🤖 AI Summary
Overview
This episode explores how Broadway and theater enthusiasts can experience the magic of live performances from home. From cast recordings and live-streamed productions to the impact of the pandemic on accessibility, the discussion highlights the evolving ways audiences can engage with theater beyond the stage.
Notable Quotes
- When you want to be part of musical theater and you can't be there yourself, you find weird ways to incorporate it almost physically into your body.
– Jesse Green, on the lengths fans go to connect with theater.
- It's pretty obvious that these captures make people want to see the shows more, not less.
– Elisabeth Vincentelli, on how streaming theater fuels live attendance.
- The best movie musicals are generally not made from Broadway shows.
– Jesse Green, on the unique strengths of original film musicals like Singin’ in the Rain.
🎭 Early Theater Memories
- Gilbert Cruz recalls a math teacher introducing him to Les Misérables, which unexpectedly became more impactful than math in his life.
- Jesse Green shared how cast albums like A Little Night Music shaped his childhood, even leading him to transcribe lyrics by hand.
- Elisabeth Vincentelli grew up in rural France, where televised theater and slapstick comedies like Au Théâtre Ce Soir were her gateway to the stage.
📀 The Role of Cast Albums
- Cast albums serve as a gateway drug
for theater fans, offering a way to experience shows remotely.
- Recommendations include classics like Chicago, Hairspray, and Company. Jesse Green emphasized the importance of albums with no duds,
like The Most Happy Fella.
- The pandemic reignited interest in cast albums, with guides like The New York Times’s starter list helping new fans dive in.
📺 Theater in the Streaming Era
- The pandemic accelerated the availability of live-streamed and recorded productions, such as Hamilton on Disney+ and Good Night and Good Luck on Amazon.
- Jesse Green highlighted the creative explosion during lockdown, including innovative projects like Josh Gelb’s theater in quarantine.
- Streaming has proven to complement, not cannibalize, live theater, with productions like Waitress and SpongeBob SquarePants inspiring audiences to see shows in person.
🎶 Fan Culture and Digital Engagement
- Platforms like TikTok have become hubs for musical theater fandom, with users recreating iconic moments from shows like Chicago and The Great Gatsby.
- Fan-driven phenomena like Be More Chill and Six demonstrate how online engagement can revive and propel shows to Broadway.
- Elisabeth Vincentelli noted the rise of audio theater, with companies like Audible producing live performances and releasing them in audio format, such as Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes.
🎥 Movie Musicals and Captures
- The panel discussed the strengths and weaknesses of movie adaptations of musicals, praising Little Shop of Horrors and critiquing Chicago for its editing.
- They celebrated the return of high-quality stage captures, such as the National Theatre’s Uncle Vanya and Heather’s The Musical.
- Elisabeth Vincentelli highlighted the hybrid success of Good Night and Good Luck, which blends cinematic techniques with theatrical staging.
AI-generated content may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon as a sole source of truth.
📋 Episode Description
Broadway represents some of the best and most exciting of what American theater has to offer. But for many people, it’s inaccessible. Whether because of geography, cost or other considerations, most people will never sit in a Broadway theater and experience a play or a musical in person.
For years, cast recordings have offered a way to experience Broadway shows at a remove. And now, in the streaming era, some Broadway shows are making themselves available to be watched remotely, in movie theaters and on television. Distance and expense aren’t the impediments they once were to culture lovers looking to experience world-class theater.
In this episode, Gilbert Cruz talks with Jesse Green and Elisabeth Vincentelli, two of The New York Times’s culture writers, about new ways to experience some of the joys of theater from the comfort of your own home.
On Today’s Episode:
Jesse Green is a Culture correspondent, focusing primarily on the fine arts, including theater, classical music and art.
Elisabeth Vincentelli writes about culture for The Times.
Background Reading:
Want to Listen to Musical Cast Albums? Our Top 10 Desert Island Picks
Theater to Stream: Mark Rylance in ‘Twelfth Night,’ and More
Times Theater Fans on Their Favorite Musical Cast Albums
Photo Illustration by The New York Times; Inset: Disney+
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