While you wait…
Yesterday was a terrible day for technology in my life. It all started when I woke up I grabbed my iPhone and I was just about to Tweet what a wonderful day it was going to be when suddenly CRASH. The screen went black and that was it, no answer. There isn’t much you can do at this point than two press the only two press-able buttons in the device in different combinations and timings to understand your phone is really off. I plug it into the power outlet and bam, what I feared, a welcoming message in about 10 different languages to only tell me to plug to iTunes. This wasn’t looking good. Two years ago I had a jailbroken phone to be able to use it here in Mexico so I knew my way around a bit. Long story short, its been 31 hours without my phone, without internet and my iPad and MacBook simply don’t do the trick anymore. Twitter, Foursquare, Whatsapp, Find my Friends and my boss’ addiction to Whatsapp and e-Mail was just the beginning of the realization on how important my iPhone is in my life.
Which brings us to problem number two. A new phone apparently. My iPhone is with the doctor right now they dared to ask me to wait two hours for a final diagnose on what is happening and this is probably how waiting in the hospital feels like. (I’m barely exaggerating) So while my two year old phone is in recovery (hopefully) I decided to ask for the new internet plans and BAM!!! second bad news today. It turns out that there is no longer unlimited internet data plans anymore. WHAT!!!! I’ve had unlimited data since I started using iPhone four years ago. Which leads me to the actual point of this post (thanks for reading this far by the way).
As I predicted in one of my previous posts: 11 Things We Will Laugh About In The Future in numbers 1 and 2 you can see that I see that in the future Land lines, cell phone minutes or SMS will be something in the past (like pagers). Everything is pointing towards that data is new coin in mobile technology. I realize I no longer care on how many minutes I get in my plan, even less on how many SMSs I can send. But cutting my unlimited plan to 3GB seemed a bit too much. (Even though I only use about 1.5GB a month, but I want to feel like I can own the world). I think this is an obvious and very smart move (good for them, not for me) in the mobile carriers, however if they are really moving forward and saying, hey, data is what matters, then start trying unlimited minutes. That is only fair I think, or give up SMS and embrace the future. You want to make money per MB? Then encourage your users to use Whatsapp and internet calls making SMS and Minutes redundant, push us to our futures against our economies but be fair.
What has happened in these past two days, definitely not fair.
A Chorus Line Mexico: The reality of Mexican Musical Theatre
Last week I was invited to Opening Night of the Mexican Version of A Chorus Line: La línea del coro. They have two slogans for the show, one that translates ”The Musical that Revolutionized Broadway” and the second one ” World Quality: This line is golden”. Now, I usually don’t write reviews in this blog of shows most of my readers won’t be able to see, but this time it has made me realized many realities of the Mexican Musical Theatre and I wanted to share it with you.
Of course I went with a whole bunch of theatre people who all (including me) love the show, love the music and love the text. The problem when you go with these kind of people is that we all take out the claws and criticize every single thing but most of all, the number one comment was: ” I saw it on Broadway and it was breathtaking, and here in Mexico is not like that”. I agree. However, we really need to stop comparing to Broadway, or take it as a reference point to judge if something is good in Mexico or not. There is not a cast in Mexico that could have had Broadway quality, this may sound harsh or bold but no one could have done it better, even though it wasn’t enough. The truth is that not a single person that criticized the cast as a whole or individually could have done it better, as a whole.
The thing is that no one is really prepared to do theatre at that level in Mexico. Most people that are on stage actually studied something else and then trained on their spare time, no one dedicated professionally to the craft from an early age, and even those very few who had the guts to do it, there is no recognized institution of high standards to train our talented people to be top quality in Musical Theatre as a whole. There is a lot of talent in the country, don’t get me wrong, but we are simply not developing because today, a career in Musical Theatre, is not an option. The cast of The Chorus Line is just a sample of the most talented actors in México, the ones who had the guts to take their profession past a hobby, the ones that have been in big musicals building a career, and sadly, its still not enough.
On the other hand, as usual in this company, production was flawless, clean. The lighting and sound design was precise and I even going to dare to call perfect. Unfortunately, they still have to bring American designers to do it for us, I just hope its a matter of time for us to learn to do it ourselves with that level of quality. Choreography was clean and the few production elements were well achieved.
So my main criticism is not the cast itself, nor the production, but to the producers. I admire and respect big time their work because they are the ones who brought quality in theatre to the country. They brought full versions of Les Mis, Phantom, Beauty and the Beast, Mamma Mia! and other hits. But this move, seemed cheap to me. I understand that mexican audiences are not cooperating enthusiastically in the box office, so they decided to put on a show that relies on cast and not production (therefore saving a couple million pesos). As any other production of chorus line: simple costumes, the mirrors, the fan, and the golden suits. But what makes you want to pay the $120 dollars on Broadway is the cast, a line of headliners and dancers that are professional dancers who have dedicated their whole life to dance, with pure technique and style. Trying to do the same thing in México, with a line that is not what its promised, at the same price they asked for Beauty and the Beast ($650 pesos, which is a lot for the Mexican Economy) and on top of all to an audience that appreciates production but can’t really read coreography, is simply wrong to me.
“The musical that revolutionized Broadway” – Yes indeed, in the 70′s, not 30 years later. “World Quality, This line is golden”- As for golden, it just refers to the colour of their costumes. I hope I’m wrong in my forecast. A big success in A Chorus Line here in Mexico would tell me that mexican audiences are growing and appreciating more this type of art and maybe respect it more, and maybe be a bit more open when a kid says ” I want to sing and dance for a living” and then maybe, just maybe, we will see a golden line in the future. And for that dream and reason I would actually recommend people to go see it, but wait for a price change or big discounts or else you are going to feel disappointed.
Feel free to leave any comments and debate with me. Thanks for reading!
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Back to Text
It has been a while since I wrote my last posts. The last two posts where on predictions on what the future will have for us. However, lately I have been thinking a lot in the past on how we used to do things but more than anything how we are going in a new way to older practices.
When I was a kid, the biggest parent-children fight was to get the kids off the TV and the videogames. Was that the last piece of technology back then? Maybe. However, having a conversation with a woman in the theatre, she was telling me that the biggest struggle right now is to keep the kids off the Computer, iPhone and Blackberries. And what are they all doing? Reading and writing… This used to be a good thing when I was a kid! Not just the kids, lots of people are spending a lot of time in the computer and other devices and though we spend a really good time in Youtube, Netflix and Pandora, most of our time we actually spend it reading and writing indeed. At work I spend more time on e-mail than on the phone and my boss keeps texting everyone to see how things are going through BB Pin and Whats App . According to my parent’s generation (my professional research involves asking them and their friends) most of the communication time at work as spent on the phone.
Add up the time you spend using Facebook, Twitter, Reading Blogs, Google News, E-mail, MSN Messenger, SMS, and IM Texting. Put it all together and you will find out that we are reading and writing way much more than we used 5 years ago. Yes, it would be better if we were reading literature and writing essays but still text is becoming once again the MAIN communicating system. The main stream is becoming independent and individual, and communication is becoming one on one. To find out about an artist or the latest gossip you go to read the artist or the artist’s fans twitters. You join to people’s facebook pages and you read their blogs. There is no longer one stream that will present you selected information. You choose what you want to read from the people you want to read from.
When people were saying a couple years ago that blogging was the future of communication I have to admit that I was pretty sceptical. When Twitter came out announced as a “Micro-Blogging” I was not convinced with the Term, but watching how people connect and use it for I see what they meant and the vision that they had. And indeed we are all “blogging” now through Twitter. Meta information is starting to be crucial and there is nothing that news shows can do for that. Things become news as they become TTs on Twitter and by the time they reach the nightly news the TTs have changed and other things are happening that you won’t see until the day after.
Now what is next with text? I think we need to narrow things down. As I announced the death of SMS in my last post, we have too many options for Instant Messaging: SMS, BB Pin, Whats App, Facebook, PingChat, Messenger, AIM. And Facetime will gather strength in the next couple years. So now we have to open multiple services to stay connected with friends, and those apps that gather all are slow and not very effective. So we somehow need to find the service that will keep us all together. I think Facebook needs to step forward and create a useful and more efficient way to manage their messenger, and really push for it with iPhone, Blackberry and Android versions of it.I also think that Dictation development will finally be important to many users. My biggest issue is that it is dangerous to text and drive. My phone really needs to be able to take dictation and read text messages to me. In any case I believe we are still in phase 2 on discovering the internet and what it will do with our daily lives. Social Media will blend more with our activities throughout the day and the phone will more and more be an extension of our arms. Don’t be scared, embrace it.
It is so nice to be back and I want to thank you for READING this post and I hope you WRITE a comment or a tweet for this article. Remember to joing the Facebook Group of suscribe through RSS. And invite people you like to read. Cheers! and See you soon!
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11 Things we will laugh about in the future
I don’t know why I’ve been feeling pretty futuristic lately. Having some free time has allowed me to explore and immerse myself into social media and technology more than ever. This has me thinking in the future and what we will do and how communications will work. Last night I was having a conversation with a good friend Pako Mejía (@pakomr) on things of the past that now we laugh on like Pagers, Connecting through phone and waiting a minute to connect to the Internet, Movie Theatres with one movie, etc. Then I talked with my brother (@PabloValdes) on the future of cellphones. So I decided to predict things we will laugh about in the future (10 years I would say):
1. Land Lines: Yes, I believe that pretty soon we will drop our land lines. At least for personal use, I can count the times I used one to call a friend in the past month. Usually you do it when you want to have a long conversation that you can’t have on the mobile phone. Which takes me to #2.
2. Cell Phone Minutes or SMS: I believe that phone carriers will stop offering this service and everything will be through the internet. We will all mostly have the same plan with unlimited internet on our phones or at least many gigabytes of monthly usage. Our phone calls and messaging will happen through there with services like Twitter and Skype.
3. Home ISPs: As land lines will disappear, mobile internet will take over, for example now I can live with my data plan and thats it. I call through my mobile service and use the internet through them as well even in my desktop or laptop. I believe desktops and laptops will come with the equivalent to 3G (Some already do). But that will be the standard for the internet.
4. The Mouse: Yes, our old and faithful friend from the 80s will disappear and we will have greasy screens everywhere.
5. Cable and Satellite TV, and Show Schedules: Yes the internet will take over this one as well, we will pay for the shows we want to see on demand and more Product Placement than TV Ads. Show seasons on DVD are starting to prove that. Even live shows will happen through the internet.
6. Laptops: Ok, maybe this one won’t happen in 10 years but this format will disappear eventually thanks to touchscreen. We will not need a mouse nor a physical keyboard. It will take years before we get used to not have physical buttons, but the success of the iPhone proves that it’s not a big deal. Tablets will rule the world. The weird part will be getting used to the model: vertical screen-horizontal typing.
7. Paper Magazines and Newspapers: I believe that print media will reduce to special edition books like pop-ups or extremely graphic stuff. But the daily common Magazines and Newspapers will be also delivered directly to your screens.
8. Paper Notebooks, Exams and Homework: This one also will take probably more than 10 years. But if we want to keep our planet safe there will be plenty of alternatives that do not involve paper in schools, exams, homework and note taking will all happen through screens.
9. Wired Battery Charging: What? Is he nuts? No! The Palm Pre uses an inductive charger surface where you just put your phone on the surface and in it charges! No plugging! So I believe that this technology will spread as it becomes cheaper and we will have Charging Surfaces all over the place for our Phones, Tablets, Cameras, etc. In our desks in schools, Coffee Shops, Airports and basically everywhere so our gadgets will be constantly charging wherever you go without carrying anything else.
10. Life without GPS: Personal Geo Location is becoming a huge and scary technology that thanks to GPS on phones is starting to develop a whole new era of communication and tools. Imagine walking into a theatre and just by walking in you receive and interactive playbill to your phone. Or walk into a store and receive discounts, etc. If you want to start experiencing this try Gowalla on the iPhone or Google Latitude on any smartphone.
11. Cash and Cards: WHAT!!! He went even crazier! This will take definitely a couple decades but cash will considerably start lowing usage as we use more and more credit and debit cards. With something like Square where we can use our phones to accept credit and debit cards for personal use, combine it with a technology like Bump which allows for data transfer between phones just by bumping them together. So combine them and your dad will be giving you some money for the movies on your phone, which then you will use for pay for the movies, Starbucks, the stores and then lend some money to your girlfriend!
Haha, I will personally keep a copy of this and see if I’m right in the future. What do you guys think we will laugh about in the future? Please leave a comment and follow me on Twitter @PpValdes . Also remember to subscribe or join the Facebook Group and spread the word!
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iSlate? Apple’s New Tablet and Jetsons’ Theatre
Ok, that may not be the best title for this post but it could have been worse. I have posted earlier a bit on how I think things are starting to evolve but there are two main things that as a gadget geek don’t seem to stop impressing me: Apple and Social Media. Its no secret that I love Apple and why. But Social Media is something that I believe is just starting to take over, and that it will slowly will take over basically everything we do. I just started using Gowalla and I think its a tool that will start growing into something important.
The big thing for me is Theatre right? So how does Social Media and the new Apple Tablet (tentatively called iSlate, just speculation) come together with theatre. Well the truth is that it doesn’t but I dream of a close future where it does and this is how I think it should be. If you are reading Steve Jobs, think on us theatre guys more often please.
Us guys in theatre production carry around a whole bunch of papers: Scripts, Plots, Plans, Drawings, Calendars and Schedules mostly. Half of the day we spend it actually sharing these papers with a whole bunch of people, we do modifications to it, we share it, we reprint it and some of us started using laptops but we still go from one paper to the other because honestly, who wants to carry around a laptop onstage? Nobody.
Now there will be a new product that we don’t really know exactly what it will do but here is my dream if you are dreaming or if you develop software call me because we have some business to do:
Imagine that it will be magic paper where we can read all this information and share it. And this is where social media starts to kick in. Imagine that you can tell in a map where all your cast is, your designers etc, then you can send them information on rehearsals. That you can automatically have new versions of the script without loosing your notes when you are working on a new piece. Imagine that as an actor you can make blocking notes with pictures, voice recordings, videos right on your script, or you could pull those of a Stage Manager. Calendars that change automatically. Level sessions where you can take your piece of paper where you have your cues recorded and take pictures of your work at the same time. Where you can instantly video chat with a colleague just by clicking his name wherever he is. This will improve communications and the way we work.
So what is the problem? Dinosaurs. Yes, you may think those guys stopped being a problem millions of years ago but no. People still refuse to use e-mail in some places or you can’t count with people reading them. The very first step is to embrace technology and stop thinking that it is some kind of demon that will take over our souls. It is not. Our soul is not going to go through an e-mail. So please, step one, embrace technology and use it, to its full potential. The amount of free tools out there in the internet is ridiculous and with things like the iPhone and Nexus One they are just getting simpler and simpler but if us as theatre practicians don’t jump on that bus, we are doomed to expensive and long theatre productions. Let computers take care of the machine so we can take care of the art ok?
What do you think? Do you imagine a Jetson’s future for theatre production? Would you like it?
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Seriously? A decade since Y2K?
When we think of the 80′s or the 50′s it is clear what we are referring to in terms of fashion, culture, etc. I was having problems defining the 90′s and calling it a decade and now we are faced with the 2000′s. I can’t believe it happened already, it seems just like yesterday when we were so scared of Y2K. I called myself generation Y2K cause I finished junior high that year. So to be incredibly original I am going to do a recap of what Technology and Performing Arts did in the 2000′s. And what I think had big impacts on how we do things. No particular order.
1. Social Media . In the 90′s it was the internet, but this decade we really started to discover new ways to it that we couldn’t imagine before. Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, Wikipedia had brought information to new levels and privacy no longer exists. I just read two articles in TechCrunch about how now we choose what to keep private, instead of what goes public. They also talk about a website called Web 2.0 Suicide Machine where you can enter all your information, and a machine will delete yourself from the internet with no turning back. So far, more than 300 people have commited social media suicide. Bummer.
2. iPod and iPhone. I am an Apple sucker, I have to admit. But seriously what started as a cool MP3 player became standard for music. My parents call iPod now to any MP3 player. But not only that, then the iTunes store made music downloads legal and to many people who didn’t think it would succeed, it is now the #1 music retailer in the US and getting stronger worldwide. There are still good people out there. And the iPhone, well, just see how cellphones were made before and after the iPhone.
3. 3D Movies. I know this wasn’t invented in the 2000′s but it was until this decade that we start to see them in regular theatres all over the world. And I would like to use this opportunity to invite you to see Avatar in 3D. When will 3D Broadway will get here?
4. Cirque Du Soleil. You may disagree, but I think this a new way of artform. And even though they did a lot of work in the 90′s (Including their best show to my opinion “O”) it was this decade where it started to spread all over the world and they started opening shows like crazy. Good for them for raising the bar in performing arts.
5. Wicked. Avenue Q. In 2004 this two big musicals where conceived and why I think it is so important in the decade? Well Wicked unfortunately I believe is the only musical that will run for a long time and will become a classic of this decade. On the other hand, Avenue Q winning the Tony for best musical stated that you no longer needed 30 actors and a multimillion dollar production to win and to be good.
6. Harry Potter. Yes, again, I know that this started in the 90′s, but worldwide, it was until the 2000′s with the release of the movies that the Potter Mania really flourished outside of the english speaking world. I truly bow to the genius of Harry Potter the revival of Lord of The Rings, Golden Compass and Narnia. Kids needed to read something as they waited for the Potter books to come out. Hard to make a 7 year old read a 700+ page book in the PS era.
7. TV on DVD. I bet that no one in the 90′s had a full TV series on DVD. Suddenly we discovered that we could watch those shows that we love over and over again without commercials. We had seen a couple of good episodes on video, but nothing compared to what you see in music stores these days. Its a new way to pay for our content and it has been forcing advertising to rely a lot in product placement.
8. Musicals on the Big Screen. The biggest and most appreciated revival for our circle. Moulin Rouge opened a Pandora box introducing again musicals on the big screen and followed by Chicago winning the Oscar, encouraged film studios to explore again musicals on film. I’m surprised that Les Mis is not out there yet.
9. YouTube. I think youtube is just the first step on how our computer will take over our TV, most teenagers now spend way much more time watching YouTube than open TV and therefore I’m sure advertising will get only stronger and stronger in here.
10. Hot Ticket. MET Opera Live. It was this decade that Sony’s Hot Ticket started bringing concerts and live events that only a few could enjoy to Movie Theatres worldwide. And the MET Opera started also broadcasting their opera’s in movie theatres. It is wonderful to see this and I hope this encourages producers to do this more often so we can spread the knowledge and invite new audiences in every town and therefore encourage local producers once they have a bit of an audience.
Ok, so this is my list people. Please feel free to add any suggestions on your comments. (Look for link next to the title). Then again if you would like to subscribe use the RSS button, or join the Facebook Group to receive updates through there and invite others who you think might like it.
Happy 2010 everyone.
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Theatre Etiquette – Chapter 3: During The Show
So this is the most important part of Theatre Etiquette, and if you think that I was sounding like your mother already just you wait and read. I suppose that by this point you have read both previous chapters: Choosing the Show, and Before The Show. So now you are in your seat (hopefully) and the show is about to start.
The Overture. This is not the case is many shows but if you are watching a good old musical there is going to be one, as well as in many operas and ballets. This is a piece that is not meant for you to grab a seat, or finish your conversation or finish your phone call. An overture is a piece that was written specifically to get you in the right mood for the show. Is the bridge between real life and theatre, they dim the lights so you can enjoy it and establish the tempo of the show. Yes, believe it or not, listening to music attentively will change your heart beat speed, and this will affect how you feel the piece. In any case, weather you want to change your heart beat or not, there are many people that do want to listen to this piece and interrupting it is as bad as interrupting any part of the show, so behave.
Now, to my favourite part. Things that annoy me and many others during the show I’ll try to keep it nice and easy:
Coughing. No, I am not saying you are not allowed to cough, it is only natural. To add to this, theatres are always places were there is a lot of dust accumulated and sometimes dry. In many cases there will be smoked during performances but it is harmless and it is specifically made to not make you cough, but many people do it as an instinctive reaction, so I’m saying this so just so you know and your mind doesn’t trigger the coughing. For these reasons, there are things you can do if you tend to cough a lot. My best recommendation is to have some candy in hand which takes me to the next item.
Candy and Snacks. In most theatres there is only candy but at least here in Mexico there are many many options. Including peanuts, chilli, etc. The clue is to keep it quiet. So please nothing wrapped would be a good idea. So the best thing I find is hard candy that comes in little tin boxes. They usually sell it at fancy theatres but if not, any Starbucks would have some and then you can refill with your favourite candy. I wouldn’t recommend anything crunchy (I know I’m getting picky, so what).
Chatting. Evidently it is not ok to chat during the show. I mean, the sporadical comment is ok from time to time, it is part of enjoying someone’s company in the theatre, but keep short and quiet and don’t make big conversations around it. There will be time for that.
Singing and Humming. No, it is not ok! The only place I would agree if you sing is in Jukebox musicals. Where everyone is expected to do so. (Well, that and rock and pop concerts). It is incredibly unfortunate to see people singing along or humming to a musical, opera or symphony concert. The saddest part is that most of those ‘singers’ do it to show off! Yes! Don’t deny it! Many people wants to show off that they know a specific song and stuff and they think that people around them will believe they are very educated, but not! It is of very very bad taste to do anything like that.
Pay Attention. This most of the times depends on the show more than in the audience. However, do your best, most likely you paid for the show and if not then someone invited you hoping you would pay attention. This means don’t spend the show text messaging, thinking about the future or distracting other people with stuff that has nothing to do with the show.
Intermission. (I’m almost done with this part, bare with me). Intermission is a place to give a rest to the performers and often to do a scene or electrics change over. Audiences should take a break, maybe have a drink or a smoke for those of you who really need it. And then again, we come to the bathroom topic. Go only if you really really need to (you won’t be able to enjoy the show if you count the seconds for it to be over), but if not, don’t make those lines longer. Think that many people really need to go, so let them have their chance and everyone will be able to be back in their seats on time. Many times there will be an Entr’act . Which is kind of like an Overture but after the intermission. Same purpose, same rules apply.
Thanks for reading and later you will be able to read the final chapter: Ovation and After the Show.
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Mamma Mia! Here they go again!
So we all know that Mamma Mia! is a big success not just on Broadway but worldwide. But Mamma Mia! also opened a Pandora box in musical theatre. People really loved the fact that they knew the songs and how they were placed in a new funny context. And from that moment we were cursed with the band based musicals. They are endless: We Will Rock You (Queen), All Shook Up (Elvis Presley), Jersey Boys (Four Seasons), Good Vibrations (Beach Boys), Saturday Night Fever (Bee Gees), Lennon (Do I really have to?), Rock of Ages (80′s Rock) and in Spanish: Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar (Mecano), Besame Mucho (Boleros) and Mentiras (80′s Pop). They are called Jukebox Musicals. And even though some of them were made before Mamma Mia!, it was that production that proved that they could be an incredible success.
But why did they exploded like gun powder? It is simply. Thousands of people around the world discovered that they could now write a musical! Yes! You don’t need a composer now, you don’t even need a good plot, you just need a good CD collection and some time. Think on any story, find whichever song fits and just go for it! And guess what? People will love to go see it! Just because they want to hear the songs. Disney made a show called On The Record with all of their music, but I think something really clever is that they didn’t attempt to add a plot to it, it was more like a concert in Musical Theatre style, and that is what people wanted, to hear them played live with great voices and new arrangements.
I’m not saying that its not a good idea to do a Jukebox Musical, I honestly love All Shook Up (and that one is even worse cause the story is Twelfth Night). But I think that we are reaching the point were its enough of that. We still need original musicals, we still need composers and people that have never done musicals to back off and let musical composers work. If you ask around for people’s favourite musicals, unless they are big fans of a specific band, most likely they are not going to mention one of this Jukebox Musicals. It is clear that pieces like Les Mis, Phantom, Chicago, Cabaret live forever because the music was specifically wrote to match the story, by default naturally. I encourage producers if possible not to go for the safe bet of a jukebox musical, and embrace what could be the next best musical.
There is also the other point to cover that is musicals based on books and movies, or both. But I think this is a totally different case, because at the end the book and songs were written for that specific story, which makes the piece way more coherent. Also, by inspiring your songs and a book or a great novel or movie brings you the best of two worlds. I highly doubt that a brilliant composer is also a brilliant novelist (not that it couldn’t happen). If they inspire their work on each other you can get great musicals with great music and a great storyline, like Phanotm, Les Mis or Wicked. All of them brilliant theatre shows that will stay around forever. No matter what is playing in the radio.
What do you think? Is your favourite musical a Jukebox Musical? Leave a comment (next to post title) and let us know. Subscribe to the RSS. Remember you can join the Facebook Group (button on the right) to be notified when I write and you can invite others to see this posts. Thanks again and happy Xmas shopping!
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12 Wishes for this Christmas
Well, we start today the official countdown for Christmas. So in this 12 days of Christmas, I would like to ask for 12 wishes for me and all the Theatre and Technology community. (But mostly me). So please read carefully and set a plan into motion to make them come true (especially those for me). Please Comment (next to post title), Subscribe to RSS or join the Facebook group (link on the right) so you can receive updates and invite others to read me! (Please see Wish #6).
1. A new kick-ass-multimillion-here-to-stay musical on Broadway. Since Wicked I don’t think we have really seen a big musical that will become a classic for years to come and that revivals will be made forever and productions Worldwide will flourish. I mean Billy Elliot may be something like that and even Mary Poppins, but we all know we are not talking about the same proportions. Its been 5 years already and the decade is gone, is that it? One show of this nature in a decade?
2. More people in theatre seats. I know we all wish for this but we cannot continue blaming it on an ‘uneducated audience’. Or that audiences have no culture therefore they don’t go to theatre. “AUDIENCE” is not this abstract thing that has a spontaneous reaction to things. WE are all audiences and guess what, if we don’t have people in our seats its because WE are doing something wrong as theatre makers. Think in you raw audience, not in your fellow writers and actors, think on the general public, not in smart-ass critics. Then you may have a chance to actually appeal to your real consumers.
3. A greener production process. I have met a couple production companies that are recycling sets. (Yes, this is also to save money) but if we start sharing as a community our sets we won’t only save money but we will also save wood, and therefore trees. (I don’t know why it always comes down to trees). Also, it is unbelievable the amount of paper we waste on this production process from scripts, to lists, to calendars. We need to find a solution to do our little part on it and maybe serve as an example to other industries where a change would have a greater impact than ours.
4. A Kindle. Yes people!!! I would loooove a Kindle. I write so much about it and all the things that could potentially we do in our industry with it and I’m even designing my own Theatre friendly prototype and I don’t have one! So if you are wondering what you could send me over this Christmas? Don’t hesitate, its a Kindle. (Or maybe a Nook would do as well). For those of you who don’t know what on earth I’m talking about the Kindle is an e-book reader from Amazon. Nook is new competition from Barnes & Noble.
5. A Direction. I didn’t direct anything artistically this year and that is annoying me. I know I’ve been busy doing production but every once in a while I need that to fulfill my artistic needs. Working on a couple projects thank god.
6. Social Media Response. I have been trying hard to keep up with this Blog and Twitter and fortunately it has grown into something. However, I would like to reach a bit further than my friends and colleagues. Not that I mind at all writing for them. So for that it takes me to keep up with what I hope is good content and for you to subscribe, comment and spread the word if you like my letters.
7. ¡MUCHA MIERDA! Is the spanish version of Merde (Lots of Shit!) and that is also how we wish good luck in Mexican theatre. However this time it refers specifically to my new upcoming Video Podcast called exactly like that. I have a great lineup for interviews which is amazing. (And by the way I would like to thank them for their support, its quite moving). So if you speak Spanish stay tuned for its launch in January. And if you don’t speak Spanish, also subscribe so you see me talking funnily.
8. An HD TV and a PS3. I don’t think this needs further explanation.
9. A trip to Vegas. Hehe, not only is my best friend’s Bachelor Party over there but also there are so many new shows going on there that its worth a trip just to see what is new with Cirque. They are opening an Elvis show and I haven’t seen Love. I am excited about this shows but honestly, does Cirque really need to go into this formula of using a band’s success to have a good show? I don’t think so. Elvis and Beatles are ok, but lets leave it there, please. Cirque du Soleil is amazing on their own.
10. A Musical Movie. I know this wish is granted with Nine and Fame coming soon to Theatres near you but having one in line is not so bad. If you asked me, I would love to see Into the Woods turn into a movie. Maybe Miss Saigon would work as well and Wicked of course, but since Wicked is doing so well in productions Worldwide and many to come, maybe its not time yet for that. On the other hand I loved what Sony did with RENT: The Live Performance. I would really love to see more of that, specially with shows that already closed (they have nothing to loose that way). Maybe Beauty and The Beast the Broadway show on Movie Theatres? That would be awesome!!!! Then be able to own on DVD, priceless! (Well, usually around 30 bucks).
11. The Apple Tablet. As many of you know there have been so many rumors on this product and Apple’s competition to the netbooks. I think Apple has the right to establish how the tablet era is going to work (they did it pretty well with Mp3 players and Cellphones). So I can’t wait for that mobility on a desktop and all the applications that we could potentially develop for theatre production, specially stage management and PMing. (See my post: Technology Sluts? I mean slots..)
12. Love. Awwww. Yes. It would be great if we could improve the love for us and people like us, then we will be able to love more people beyond our comprehension and status, and eventually love people in general (that is in general, you may still hate a couple ones). Love in movies, in shows, in poems, in arts and in conversation. Love in strangers and specially those we know. Hehe, I had to finish with something utopic and Christmasy.
Thank you for reading and hope that you enjoy this 12 days of Christmas and joy. Don’t be a Grinch and get caught up in the spirit, even if it seems fake its a good excuse to give a hug and a present and eat a lot of good food. I would love to hear about your wishes so please visit, comment, subscribe and share. PEACE.
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Google Wave, waving its way to Theatre
This post was almost mandatory for me. I am a geek and I somehow feel that my role in this industry is to find new technological ways to improve our Theatre Production process (Just because I say so). So a couple days ago Google released finally a Preview of their new tool called Google Wave. There is an 1hr 20min long video in their website: GoogleWave. But if you don’t have the time to watch that AND read my post just stick to my post ok? They sell it as the new way to do e-mail and I definitely think thats what it is. It is pretty similar to what Gmail started doing by joining e-mails with the same subject into one thread of conversation. And people can join in and out of this thread, but now you can reply to any part of the e-mail, you can edit the content of someone else’s message and you can add people to it without having endless e-mails with copied text all over the place. Another cool feature and vital in this format is that you get live interaction. Meaning that if both users (or as many as there can be in the wave) in one ‘wave’ are online you can see LIVE what each other is doing. To this you can add voice and video interaction so you can collaborate in any document.
On top of all and why this specific tool is popping everyone’s interest is that you can use Google’s API (meaning you can write your own software) to write gadgets to suit your needs. Developers can use this technology to do ANY interactive, live gadget. So right now there are only a few around. For example a Sudoku game, you can put it there and any participant of that wave can start filling in information, you can all see it happening live or if you missed it, you can playback the order of events. Or a poll or decision gadget. Where participants can just click an option and it will update you on who needs to participate, who is missing to vote and make group decisions easily and in one same space rather than scrolling through many e-mails.
So what about theatre? (I’m sure thats the main question in everybody’s mind right now at Google). This means that we could potentially improve the way we communicate and give more sense to e-mail when several people are discussing something. But more than anything, it means that we could write a Gadget, lets say to do a Production Calendar (that could be linked to Google Calendars) and many people have an opinion on it either live or through e-mail but specifically to that part of the calendar, meaning that PM, TD, Director and SM could collaborate in a Calendar without having to send, print and distribute endless versions of it. This also means that you can always refer to that E-mail and have the latest version and commentary on it AND see what the changes are, when they happened and who made them. And the best part is that it all fits in a Browser, so you get rid of compatibility issues, people not being able to open the Excel file, or the PDF file. When people read their e-mails late they will always get caught up and there is no way you can miss anything on any given conversation to one topic. My team and I (Inside of The Box) started already to experiment and hopefully we can bring new tools that uses this technology and save trees, e-mail, but more than anything time and miscommunication.
This is just the beginning and I hope that many theatre and technology geeks like me join in this experiment to change not what we do, but how we do it. The less time we put into doing the machine stuff the more time we will have to focus on the art itself. –Men didn’t do art until they were able to stop worrying about food, and they managed to do that with a technology called agriculture–
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Mom, Dad… I am an artist…
I was last night watching a TED Conference talk on education by Ken Robinson [brief interruption for those of you who don't know TED Conferences, its this annual Conference where the most important creatives from around the world gather to talk about their ideas hoping to reach other important people to receive support for their ideas. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design check it out at www.ted.com or their Podcast]. Anyway, he explains his ideas on how the current education system worldwide is focused on punishing mistakes and pushing young people to think in a linear way, pushing our intelligence to just one part of our bodies, our brain, and mostly just one side. A school presents the scenario of success as a University Professor. Anything else is just unacceptable.
I remember in my school for plays in Grammar School the main roles were assigned to the kids with the highest marks. Yes, the main roles were assigned to the nerds (and you can imagine most of them were not very talented). To be part of the school choir or soccer team you needed 8.5 (of 10) in your marks. And you would dedicate just 1 hour a week to this so called EXTRA CURRICULAR activities. This is where we grow up, in a culture where being good as an athlete, musician, dancer, singer, painter, writer, composer, is a nice quality but useless, a hobby, an ‘Extra’, but what really matters is that you are good at memorizing, not creating. Then we are told we are children and that we are supposed to change the world and make it better.
Telling my parents that I was dropping out of University to do theatre was not an easy thing. Even when I had a scholarship for doing art at it. But even my University asked for a 8.3 average to be able to keep doing that thing that got me the scholarship in the first place. I was fortunate to go to Theatre School after and study Production (in Canada because you can’t even study that in Mexico) Parents intend no harm, but we live in a world where we believe that artists can’t make a living, or get a job. I grew up in Mexico and I wonder how many Mechatronic Engineers this country needs? and why is it better than what I do? There is no better and worse and that is the whole point.
I plead to parents and educators to encourage the sports and the arts. Make it as important as Math and Literature, and please by all means stop calling it Extra Curricular activities. Take your kids to concerts, theatre and big sports events and if your kids dream of being there, let them explore and get to know themselves. Remove all prejudice from you mind and encourage ANY area a kid or teenager wants to explore. If you think your kid won’t make a living by being a dancer, then start going to ballet and dance shows and start encouraging people to do so, so your kid has a future.
But the most important task is in us. Those of us who are good at extra-curricular. If we don’t act accordingly, no one will ever respect or believe in what we do. I wrote the 8 points to put a future in what we do as emerging artists and try to live and act according to them:
1. Believe in what we do, because if we don’t no one will.
2. Explore, train and pursue, work hard on it. Taking it easy is the reason why people think its an easy road and therefore a bad one.
3. Be professional, or no one will understand that its a profession.
4. Stay away from drugs, no real talent should need to fuck up with your brain and body to flourish.
5. Support your colleagues. Recommend all shows and performances and when you critique be constructive, don’t trash, we don’t want to keep people away from theatres or halls, even if they are ‘competition’. We need each other people.
6. Teach. Go down to the chain of happening and put some time in encouraging interested younger generations to do what you do.
7. Don’t give up. We are swimming against the current but its very easy when you understand why. Create and be part of moving us further, as a community.
8. Keep it real. We live in a real world with limits of time, money and space. If we get lost in our abstract creative world we will be useless for the rest of the world and therefore our craft will die.
What do you think? Please Comment and Subscribe. If you like it, please share it in your social media and mail and you can also join and invite people to the Facebook group (CLICK HERE) to receive updates on what I write. Thanks!
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Theatre Etiquette – Chapter 2: Before The Show
This is Chapter 2 of a series of articles called Theatre Etiquette. It is basically a compilation of Show audience DOs and DON’Ts (Mostly DON’Ts, hehe) You can read Chapter 1: Choosing a Show by clicking here.
So now you have chosen your show, you have your tickets (good ones I hope) and you know what the show is about and why it should be seen. Great!
Now probably not the very first question in your mind but an important one is how to dress for the occasion. Well in most cases this is not a big issue anymore. In most cases it is not inappropriate to go as you would go to the supermarket. However, there are two main reasons why you should care. The first one is dress codes, to most theatrical events you should dress casual. For Opera and Ballet usually you are supposed to dress a little bit more formal. Another thing to consider is if the show happens at night, or if its a Matinée, events at night evidently require more formal dressing and usually darker. If its an opening night, gala, or special performance it depends on the kind of celebration that will go with the show. But with so many exceptions and experimental shows, if you are unsure on how to dress the very best way to know is to call the box office or front of house and ask, you have nothing to loose. The second reason, is to make your evening special, remember a night in a show its all about making an experience out of it, and to dress up and smell nice will always make it feel a bit better. In any circumstance the important part is to be comfortable, with your clothes and with your circle.
So now you are ready to go. But before you leave, I know I will sound like your mother, but please go to the bathroom, that way you don’t have to go once you get there (unless you are my mom or aunt). Arriving on time is essential to enjoy the show and let other people enjoy it as well. Plan to arrive an hour before the show if you are going to a place where you need to park. 30 minutes is more than enough where you don’t have to park. As I said before, this is all part of making theatre an experience. Have a glass of wine or a drink before the show, talk about your expectations or what you’ve heard about the show you are going to see, or anything else you want to talk about because once the show starts you will not be able to (or at least you shouldn’t). And I hate to sound repetitive but go the bathroom, its better to take your time right now than to crowd the intermission toilet run.
The beginning of the show is one of the most crucial parts of any spectacle. This is the part where I continue to sound like your mother. First things first, late comers suck! We all hate you! Yes, if you think when you are late you are ruining a show for yourself, think on all the people you are ruining the show for that also paid a ticket (most likely an expensive one) and arrived on time. So please arrive when you are supposed to. Many theatres won’t allow late comers to go in until a specific point in the show and some others will have late comer seats all the way in the back and won’t let you go to your seat until intermission (if there is one) so plan ahead. But if you do manage to be in the building, please be in your seat on time and wait. Some people stand up and leave and go to the bathroom last minute because the show hasn’t started yet, even if its time to. What many people doesn’t realize is that very often shows actually don’t start because there are people still in the lobby, people buying tickets (yes, that was supposed to happen days ago), or people in the bathroom (remember when I said you should go before leaving?) so please do help.
This may sound familiar but PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CELLPHONES AND PAGERS. (Who still has a pager these days?). I know, this is a given one but WOW, it is extremely rare these days where a show isn’t interrupted by a cellphone. Also notice that the instruction is to turn it OFF. This is because when cell phones started, they would interfere with the RC (radio control) systems and could potentially trigger a set movement or crazy stuff like that. In very crowded places the excessive amount of cell phone signals can disrupt the Wireless Mic systems. Also very often technicians hear cell phone waves (that creepy sound you hear when your phone rings next to a speaker) on clear-com and distracts them. However, if you can’t disconnect from whatever you do for a couple hours, please by all means, do not let it make a sound, and if it vibrates don’t even think about answering. SMS to explain or just say: I’m in the theatre I’ll cal you back. Anything more than that is totally unacceptable.
The most important part is coming in Chapter 3: During the Show. I hope you find this article informative and please Comment and Share!
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Technology Sluts? I mean slots…
This morning I read two blog articles from two of my favourite Blogs out there. (They won a spot on my reference section, I highly recommend subscribing). As many of you know I have a theatre production company and one of our main projects at the moment is what we code call for now StagePaper. Its a software that will deal with all sorts of Stage Management, Production Management and Rehearsal Needs on a new interactive format. I have always been very proud of this we are working on and believe that eventually we need to switch to this kind of resources to stop wasting paper, time and money.
Mr. Ken Davenport is a Broadway producer who keeps his blog updated, is on Twitter, and wants a Kindle and an iPhone for Xmas. He posted a couple days ago (find link below) about this new slot machines that are interactive and with a flashy screen and how the magic of the old slots with spinning wheels is simply not there. He concludes his article by saying that some things can be removed from its essence when big technology advancements are implemented and that live performance is one of those things. While I agree completely on the slot machine example, I disagree with the idea that suggests that incorporating the latest technology to performing arts will take something away from it. I know Ken is mostly talking about the stage and I still have my doubts about that, but in the core of our industry? PLEASE! Do we need to call a show strictly from a binder? Do we really need to post hundreds of schedules that we re-print all day long? Do we really need to go through pounds and pounds of paper with script versions and modifications?
The second post is the other side of the coin. What Time Inc. (Sports Illustrated among others) is doing to prepare to the tablet era (Find link below). Basically they are doing a virtual version of their magazine, but this is not what everyone thought it would be where they would PDF their magazine. No, its taking it to a totally new level of interaction and content. Please do check it out. We all need to embrace this kind of stuff because its the future of communication and what will keep us growing in any industry and as a society is the improvements on the way we communicate. I can assure you that no matter what industry or project you are working for, the main issue is always lack of communication amongst people. Do you miss newspapers when you watch the news on TV? Do you miss telegrams when you use your telephone? Or do you miss your landline when you are using your cellphone? Of course there are some pros and cons in anything we do, but lets get over it and embrace new technologies (especially when they save trees).
Speaking of communication, please comment. Can you live without paper? Can you read a newspaper or magazine on a tablet, iphone or kindle? Would you have a Kindle or Tablet in your hand instead of a paper script? Would you pay as you pay for your magazines in the stands for an e-version of it? Please comment and subscribe!
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LINKS:
Ken Davenport’s Article: http://www.theproducersperspective.com/my_weblog/2009/12/thanks-a-slot-1.html
Mac Rumors’ Article: http://www.macrumors.com/2009/12/03/time-inc-also-working-on-digital-content-in-anticipation-of-apple-tablet/
It’s good to be back
Hello Blog buddies. It has been a while eh? as you can see in the last post its been months since I abandoned this blog. The main reason, work and transition. The last post was written from Montreal where I was living and I was going to live in Toronto. Guess what, I’ve been living in México City for the past 5 months and have already had plenty of experience good and bad. But you don’t need to be bored on the uncomfortable details. The real deal is that I am back finally in web media, after loosing some readers and a whole bunch of twitter followers I decided to go back and work on this that I love.
So what is new? Not much… hehe. But mainly that soon this blog will have its own domain name so you can quick reference to it. I will keep commenting on theatre and technology around the world, etc. However, I will develop a secondary project in Spanish, since most of my readers are english spoken and the shows that I can review will be mostly in spanish I will keep these two audiences separated. For those of you who do speak spanish, there will be soon a Podcast (yeaaah!!!! finally!!!!) with reviews and interviews of the Mexican Theatre life. Hope you will enjoy it!
With not much left to say, I hope you subscribe and visit, and please comment so I can whip into shape (hi Legally Bond fans) and have a blog that stands to its readers. Thank you once again for your comprehension and patience and looking forward to read you around.
The Toy of the Future
Remember in the movie Back to The Future 2, when Marty McFly goes to the future? (which by the way is 2015 and they have flying cars and skateboards but no laptops, maybe we will go to Netbooks, then back to cellphones and no laptops… anyway…). There is a scene where he teaches two little kids how to play this ‘retro’ shooting game and the kids say something like “You have to use your hands? Boring!”. Well, we still don’t have floating skateboards but the vision of hand-less toys is comming true (like so many Star Trek gadgets). Mattel introduced this toy named MINDFLEX in something called the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) and it has been all over the technology and gadget blogs. So in a few words, you put this headband in your head and connect two cables to your ears (yes, pretty Sci-Fi). Then, you are asked to concentrate and apparently the brain waves that you send will wirelessly activate a fan that will make the little foam ball float. Then you can use a knob (yes at the end you have to use your hands) to move the fan that is holding the ball through a series of obstacles. Its pretty amazing.
But what not a lot of people know is that Mattel already had released a game that looks exactly like this one before, without the mental part. It was a Harry Potter toy called Levitation Challenge (I am aware this is my second Harry Potter reference in a row but not intentional). It was exactly the same concept and machine and you will see by the pictures how similar they are, but it had a lever to control the fan, which now you control with your mind. My cousin got for Christmas the Harry Potter one and I have to admit that even though it was a lot of fun, it was very difficult to operate for most of the ‘obstacles’. And now its going to be even harder. However, for $80 dollars is worth the novelty, and a fantastic drinking game! (I don’t know, every game can be a fantastic drinking game).
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The Harry Potter of Theatre
I am sorry to disappoint you if you came to this article expecting me to announce that they are finally making Harry Potter: The Musical. I am not, and that may be fortunate or unfortunate news (Lord of The Rings: The Musical is not doing that well anyway). What I’m here to tell is that I feel that maybe out there in the works there is a musical or a new play that will be to theatre, what Harry Potter was to literature. I
was thinking about this while still reading the last volume of the saga. Honestly, before Potter how likely was to see a 7 year old reading a 700+ page book? How about reading 7 of those many times? And I am totally sure that while the kids where waiting for the next Potter adventure many of them started reading other books, I actually attribute the Lord of The Rings boom in the early 2000′s (that feels weird to say) to Harry. Same with Narnia, Golden Compass, etc.
So what do I expect from the dramatic version of J.K. Rowling? I ask to any playwright out there working on a new musical or play to remember that we must make a connection with those people that don’t go to the theatre very often. As I have said before, I believe that we are in an era of theatre where we need to attract people to our art. Yes, maybe we will have to tone down our craft (even dumb it down sometimes) but that believe it or not is what our art needs today. I have to admit that Disney did a little bit of that, bringing tourists back to NY with Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, but sadly I believe some of the magic of Disney on Broadway has been lost as well. And what about plays? Can you remember a play that suddenly all this people that didn’t go to theatre suddenly wanted to see? Cirque du Soleil did it for the circus guys, after Ringling Bros. there was no international circus left and suddenly there was Cirque and they even opened a Circus school here in Montreal and admission is incredibly competitive. Imagine that a single show could generate that enthusiasm for our media.
I still believe we can generate a phenomenon. I am not a playwright or a composer but I am willing to put all of my creative and productionn knowledge in finding that piece. Not an exquisit and brilliant piece that critiques will go wild about. I’m talking about a piece that a regular mortal will want to see and recommend to every single person he or she knows. It is also responsibility of our theatre community to allow that to happen. We need to embrace this kinds of shows, we need to invite people to see what we do and then grow with society, but if only our circle grows artistically without the community that surrounds us, we are doomed to low budgets, less venues, and eventually less theatre.
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Cheese: A definition of art
I have been having this discussion since I decided to love musical theatre. I am well known for absolutely loving big Broadway productions and Disney shows. Cirque du Soleil and most stuff Off-Broadway are also in the list. However, I decided to immerse myself in the big world of drama to learn a thing or two about production. In this world, Shakespeare, Shaw and Brecht are absolutely brilliant and respected, while Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim and Alan Menken are this commercial flashy people that do some kind of art that in words of many ‘is not theatre’. I have to admit that I take a bit of personal offense whenever someone makes this statement, because in total honesty: Cheese is what I do best.
But what exactly makes a show Cheesy? Beware that I am not using Cheesy in a way that many do. When something is repetitive, unoriginal or expected. Cheesy to many people means spectacle. The way I use the word cheese, it means that there is no literal argument behind the action of singing, dancing, or visual candy. Cheese to me, is the art of creating something that is either visually, or audibly astonishing and creates an emotional shock in an spectator, with the only purpose of heightening a feeling. Have you had the opportunity of watching a fireworks competition? Or a fireworks show? And I don’t mean fourth of july random explosions, I’m talking about designed explosions that go with music in a deliberate manner, timing and style. The visual impact of symmetry, music and explosion generates feelings, and probably each person takes a different shape of it, but still it just makes us feel. Choruslines, pyro, coreography, harmony, acrobacy, color, and the elements of what people tend to call ‘Flashy and Cheesy’ are just tools to expand reality and canalize it into emotion. And this my friends, is an art.
I guess this sentences are just a pledge to all of those artists that have my complete respect that discualify weather theatre, movies or circus just because it has a budget, a coreographer and doesn’t rely on the text. Art is broad, wide and subjective, the commercialization of the art does not defeat the original purpose of act. As artist we need to pursue communication, an if some people need to make money for us to reach out and communicate more, then we should welcome it. We are in times of need, us theatre people. We need to get people to the seats and we need to respect their opinion, likes and dislikes. If we keep doing theatre for a couple selected extravagant people of which only a few of them will pretend they understand and a smaller group actually will, then we will end up doing one man shows in our living rooms.
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Theatre Etiquette – Chapter 1: Choosing a Show
A while ago I wrote an article in spanish called ‘Modales en el Teatro’ (you can find it at http://lunfardo.net) which translates more or less into Theatre Etiquette. Many people found it very useful as a guide to know the basics of going to the theatre. So I decided to share this piece of advice in a collection of articles that I’m going to simply call: Theatre Etiquette.
Chapter 1: Choosing a Show
While movies are now part of our ordinary life, theatre has become something we don’t do as often. Yes, price is a variant but there are plenty of shows in many cities for the same price as a movie ticket. But since it is more of an extraordinary experience for many people, it is important to make the most out of it.
The first part of having a fantastic evening (or afternoon) at the theatre is choosing the right show. Very often, when we think a show was bad it is because it didn’t fulfill our expectations. When we decide to see a show it is important to do a little research on what we are going to see. We need to know what to expect if its a Comedy or a Drama, or an experimental piece. In musicals, a show can vary dramatically if it is a show that focuses on choreography, music, singing, production or storyline. Why do some people didn’t like Cats? Because it has no story line (not a strong one whatsoever) but it is one of the most impressive productions that is based on a group of individual poems. With fantastic choreography, set and costume design and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music at its best. But if you expect a theatre piece with a story to be told, you may be setting yourself for a big disappointment. Knowing what is special about the show you are about to see is key for you to enjoy it and appreciate it to its full.
Now, the actual acquisition of the tickets. This depends a lot on the show you are going to see, but if its a popular show in a decent sized city you are going to need to buy those tickets with some anticipation. H
ow much anticipation? Well it all depends so the best thing you can do is call the theatre. Where you sit will have some influence in your appreciation of the show and the good news is that in most theatres you can always get a good seat if you buy on time. On the opposite, you can get a very bad expensive ticket if you don’t. For example, on Broadway, 70% of the theatre has the same price. This means that for the same 100dlls or so you can be in fifth row or you can be all the way in the back the house, maybe even on the second balcony. The reason why is that many tourists wait until they are there to buy there tickets and producers take advantage of this because they know they are going to buy the ticket anyway. Take a look at the map of the Gershwin. You can see there where the tickets start to get cheaper. To add to this, Broadway producers are considering moving their prices according to demand, on the go. Yes, this means that actually the person right next to you could have payed much less than you did if he bought before that date became popular, and also tickets being way more expensive during vacation seasons. Just like airplane tickets.
In conclusion, this is the very first step to make a visit to the theatre remarkable and enjoyable. Theatre is expensive very often, so we might as well take advantage of it.
Please comment down here and tell me and other readers what you think! Thanks for reading and we will continue this article with Chapter 2: Before the Show
Blue-Ray Features: Bring us closer? or pull us appart?
Warner Bros. anounced a while ago that there will be a new Feature in their Watchmen Blue-Ray Disc to sync with Facebook. Now, I didn’t know much about all of this (cause unfortunately I don’t have a Blue-Ray yet) but I did some research. So basically there is this thing called BD Live. It allows your Blue-Ray player to connect to the internet and access all kinds of information. For example, Dark Knight had live director’s commentary on a special night and communication with other users and other players. However, as it seems they are still experimenting on what can they do with it. Back to Watchmen and Facebook. You will be able to set up your Blue-Ray to let all of your friends know on Facebook when are you going to watch your movie, and when you are watching etc. Being able to sync up with your friends, you will be able to do commentary with your friends etc.
There has been a lot of commentary (both possitive and negative) about this feature. Personally I think its one of those things that you go: It would be great if everyone has it but really how many people are into that today? Nevertheless, I think its brilliant that we are finding new ways of doing this. Maybe incorporating a webcam into this feature would be neat. Me for example I live far away from my family and I miss our Sunday night movies all squishing together in the couch, this way, maybe we could watch movies again (with my parents interruptions as usual). On the other side of the coin, there is this things that puts a barrier in our communication. Have you notice how now for parties we do Facebook events? In theory it ‘helps’ us communicate but in reallity its substituing the phone call now. So in a way its pulling us appart and now you get so many Facebook event invitations that you don’t feel special (or commited) in any way and its very easy to click ‘maybe attending’ when you know you are not really interested in going, but maybe if they called you, you would feel different.
The truth is, I deeply support this discovery of new ways of communicating. What we do or don’t do with them is indifferent to the value of its existence. The truth is that all of our media is starting to interact: Movies on iTunes and the iPod, DVDs and Bue-Ray connecting to the Internet, our Cell Phones becoming browsers and little TVs, our TVs becomming internet browsers, our Books becoming blog readers and our newspapers and magazines becomming blogs and tweets, our home phones becomming webcams and Skype lines, etc.
What do you think? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Leave a comment!
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3D Broadway. Too much to ask?
I just walked through a poster for the new Disney/Pixar upcoming film called ‘UP’ and it is advertised as a 3D movie. So I decided to get back to the computer and do a little research and it turns out that UP is going to open the Cannes Festival. A full 3D animated film is not new now, specially not from Disney. However, it seems that there is a lot of buzz with studios trying to bring audiences back to the movie theatres (apparently people prefer their plasma screens and blue-ray discs these days) by adopting this format. James Cameron is preparing AVATAR in 3D, and apparently Tim Burton, George Lucas and other people are doing 3D stuff. I honestly look forward to this era (if that is what it is), after all, I was blown away by the 3D IMAX scene of the Harry Potter 5 movie.
Now another thing that has me really excited is Sony’s Hot Ticket. I think this only happens in selected cities but basically they film a live show (Rent on Broadway and Delirium from Cirque du Soleil) and screen it for a couple days. And a couple months ago they actually released RENT on DVD (don’t get confused, not the movie, the actual broadway show).
All of this is approaching an idea that I had like 5 years ago and jealously kept secret. Probably someone thought of it before, but wouldn’t it be great to film a Broadway show in a still 3D IMAX camera, and then screen it in real size? Wouldn’t that be an hiper-realistic theatre experience? We will be able to see Broadway shows all over the world. Evidently, it will not be the same and I am sure there will be plenty of selfish people that will say that they are destroying the essence of theatre. But nothing is being destroyed, if anything there is a lot gained by bringing new audiences to our media and more people embracing Broadway Musicals and Plays. And like so, other countries and cultures may be inspired to produce amazing productions and sharing them back to the predominantly anglophone community of musical theatre.
So if there is a big shot IMAX producer out there reading this, please consider it and give me credit. Cause it might take me a while to get to make it happen. We have to face it, musical are back in the screen (thank the lord, Chicago and Moulin Rouge for that) and with 3D IMAX stuff being so popular, its just putting 2 and 2 together. Too much to ask?
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In the beginning
Well, here it is everyone. Blog number two in my life. After two years of my first blog I learned a couple things and decided that now that I’m starting a new stage of my life start a new blog with a little bit more commercial purposes. Even though I will keep it separate from my company’s website I will mostly talk about the same topics. There are three main things you will be able to find in this website:
Articles about theatre and technology and how they interact. I am a big theatre geek and my life goes around this basically. There are things that are happening around the world that call my attention and inspire me to where I think my industry and my society should look forward to.
Reviews. From shows that I watch and that I would like to recommend (or not for that matter) from a point of view of someone who has directed, performed and done production.
Interviews. I am still thinking on who will be the best person to start this. Probably someone that I admire a lot so I not only get the chance to meet and talk about the things that I am interested on, but also to share to my readers why I admire this person. I am hoping that eventually this interviews can take the form of a podcast, but for now probably this will have to do.
However, a blog is not a blog without readers and ‘audience participation’ if you are one of the first readers of this blog probably you know me personally. If so, please still comment, forward and post whatever you may find interesting in this blog. If you don’t find anything interesting, please still comment and let me know so I can tell what kind of content people would like to see.
Hope you enjoy this site and if you would like to support simply tweet about it or subscribe to my website and nothing will make me happier than you leaving a comment. Grab a cup of coffee and hope that you stick around.
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