Well, it’s not karaoke, and the show’s insistence to the contrary is neither conceptual coherent nor culturally competent. And no one has yet offered a clear, compelling argument why live musicians, unseen by the audience, can’t provide the same experience as a pre-recorded track.
Every day, authors have to deal with the ways that the demands of live theater as an industrial medium compromises their intent. If Byrne and Slim can’t achieve their intent on Broadway, then they should not have brought the show to Broadway. There is a model, provided by Sleep No More, of how to do immersive installation theater outside of the normal system. They didn’t choose to go that route. |
