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For some reason we doubt that's an emergency call.

Performing arts don’t only demand prodigious skill, but a willingness to expose emotions, even if the exposure only occurs through an interpretation of someone else’s work.  This is why performing artists should be commended—not just for developing ability, but for risking emotional vulnerability in front of a subjective audience.  The interactions of performer with audience are very interesting, but almost commensurate in complexity is the behavioral response of an audience during a performance.

As depicted by a scene in the movie Amelie, viewing the rapt faces of an audience in a movie theater can be more entertaining than the film itself.  Not only can audience behavior be fascinating, but it can also be excruciatingly and infuriatingly distracting from the performance itself!  Fury, rather than fascination, was what audience behavior provoked in me during the Regina Opera’s performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and at the very least, massive irritation. The Regina Opera puts on performances in a venue identical in appearance to an elementary school auditorium, and they are practically an antithesis to the very behavior oriented Met, or City Opera.  Such a relaxed environment, in which latecomers are welcomed in, rather than glared at, and in which bottles of Scotch are raffled off during intermission, is conducive to loosening the etiquette of an audience.   However, the misfortune of being a friendly and relaxed opera company is that to some people it gives the impression that it’s acceptable to do whatever the hell you want during a performance.

Oh, yes.  They did. [click to continue…]

Tagged as: Regina Opera

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