Marissa's Manifesto

When we think about experiencing the performing arts, we all, by and large, think of many of the same things: we buy tickets, we drive to the theater, and we sit in the audience with a lot of other people. We focus, for two hours or so, on the stage in front of us and what is happening on it. When something that we like happens, we applaud. When something touches us, emotionally, sometimes we cry. When something humors us, we laugh. And in the space of those two hours or so, we become a sort of community with the people sitting around us – linked by a shared experience, whether we loved or hated experiencing it.

But, all the while, we are having a personal dialogue inside of our own heads. We may be working to link this performance to our own lives. Or perhaps we’re trying to make sense of what is happening – interpreting the story for ourselves so that we can better understand it. It’s possible that we’re just noticing that the concertmaster’s bow tie is crooked!

These personal thoughts and opinions provide us with a lens, through which we view the artwork that is being presented to us. It is possible, I suppose, that the larger audience reaction could color this lens to some degree, but even in a sea of one million people, the reaction that matters most and the reaction that is most pure and true is the one that each of us develops alone.

I emphasize this because, as nearly every other entertainment medium has done already, the performing arts are entering a sea change. The advent of internet streaming technology has brought on a variety of challenges and changes to our industry, and many within it would have us believe that the sky is about to fall.

People simply don’t have to go out to the theater anymore - and they don’t have the money to go out to the theater every time they want to have an arts experience! Instead, they can stream a Netflix performance of a musical or play to their personal computers, or they can sign into Spotify and listen orchestral to recordings on their newly-affordable high quality home sound systems. Or they can go to the movie theater and watch a live-streamed performance of a world-class opera company for a fraction of what a ticket to the opera house would cost them.

And these new and different experiences – they’re all okay. They’re all real arts experiences. Yes, they’re watching them on screens, and no, it is decidedly NOT the same as going to a theater and seeing a live performance. How could it be? But do the performing arts need to be experienced ONLY in live settings? Will you ONLY be able to understand the theater or the symphony or the ballet if you’ve got your butt in that velvet seat and there is a woman unwrapping a butterscotch candy behind you? I say not.

And the reason why is because of the personal effect that a performing arts experience should have on you internally. Whether you’re in a box at the theater or sitting with your cat on a secondhand couch, that effect remains constant. And if you’re able to experience that feeling, that good, satisfied, moved feeling while wearing your sweatpants and slippers on a Sunday afternoon, imagine how great that feeling will be when you do get out to the theater. Because if you are able to access the performing arts easily and cost effectively and you discover that you love something about them, then you will put your pants on and begin to seek out opportunities to experience them in real life. 

When you love something, good enough is never actually enough.