Does Live Theater Offer Something You Just Can’t Get Watching Movies or TV?

Movies and TV have many positives. You can watch them from inside your home, and you know what you are getting every time. However, live theater has a lot to offer that movies and TV can't. It can range from small things, like the actors pausing for the audience to stop laughing, to bigger things, like having the audience sit within the set. There are many opportunities for the audience to connect more with the characters and the story. Every time you watch a production of live theater, it's a new experience. Movies and TV are the same every time, which can be comforting, but the live theater offers spontaneity and a unique experience.

Not all live theater takes place on a stage where the audience is far away from the actors. The versatility of theater allows for the audience to connect closer with the characters. I got to see the show The Humans in Chicago. In this performance of the show, the audience just sat on chairs lined up around the room, while the set filled the rest of it. Part of the play included banging sounds from other places in the house the story took place in. The sound was actually played from where the banging sound was coming from, which made the story feel much more real. When watching a movie, you aren't actually in the environment of the show. You know that you're in a movie theater or in your own home, which makes it feel less real.

Something else that theater offers are small interactions that the actors have with the audience. One example is that actors have to stop for the audience's laughter. Sometimes when I'm watching an episode of TV, I'm so busy laughing I miss something and have to go back. But if you're watching a movie in a theater, there is no rewinding. Also, in smaller theaters, there isn't much space between the audience and the stage. This can result in some funny gags, which there are quite a few of in the production of Much Ado About Nothing currently rehearsing at Uni. One character high fives an audience member after successfully tricking another character. Another hands an audience an orange peel, and later a notebook. This makes the audience much more involved in the show. There is no possibility of interaction with your favorite characters during a movie or TV episode. They are two-dimensional, but the characters in live theater are three-dimensional and breathing humans that are there.

Unlike when watching a movie or an episode of TV, every time you watch the same show it's a different experience. The show can vary between different productions of it. Every stage is different, so the stage directions the actors move has to be adapted to the stage. Also, every director's vision is different, and actors can have different interpretations of characters. For example, in Uni's production of Much Ado About Nothing, performing Thursday and Friday at seven, and Saturday at two, the relationship between Verges and Dogberry (pictured on the left) is romantic. There is no hint of this in the script, but since Verges often repeats and agreed with Dogberry, the director thought that it would be a funny addition. Movie and TV adaptations exist, which are often different from the source material, but people expect those to be perfect recreations. Theater allows for different interpretations of the same words.

The same production of the same show can also have variation simply from how actors say certain lines. Actors enjoy playing around and trying out new things to do. Conrad Ricamora, who played Seymore in Little Shop of Horrors, experienced this. When he was acting with Christian Borle, he struggled to not laugh. Conrad Ricamora said, "It’s something that you just figure out every single night when you’re on stage with him because it’s like acting with a wild animal" (qtd. in Tran). This shows how spontaneous theater productions can be. Despite knowing what to expect, Conrad was still surprised enough to struggle to stay in character. Movies and TV are the same every time, so there's no chance for the watcher to be surprised after the first time, and no chance for the actors to be surprised either.

However, I think that one of the best parts of theater comes from the audience. Having the opportunity to express your gratefulness as an audience member to the actor can also be a special moment, especially when seeing a Broadway musical. The audience also provides energy to actors. Often after shows at Uni, while changing out of costumes the actors discuss the audience's energy. It feels great to have people laugh at your jokes that you spent months perfecting. Hugh Jackman has experienced the gratitude of an audience while acting in The Music Man. He said, "The audience comes leaning forward, open-hearted, generous, intelligent, and ready for a great night. And that's what, of course, on stage, we bring every night" (qtd. in Russo). Having a receptive audience makes the actors much more excited to perform. That is the magic of live theater.

Works Cited

Russo, Gillian. "Hugh Jackman on 'The Music Man': 'There's nothing like doing a musical on Broadway.'" New York Theatre Guide, 19 May 2022, https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/news-features/interviews/hugh-jackman-the-music-man-broadway. Accessed 3 Oct. 2022.

Tran, Diep. "How Conrad Ricamora suddenly became Seymour in 'Little Shop of Horrors.'" New York Theatre Guide, 24 March 2022, www.newyorktheatreguide.com/news-features/interviews/how-conrad-ricamora-suddenly-became-seymour-in-little-shop-of-horrors. Accessed 3 Oct. 2022.