That’s what the New Ballet in San Jose is offering for a performance of Sleeping Beauty this weekend: a group of patrons will sit together in the balcony, dial into a conference call, and listen on earbuds to live commentary as well as background on the ballet and interviews with dancers. Says company director Dalia Rawson, “It’s a bit radical, … but I think context and additional information will enhance the experience, just as it does when watching football or the Olympics.”
Category: AUDIENCE
How Indie Magazines Are Hacking The Publishing Industry
Independent publishing, far from dying, is undergoing a renaissance. These are not the A4-sized, glossy, free-DVD-inside commodities that dominate the newsstand. These are as much objects as magazines, collectible and shareable in the best sense of the word. These are magazines that play with the form, from open binding to multiple paper stocks. Their subject matter is as diverse as their production techniques, from mental health to trans rights, from football to street wear. They are driven by a passion, both for their content, and the printed form, and thanks to technology, they are able to reach audiences around the world. From Twitter to Instagram, from Patreon to Kickstarter, it’s never been easier to build an audience, and sell your creation to them.
It’s Lazy To Blame Our Technologies For Our Self-Absorption
We should let go of the idea that our technologies are us, that we are somehow the sum total of the platforms we use… Just maybe, if more people can be convinced that this wealth of culture offers them a mirror to themselves, they might be willing to put down the phone for a few minutes and gaze inside.
Stop Trying To ‘Protect’ Shakespeare, Chekhov, And Other Dead Playwrights
Lyn Gardner: “What is viewed by some as cultural vandalism is often a lifeline for playwrights, keeping plays that might otherwise slip into obscurity alive. Tastes and styles in theatre change. … Theatre has to move on, or it dies.”
As Streaming Services Get More Popular And Appointment Viewing Less So, Where Does The Ad Money Go?
The 18-49-year-old audience range is down 7 percent for broadcast TV stations, and Netflix has poached everyone from Ryan Murphy to Shonda Rhimes, but some estimates say ad spending may actually increase this year. Wait, what?
A Multiracial Comedy Gets Canceled By Fox, Lin-Manuel Miranda Leads A Massive Online Outcry, And Boom, The Series Has A New Home
Fox announced it was cancelling Brooklyn Nine Nine on Thursday, and Twitter freaked out. On Friday, NBC announced it had picked up the comedy for a sixth season.
How To Win Eurovision: Do The Chicken Dance
As 200 million people watched, Israel’s Netta Barzilai overwhelmed the “carnival of camp” competition – “Denmark featured singing Vikings, Ukraine’s contestant rose from a coffin to play on an enormous flame-wreathed piano, and an Estonian opera singer performed in a gown 26 feet in diameter” – with a song that she said was inspired by the #MeToo movement.
Doing Sportscaster-Style Commentary On A Classical Music Competition (Yes, It Can Work)
Andrew Mellor writes about the commentary he did for the live video stream of this year’s Malko Competition for Young Conductors. “Much like a pundit pitting the poor defensive track record of West Ham against the unstoppable firepower of Manchester City, I tried to ascertain what dangers the prescribed works would pose for each contestant, and tapped the expertise of other journalists in so doing. What’s the worst thing that can happen in the slow movement from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony?”
When, And Why, Theater Audiences Fall Asleep In Their Seats
Peter Marks: “It is every patron’s right, I suppose, to consume theater in any way they see fit, as long as it is not a nuisance to others. The steady mechanical breath of sleep can be an audible distraction at a quiet play, and yes, a throat clearing or a whispered word of correction is required if snoring commences. But the greater injustice, it seems to me, is the one unconscious theatergoers do to themselves. Buying a $100 seat is an inordinately expensive way to take a nap. Is every theater piece really that dull to some percentage of the crowd, I wonder, or are we just coming to public events ever more sleep-deprived? “
How A Controversial Fan-Driven Convention Collapsed
Universal FanCon — the pop culture convention that crashed and burned late last month — was supposed to build on this momentum, bringing together legions of geeks who had always been relegated to the lonely margins of geekdom. Which helps explain why people were so outraged and heartbroken by its abrupt collapse.