Category: AUDIENCE

In-Person Theatre During Covid-19: Quarantine, Ventilate, And Be Ready To Quit

A recent New Jersey show demonstrates that, if the perfect factors come together, Equity theatre can happen – though it will be more rare in the winter, certainly. “The whole time we were working on it, I would wake up feeling like Icarus and wondering if my wings were going to melt. But it was worth all the hurdles.” – American Theatre

“Wonder Woman” Plan Threatens Movie Theatres

“By now, you’ve read a million paeans to the magic of sitting in a darkened theater, but it’s not just the evanescent experience of the silver screen that’s been whisked away. On a purely practical level, theaters act as a filter, a way of separating out a small handful of the hundreds of movies released every year, and although the system by which they end up there is riven with biases and blind spots, on balance, the movies that end up there are better than the ones that don’t, and their limited runs create a sense of occasion and urgency that the boundless availability of streaming can’t match.” – Slate

Australia Gets Ready To Restart Live Performance As (Almost) Normal

“Live performance venues and events will be allowed to reach capacity of up to 75% in states that have recorded no new locally acquired coronavirus cases in 14 days. … In what has been labelled the ‘Covid normal’ of the near future, indoor events and seated outdoor events will still be ticketed only, and additional restrictions will still apply to large-scale multi-day outdoor music festivals.” – The Guardian

Hallmark Has Been Broadcasting Christmas Shows Since Before Halloween — And It’s Ruling Cable TV With Them

“What’s most striking about Hallmark’s continued yuletide success is that the network hasn’t suffered the same ratings erosion as most of its cable peers. … It’s harder than ever to get holiday TV commercials in front of holiday viewers, but Hallmark is still doing so with relative ease.” – Vulture

Most Musicians Earn Tiny Pittances From Streaming. China May Have A Solution

“On several streaming platforms under the umbrella of China’s Tencent Music … micropayments from fans help compensate artists where royalties fall short. This has partially allowed artists to do some smaller-scale hustling every time they release a new album. In part it’s given them a digital tip jar. But it hasn’t been all small change. … [And] there’s no reason why Tencent Music’s model can’t be applied beyond China.” – Slate

Groundbreaking: “Wonder Woman” Will Be Released Online And In Theatres Simultaneously

The decision to forgo a traditional theatrical release is surprising because “Wonder Woman 1984” was expected to be one of the biggest films of 2020 and had the potential to surpass $1 billion in ticket sales. The $200 million-budgeted movie was originally supposed to hit theaters this past summer. However, it was delayed time and time again amid the coronavirus crisis. – Variety

Study: Americans Feel Positive About The Arts, But There Are Demographic Differences

“The extensive survey, coordinated by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’s Humanities Indicators project, … [found that] 80% of American adults hold a ‘very favorable’ or ‘somewhat favorable’ view of the arts … but only 11% of them said they visit art museums or attend arts events regularly, while another 29% said they do so ‘sometimes.'” Interestingly, Black and Latinx Americans are far more likely to attend poetry and literary events than are their white compatriots. – Hyperallergic

In Pandemic-Inspired Theatre, The Critic Can Also Be The Audience, And The Star

Says one critic of the Dutch Kills Theatre Company’s Temping: “‘Seen’ is wrong — there’s no audience, live or otherwise — but ‘done’ is right. The audience member does everything, including, if your brain works like mine does, thinking about what you’re going to wear on your first day.” – The New York Times