Posted: 12/4/22 at 4:15am
This may be unique to the San Francisco Bay Area, or the films and live shows I've been seeing lately, but I have been noticing a huge difference between going to my local multiplex, which was so dead the other day that nobody bothered to check if we had tickets, and attendance at live theater.
I'm not underestimating the problems that theaters face, or dismissing the fact that certain films, such as Wakanda Forever, are bringing in big money. I'm just going on the eyeball test.
The local multiplexes seem about the same as last year, with a handful of people even at the most convenient times. I've seen Tar and The Fabelmans, accompanied by the usual handful of people as when I saw the latest Spiderman film back in January.
But the plays and musicals I've seen have been very crowded. On Thursday, the Golden Gate Theater was almost full on a Thursday for the touring production of Ain't Too Proud. The same thing happened when we saw Moulin Rouge! and To Kill a Mockingbird. That's partially because all of those shows have built-in audiences (Ain't Too Proud's first pre-Broadway tryout was at the Berkeley Rep four years ago too). But it's not just the big touring shows. The Berkeley Rep has been quite full for the plays I've seen, and plenty of seats are already gone for Clyde's next year. Shotgun Players in Berkeley appears to have a big hit with Great Comet, which has been sold out and been extended into February for what would be a three-month run at what its co-director said was the most expensive prices the small theater company has ever charged. The San Francisco Playhouse appeared to do quite well with its production of Indecent.
It's not shocking that commercial-friendly shows are drawing audiences, but the contrast between near-empty cineplexes and packed theaters is what strikes me. Theaters have obviously lost some season subscribers, many people are still avoiding small confined spaces due to Covid concerns, and a big hit show like Moulin Rouge! probably wouldn't have had to give out pretty good seats on TodayTix to fill the place.
I was just curious if this dynamic has shown up in New York City or other cities. Do the numbers match what I've experienced? I have a theory about why this may be happening. For movies, the pandemic accelerated trends that have been in place for years. Adults don't want to bother with movie theaters, and that's pretty much the death knell for films - except for superhero flicks, horror, and the occasional surprise hit like Everything Everywhere All at Once - which was something of a superhero movie itself. Even if people are curious about a movie, they'll wait and stream it at home. That was true even for a see-it-in-a-theater type of movie like Steven Spielberg's reimagining of West Side Story.
But live theater can't really be recreated, nor can the enthusiasm of the audience. The opening song of Goddess, a brand-new musical that ran at the Berkeley Rep a few months ago, is filled with energy, strong vocal performances, and terrific choreography. It got a long round of applause before Amber Iman, its terrific star, even made an appearance. People can decide to drop theater, but it's had a niche audience for my entire life (and I'm not that young), so it can survive with fewer people. But energy is the difference. Audience members clapped along to the music in Indecent, they gasped and in some cases danced in the mezzanine at Ain't Too Proud, and cheered the opening lines of "Broadway Baby" in a wonderful San Francisco Playhouse production of Follies this summer.
A packed movie theater can be fun. But if it's almost empty, you might as well watch the film at home unless you feel like you really need to see the special effects on a big screen.
