I wondered what was the incentive to go to a Broadway show unless you already love theatre. It is great to see that Broadway is taking a step towards being less exclusive because I think if the industry continues to only cater towards rich white people who are neurotypical then the industry will die. I never thought about the struggle of attending a show with an autoimmune disease especially if you really love theatre. This pandemic made people think about how to put on a show safely during covid times but I am not sure shows will continue to think about this after (if) this virus gets eradicated. I love seeing that shows were taking this in account before covid and props to those shows, I hope this continues after Broadway fully opens up as well.
This article brings a very, very important conversation about accessibility to the forefront– live performances aren’t always an option for people with disabilities or chronic conditions. Virtual theater has given people the opportunity to tune into performances from their homes; but this has become the norm because we all have to stay home due to COVID. Our world is consistently choosing to only accommodate when most people need it, instead of providing solutions for everyone to participate. And, I think it is a good point to make that virtual theater can actually spread audiences across the globe and increase the number of people who tune in to watch. Because, they can do it from wherever they are and not travel (which is costly, another issue with accessing arts). This is a point that is directed towards the producers and companies, because it is really about the profit of a show rather than increasing accessibility to everyone. This conversation will hopefully continue and I hope we can create a more accessible theater world going forward.
I truly never thought about how those with disabilities are unable to see live theatre. The issue of accessibility always struck as an issue with money and location to me, but I can see now how those are very clearly not the only problems. This makes me wonder from a producing-point of view how offering virtual attendance of productions would affect the income of a show. I believe it wouldn’t. The people who are willing to travel across the country to see theatre will still do so, because people who love theatre love that it’s live. If anything, you’ll be selling more tickets than usual, with tons of people all around the world purchasing virtual tickets. You’d obviously have to limit the number you sold, to keep the income steady and to keep the server from breaking, but I think this has HUGE potential. They could create a server for this and include broadway, west-end, chicago, off-broadway... and everyone would have to go through that website. They could use the technology disney+ uses which locks any screen recording applications when a show is playing.
I absolutely love Jagged Little Pill. It was my first real theater gig in Boston, and even though creating it was a painful process and the show that we created was a bit of a hot mess, I’m so glad that the Broadway version is receiving such high praise for such a myriad of reasons. I think moving forward we can and absolutely should continue with livestreamed performances. As the article says, all major sports prove that there is demand to watch these events from the comfort of your home and from the venue itself and that offering both options do not interfere with each other. I think there’s a couple of snags to work out before that can happen. One of the snags is something will have to be done about SAG. In my opinion, if theater’s just livestream actual performances with in-person audiences than there’s no real argument to made that this would fall under SAG’s purview. If they try anything, just give them the middle finger and move on. When did we as a society that one union was going to have a stranglehold on all digital content?
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