“Here, six months after most stages went dark, 20 theater figures — many far from the heart of the commercial sector — offer their own suggestions.” – The New York Times
Category: AUDIENCE
How Does This Classical Music TV Series Attract Millions Of Viewers? It’s Made Like A Cooking Show
Each episode of Now Hear This “manages to turn its exploration of a single subject into a hybrid of travelogue, mystery, history, cultural study, documentary and performance — all with … intricate webs of narrative that connect composers across episodes and eras.” Showrunner Harry Lynch and host Scott Yoo freely acknowledge that they were inspired by the approach of food-TV stars such as Anthony Bourdain. – The Washington Post
Film Festivals Lose Something Essential When They Go Virtual
From the outside, many of these events look incredibly glamorous, even excessive — none more than Cannes, with its black-tie premieres in the Palais and its exclusive yacht parties off the shore. As such, it’s not hard to imagine civilians questioning why the world might need such gatherings during a time of austerity and caution. But the truth is, film festivals serve an essential function to the ecosystem of cinema that can’t be reproduced by virtual events. – Variety
Is Online Streaming Of Performances Here To Stay?
“While widespread live performance without social distancing remains unlikely until 2021, streaming platforms have found their moment in the spotlight, offering audiences access to a library of theatre. Key figures in the digital theatre movement tell Tom Wicker about what the future holds for streaming services.” – The Stage
Boris Johnson Announces Plan To Restart Performances By Testing Audience Members On Site
“Addressing a press conference at Downing Street on Tuesday, [the British prime minister] said, ‘Theaters and sports venues could test an audience, all audience members, one day and let in all those with a negative result, all those who are not infectious. Work places could be opened up to all those who test negative in the morning to behave in a way that was exactly as in the world before COVID.'” The scheme will be put to the test in October in Salford, near Manchester. – Variety
K-Pop Supergroup Tops Global Billboard Charts, Suggests Different Direction For Pop Music
The song topped Spotify’s Global Top 50 chart and rose to number one on the iTunes charts in over 100 countries. It also set a YouTube record for the most views in 24 hours. BTS’s success, particularly on the Billboard Hot 100 recently, highlights the need to re-examine how we define pop music within the global music industry. – The Conversation
Comic-Con Went Virtual This Year. Critics Said It Flopped. Fans Weren’t So Condemning
Comic-Con@Home inevitably drew comparisons to the in-real-life event, but some critics promptly branded it a failure — perhaps most prominently in Variety, the entertainment industry trade magazine. But calling Comic-Con@Home a flop for not having enough exclusive movie reveals or failing to produce enough social media buzz assumes too much. – The Conversation
How Much Difference Does Rotten Tomatoes Really Make In A Movie’s Success?
“As recently as a few years ago, the movie-review aggregator was seen as something of an industry bogeyman. But is there a correlation between box office receipts and a high (or low) score on the Tomatometer? We dug deep into the numbers to determine that.” – The Ringer
There’s One Place In Times Square That’s Already Presenting Indoor Broadway Concerts
Thank goodness for liquor-law loopholes, because one of them is the reason that Open Jar Studios, a complex normally used for rehearsals, has become the only indoor venue in New York City presenting live performances. The thorough COVID-safety measures that Open Jar has in place could be a good example of what we’ll see elsewhere before long. – Gothamist
UK Culture Secretary Says He Wants To See Performance Venues Open As Normal For Christmas
Using articles in this past weekend’s Mail on Sunday and Sunday Times, secretary Oliver Dowden announced what he’s calling “Operation Sleeping Beauty,” a plan “to bring back some of the magic of theatre for families this Christmas … We need to start filling seats in much larger numbers – not just for the audiences, not just for the venues and livelihoods who depend on them, but for the entire urban economy, too.” (The performing arts community is responding with — well, not cautious optimism, more like optimistic caution.) – WhatsOnStage (London)