During an interview with the HollywoodReporteractress Jamie Lee Curtis called out Bruce Springsteen, along with members of U2 and Coldplay, imploring them to offer matinees at 2 p.m. so she could go see them perform and go to bed early.
This wish of the one who received the Oscar for her supporting role in Everything Everywhere All at Once is far from stupid. Spectators’ habits are changing, and so are the habits and customs of the entertainment world.
It might be time to abandon some old habits and adapt them to today’s reality. The goal is not to turn everything upside down, but to offer the public various options.
Matinee performances are commonplace at the theatre. It is enough to attend them to realize that they are very popular. In music, a certain category of shows aimed at an older clientele is offered in the afternoon. The Casino de Montréal performance hall knows this formula well.
But why don’t other genres adopt this way of doing things? Could it be the fear of being labeled “old people’s shows”? Or that of not offering the evening atmosphere? Whether it’s 3 p.m. or 9 p.m., a dark room is a dark room.
If Les Louanges, Hubert Lenoir or Les Trois Accords happened in the afternoon, on a Saturday or a Sunday, I wouldn’t hesitate to go see them. Depending on my energy, my mood, and my schedule, I wish I could decide when to go cheer them on.
For all sorts of reasons, our ability to host long shows has diminished over time. We are far from the shows of the time of ancient Greece which lasted all day.
The frenzy of our lives sometimes makes it difficult to have an evening show experience. An event scheduled long in advance thanks to the subscription formula can fall on an exhausting day. And then, the 8 p.m. performances are very often preceded by a meal that arouses the famous sleepiness.
For all these reasons, artists and producers should review their way of doing things. After all, what artists want first and foremost is an enthusiastic and attentive audience.
This reflection on the time of the performances led me to think about other rituals of the show, in particular that of intermissions. These are increasingly rare these days, except when there is an opening act.
Artists who experienced the great era of intermissions will tell you that it was sometimes difficult to restart the machine in the second half. But at the same time, it allowed to create two different atmospheres at the show.
For those under 40, it should be remembered that there have long been intermissions in the cinema. This allowed the projectionist to change reels. But now that we are in the digital age, we are witnessing a movement that advocates the return of intermissions to cinema.
The reason ? The duration of certain films that the bladder cannot endure. Indeed, there’s nothing like a need to pee after 120 minutes to get you out of a story. Even Meryl Streep can’t help it.
To remedy this problem, websites (When can you pee during…) tell viewers the best times to take a pee break during ambitious works that last 140, 150 or 170 minutes. Poor actor who discovers that one of his scenes is identified for a jump to the toilet!
We must also talk about recalls and, above all, false recalls. For unknown reasons, false reminders (just like standing ovations) have become an ingrained habit over time, especially with us. “Today, if you don’t have a reminder, it’s because you screwed up,” said Patrice Michaud to my ex-colleague Véronique Lauzon, who became interested in the subject in 2018.
False reminders annoy me! I have always been one of those who believe that a recall is deserved, as much for the artist as for those who claim it. Callbacks held with the views guy were to be banned.
It’s so easy to smell them. When a group “ends” its show before having made its hit of the hour, it is a false reminder. When an artist leaves the audience and leaves them in the dark, it’s because he’s going to come back. When a star and his musicians remain behind the scenes while the technicians replace the instruments, it means that the show is not over.
Several artists, including Jacques Brel and Diane Dufresne, believe that a show does not need reminders. If the program is well put together and forms a whole, why would the artist lend himself to the game of false reminders?
It is wrong to believe that because the public demands the return of the artist, it creates an “emotional moment”. A good and true encore is one that is unintended and catches the performer unawares. There, the spectators feel a real emotion!
As the saying goes so well: “If applause is the bread of artists, encores are their butter. Please don’t make margarine out of it.