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In March 2020 when COVID-19 shut down Broadway theaters followed by theaters and live performance venues across the world, the pandemic gave permission to every person, organization, and entity whether they be professional, amateur, or student to go all-out digital. Is it art? Is it theater? Is it fully developed? Is it good? It didn’t matter, someone had access to the internet and a cell phone or laptop with a camera and tada! We’re digital!
We won’t really know which of these efforts will continue in the future but we do know that life in the performing arts has changed forever. Some theaters tried streaming full length shows over Zoom or archival videos used with concessions and permission from the unions in lieu of refunding tickets. Some decided to use the internet to engage with audiences in other ways such as arts education support, conversations with theater makers about past performances, or the future of live performance. Some held expert-led discussions about shows that they had seen previously on stage or a digital version. These programs function in a similar way to book clubs, participants would watch the same show independently and then gather for an online community conversation about the creators, themes, or social issues surrounding the show.
In the last five months, I’ve received requests to view digital theater, digitized offerings, Zoom readings, virtual benefits and galas, interactive dramatic in-home site-specific performances in full costumes, watch parties with or without pants, Google Hangout conversations with theater makers and various other terms for entertainment content being created or repurposed.
Many were one night only or limited viewings for free or requesting donations like the Rodgers and Hammerstein watch parties for the Actors Fund and other charities streaming on BroadwayHD, Playbill, Broadway.com, Broadwayworld, and YouTube. Some of the lockdown creations will be revisited and some will be quickly forgotten. But some of it has been truly inspiring like those listed below:
Lincoln Center’s Lincoln Center at Home: Memorial For Us All- a secular community remembrance to celebrate the lives of those lost to Covid-19.
As the founder of a digital theater streaming business, I am very much in favor of embracing all of these efforts. For years, I have heard the arguments that if it is not in front of a live audience, it is not “theater”. So, if you are not in the room with an orchestra and you are listening to a recording, is it not “music”? If you are not in the Louvre but looking at a photo of the Mona Lisa, is it not “art”? The book might be better than the movie but shouldn’t the question be, did you enjoy the story? A fine French meal is not a replacement for going to Paris and Hamilton on Disney+ is not the same as going to the Broadway show.
Recorded music, theater on video (digital captures), literature turned into movies, and reproductions of paintings are derivatives; a tribute or imitation of another source which is why they are usually viewed negatively. Even after lockdown, not everyone will be able to get to Broadway, go to Coachella, or visit the Met, so technological reproductions are a great alternative.
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Bonnie Comley is a three-time Tony Award-winning producer. She has won an Olivier Award and two Drama Desk Awards for her stage productions. She is a member of The Broadway League and serves on their Audience Engagement and Education Committee. Comley has produced over 40 films, winning four Telly Awards and one W3 Award. She is the founder and CEO of BroadwayHD, the world’s premier online streaming platform delivering over 300 premium live productions to theatre fans globally. The theatre community has honored Comley for her philanthropic work; she is the recipient of The Actors Fund Medal of Honor, The Drama League Special Contribution to the Theater Award, The Paul Newman Award from Arts Horizons and The Theater Museum Distinguished Service Award. Comley’s educational honors include The Distinguished Alumni Award from Emerson College and The Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Massachusetts and the business honor society Beta Gamma Sigma. The Music Theatre Program at Boston University is named in her honor, The Musical Theatre Society Room at Emerson College bears her name, the 500-seat theater at the University of Massachusetts Lowell is known as the Comley-Lane Theatre, and The Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Stage is housed withi the Booth Arts Complex in Boston. Comley has been a keynote speaker or panelist at BroadwayCon, C2E2 (Chicago ComicCon), SXSW, Theatre Resources Unlimited (TRU), Crain’s New York Arts and Culture Webcast and City National Bank Women Entrepreneurs, and taught masterclasses or guest lectured at Columbia University, New York University, Emerson College, NYFA, Five Towns College and UMass, among others.
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