www.broadwaynews.com: “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” will be livestreamed during its final week of performances. The world-premiere comedy from Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) will be broadcast live from Broadway’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre beginning with the evening performance on Nov. 14 through the final performance on Nov. 19. “Jaja’s,” which opened at Broadway’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Oct. 3, has extended its limited run twice.
3 comments:
YES! I think this is such a good idea and it is so exciting to hear about! As someone who was born and raised in a place that did not have accessible art this makes my inner child so excited. There are so many reasons someone might not be able to get to a broadway show or even tour. And while I know that live streaming does not totally solve this problem I think it is a HUGE step in the right direction. I also think that setting the live stream for the last week of production is brilliant. I love pro shots and I think they accomplish a similar benefit but I love how there is still the live aspect to this, and if the show is about to close why not open it up to as many people as possible! I will definitely be watching the live stream, and I cannot wait!
I’m so excited that live theatre streaming is becoming more acceptable. While I grew up in a very theatre-dense area, as an immunocompromised individual, seeing theatre during the throws and even towards the “end” of the pandemic was practically impossible. So many argue that the live streaming of theatre will “ruin” the theatre industry as no one will come in person but I do not see this being plausible. Audiences will still choose to come in person but having the live streaming option makes theatre so much more accessible. I was disappointed to see that these livestream tickets are 69 dollars (unfeasible for many), however, better accessibility is a step in the right direction. I am curious to see how the addition of live streaming will affect unions and what union laws exist for this. It is possible that equity live-streaming laws are already in place, I’m just not aware of them. How will livestreaming affect designer and actor royalties? I hope this is something that will be discussed.
I feel like this show did not get a lot of publicity, as I feel like the first time I heard about this show was its closing announcement, which is unfortunate since it looks like such a fun and cool production. But the only silver lining of this show closing, is the announcement that it’s final week would be livestreamed to the public. This is something that exponentially increases the accessibility of theater and it is something I believe that every show on Broadway has the capability of doing. I understand why doing something like this would be difficult when it comes to lessening the desire of people to purchase tickets, which is why I feel like compromising and livestreaming the final week is a great solution, and will help the show find more audience to be in people's minds even after the show closes on Broadway in a few weeks.
Post a Comment