Increasingly, us non-thespians, too, are expected to present ourselves via digital platforms, and to issue compelling performances, whether for a conference meeting, a job interview, a friendly catch-up or an Instagram Live segment about cutting a spouse’s hair. Surely, stumbles can be endearing - who wouldn’t delight in watching Jake Gyllenhaal, bathed in yellowish light, belt “Move On” from “ Sunday in the Park With George” (1983) in front of an average-looking window blind? - and all the more so because they are relatable. “As though these actors might be in their laundry rooms.” “It can all feel like the local portions of the Jerry Lewis telethon,” jokes the producer and writer Jonathan Tolins. That aspect remains perfectly intact, and recent performances have been felled by late starts, spotty internet and A/V connections, missed cues and poor lighting. Part of the thrill of theater is its immediacy and, along with it, the potential for something to fall to pieces.
Virtual theater productions, of course, are mediated through technology and thus not experienced as they would be from the front mezzanine, and yet they’re not fully polished or always prerecorded, either.
Since the pandemic forced theaters to close their doors in mid-March, there has been no shortage of noble attempts to recreate the magic of the stage on streaming platforms including Zoom, Instagram Live and YouTube (where the Broadway interview show “ Stars in the House” streams two theater productions daily).
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