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Thursday, November 17, 2022
Celebrating 50 Years of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library
TheaterMania: The past half-century of theater history is on display as part of the ongoing exhibition Focus Center Stage: 50 Years of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
This was a very cool read. It's easy to forget that adding the element of filming a show requires a much larger element of coordination than putting on a live performance.
The work that goes into preserving materials such as this is vital to culture. Without the ability to look back on things such as old live performances, all we are left with is first hand accounts that happened to get recorded. And while this is still very worthwhile, the ability to experience a live performance with your own senses rather than having to fill all of the blanks in within your mind allow you to observe it that much more truthfully. The reason this is so important is that it allows us to more effectively draw inspiration from and build off of the works of those that come before us. I am glad that we are doing what we can to preserve our work for those that come after.
I was glad to see an article about this archive because I have been interested in it since I learned about it. I would love to be able to visit before it closes. I think the debate about filming live theatre has become somewhat of a hindrance to preservation. I am really glad they were able to get these shows on tape for posterity. I appreciate that the exhibit is free as I think access to things like this can make a huge difference to young artists. The way they outlined the show taping process was a great inside look at how these things get done and just how many folks have a hand in it. It's nice to see that they acknowledged the debate about making these things available online; there's such a huge discourse in the industry about that now. The list of what you can watch in the exhibition are really exciting and i'd love to see some of that footage.
It is always so nice to hear about initiatives working towards the preservation of artwork throughout history, and this article is not different in its highlight of the New York Public Library’s archive of theatre productions over the course of 50 years. Preserving history is so important when it comes to referencing what has been done within the arts, and seeing how far we have come as a whole. It was really interesting when the article talked a bit about what goes into the selection process of what shows get taped for the archive, because obviously not every single production can be filmed; it would be nearly impossible to capture the sheer amount of works put on every day throughout the country, let alone the world. It comes as no surprise that there are specific standards when it comes to selecting specific shows to be taped, and it's refreshing to see them go over what that process is like. They also talk about POC and LGBTQ artists being highlighted with the history, and I think it is super cool that they choose to recognize marginalized people and their journeys within the industry.
3 comments:
This was a very cool read. It's easy to forget that adding the element of filming a show requires a much larger element of coordination than putting on a live performance.
The work that goes into preserving materials such as this is vital to culture. Without the ability to look back on things such as old live performances, all we are left with is first hand accounts that happened to get recorded. And while this is still very worthwhile, the ability to experience a live performance with your own senses rather than having to fill all of the blanks in within your mind allow you to observe it that much more truthfully. The reason this is so important is that it allows us to more effectively draw inspiration from and build off of the works of those that come before us. I am glad that we are doing what we can to preserve our work for those that come after.
I was glad to see an article about this archive because I have been interested in it since I learned about it. I would love to be able to visit before it closes. I think the debate about filming live theatre has become somewhat of a hindrance to preservation. I am really glad they were able to get these shows on tape for posterity. I appreciate that the exhibit is free as I think access to things like this can make a huge difference to young artists. The way they outlined the show taping process was a great inside look at how these things get done and just how many folks have a hand in it. It's nice to see that they acknowledged the debate about making these things available online; there's such a huge discourse in the industry about that now. The list of what you can watch in the exhibition are really exciting and i'd love to see some of that footage.
It is always so nice to hear about initiatives working towards the preservation of artwork throughout history, and this article is not different in its highlight of the New York Public Library’s archive of theatre productions over the course of 50 years. Preserving history is so important when it comes to referencing what has been done within the arts, and seeing how far we have come as a whole. It was really interesting when the article talked a bit about what goes into the selection process of what shows get taped for the archive, because obviously not every single production can be filmed; it would be nearly impossible to capture the sheer amount of works put on every day throughout the country, let alone the world. It comes as no surprise that there are specific standards when it comes to selecting specific shows to be taped, and it's refreshing to see them go over what that process is like. They also talk about POC and LGBTQ artists being highlighted with the history, and I think it is super cool that they choose to recognize marginalized people and their journeys within the industry.
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