tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post115540467637497612..comments2024-01-07T06:59:04.212-05:00Comments on The Playgoer: That Elusive Young AudiencePlaygoerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02994724588504353485noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155912364631639482006-08-18T10:46:00.000-04:002006-08-18T10:46:00.000-04:00Gary Coleman is in AVENUE Q and I guess Conrad sho...Gary Coleman is in AVENUE Q and I guess Conrad showed up to lend support...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155741674238761402006-08-16T11:21:00.000-04:002006-08-16T11:21:00.000-04:00Fascinating comments so far. Thanks to all. I wi...Fascinating comments so far. Thanks to all. I will respond at further length to some of these in a separate post.<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile...how did the cast of Diff'rent Strokes find its way here?Playgoerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02994724588504353485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155677487033664812006-08-15T17:31:00.000-04:002006-08-15T17:31:00.000-04:00I agree with your theory of acting and I think it'...I agree with your theory of acting and I think it's eloquently stated -- but I don't think it'll get voters to the polls, as it were.<BR/><BR/>Pornography has the ultimate "pre-determined outcome" and it is the biggest entertainment industry on the face of the planet. And half the time, even though the people are fucking, it seems faker than fake.<BR/><BR/>People want fantasy and escapism. The theatre is committed to truth, that's why people don't go, will never go. Unless it's Phantom et al.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155655126894324282006-08-15T11:18:00.000-04:002006-08-15T11:18:00.000-04:00Drama is not sports -- sports have no pre-determin...Drama is not sports -- sports have no pre-determined outcome, a play does. Sports are about competition, not truth.<BR/><BR/>Actors pretend. That is what they do. <BR/><BR/>A fake youth culture built on a spurious idea of authenticity isn't the way for the theatre to go.<BR/><BR/>"Nobody wants to be lied to, and nobody wants to be manipulated."<BR/><BR/>This is not true if you look at the kinds of music and movies youth culture flocks to.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155647486526551522006-08-15T09:11:00.000-04:002006-08-15T09:11:00.000-04:00drop by some Saturday night - it's also the only s...drop by some Saturday night - it's also the only show on Broadway that doesn't ask you to unwrap your candy, adjust your hearing aids and remind you to turn off your cell phones - and Gary can't you just look out into the audience and see those young facesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155587020391512482006-08-14T16:23:00.000-04:002006-08-14T16:23:00.000-04:00Oh bullshit at 46 you were the "oldest" person in ...Oh bullshit at 46 you were the "oldest" person in the Avenue Q orchrestra.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155585771594310062006-08-14T16:02:00.000-04:002006-08-14T16:02:00.000-04:00Or, it could be that most theatre being made right...Or, it could be that most theatre being made right now just doesn't connect with younger audiences - and here is the excpetion that proves the rule - I went back to see AVENUE Q on Saturday night and was stunned to be (once again) at age 46, the oldest person in the ORCHESTRA!!! More telling, the conversation in the theatre during internission (besides everyone talking about how cool the show is) had more to do with Zach Braff than Brian Stokes Mitchell<BR/><BR/>Make of this what you will but we all know there are no discounts on Saturday nite at AVENUE Q - so those are $100 tickets going to hundreds of 'young audiences'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155527219526540282006-08-13T23:46:00.000-04:002006-08-13T23:46:00.000-04:00I don't think the problem can be attributed to shr...I don't think the problem can be attributed to shrinking attention spans and multi-tasking--or at least not the entire problem.<BR/><BR/>If even a small percentage of under-35 cinephiles were occasional theatregoers, it would be a huge improvement.<BR/><BR/>There are probably tens of thousands of twentysomething film geeks out there who eagerly anticipate the new Todd Solondz movie (or whatever) but wouldn't even consider checking out a well-reviewed new play.<BR/><BR/>The problem is deeper than technology, lifestyle trends, etc.Contrapositivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08645775885446988732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155484741209801872006-08-13T11:59:00.000-04:002006-08-13T11:59:00.000-04:00I think to attract a younger audience, the theatre...I think to attract a younger audience, the theatre should give out free ecstasy to anyone under 30 and allow them to watch videos on their iPods during the performance. This is a wonderful way of attracting the elusive youth audience.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155475572300757492006-08-13T09:26:00.000-04:002006-08-13T09:26:00.000-04:00I think it's because theatre comes across as somet...I think it's because theatre comes across as something very feminine. <BR/>What's the last play that was like a football game...a video game...these cultured guys don't go to the ballet either. Yes ofcourse they'll go to a rock concert. It's a concert with chicks (I'm using a bit more machismo I know)! <BR/><BR/>So, if he(Isaac) is doing this research and there is a concern, how about looking at the play? Did Zack really go to "AIDA" I doubt it. Would Zack go see a Hans Christensen adaptation well ofcourse because Zack is Isaacs friend, but would another football, computer playing, rock concert going kinda guy go? Sadly, I have my doubts. The only play I can think of is "Glengarry Glen Ross" Why? It's a guy thing. It's hip. It's more visceral. It's men staking out there territory. It's hormones.<BR/>Ok, I gotta go take a shower now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155443301021248142006-08-13T00:28:00.000-04:002006-08-13T00:28:00.000-04:00Or maybe the quick-cutting pace of music videos, t...Or maybe the quick-cutting pace of music videos, the multi-tasking that electronics enable, the jumping among open windows on a computer, and they myriad other ways we function nowadays has made the theatrical form moribund. I'm not calling for more technology in theater -- please don't misunderstand. And I happen to have abiding affection for narrative. But -- just a hypothesis -- maybe there's something about the linear way most theater proceeds (even "non-linear" theater -- ie, non-narrative or "theater of images" or "experimental theater") that just doens't engage today's brains. Maybe young people perceive theater as plodding too slowly in a single direction. I'm not saying I think it does that -- I think the good stuff is multivalent and, as I said, I love a good yarn. But I do think the ways our brains function is actually changing and that woudl have an effect on the kind of art we're drawn to.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12657288.post-1155442020905222182006-08-13T00:07:00.000-04:002006-08-13T00:07:00.000-04:00I'll throw a related thought into the mix, also ba...I'll throw a related thought into the mix, also based on zero actual research:<BR/><BR/>My hunch is that at least a subset of the people in the demographic you're discussing have developed the firm view, consciously or not, that they're unlikely to encounter anything in live theatre that has any relevance to their lives.<BR/><BR/>They've seen bad high school musicals and Neil Simon productions and believe, at least at some gut level, that that's pretty much all live theatre has to offer. <BR/><BR/>Broadway ad campaigns (by and large) only reinforce the impresion that theatre is all about fluff and spectacle. And off-Broadway never makes it onto the radar of these people--or if it does, they assume it's more of the same.<BR/><BR/>Just a theory.<BR/><BR/>But whatever the answer is, it does seem like a serious problem.Contrapositivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08645775885446988732noreply@blogger.com