{"id":1441,"date":"2013-01-18T11:48:16","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T18:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/?p=1441"},"modified":"2013-01-18T11:48:16","modified_gmt":"2013-01-18T18:48:16","slug":"mized-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/2013\/01\/mized-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Miz’ed Opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"les-miserables-picture01Do you hear the people sing?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I really want to.<\/p>\n

I absolutely loved the new\u00a0Les Mis\u00e9rables\u00a0<\/em>movie.<\/p>\n

In fact, I just returned from doing something I have NEVER done before: \u00a0saw the movie again while it is still in the movie theater.<\/p>\n

I wanted another opportunity to drink in in the film’s visual richness. \u00a0I wanted another injection of the emotional heroin that literally left me sobbing. \u00a0I wanted to wrap myself in the\u00a0virtuous\u00a0flag of shared and noble purpose.<\/p>\n

Yet when I arrived home I discovered an additional “want” that remained unfilled.<\/p>\n

I really want to sing!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mean it. \u00a0If my local movie theater offered a special “sing-a-long” showing of the film, I’d be first in line to go! \u00a0Don’t worry about giving me the words or a bouncing ball. \u00a0I already know every line.<\/p>\n

I also imagine that the place would be packed – filled with people who, like me, have spent years singing out loud with the Broadway cast album (on long car-trips, it’s a personal favorite!) – or a capella (in the shower, my Javert sounds far richer than Russell Crowe’s, though you’ll have to take my word for it).<\/p>\n

The producers of Les Mis\u00e9rables\u00a0<\/em>deserve every accolade and award that may be bestowed.<\/p>\n

But they missed a HUGE opportunity here.<\/p>\n

We must never forget that we live in an age where audiences crave experience and participation. \u00a0Whether it’s in a movie theater – or in a concert hall, museum gallery or live-theater, you grossly underestimate your audience if you think that they are (or will continue to be) satisfied with activities in which all they are expected\/allowed to do is to sit there quietly.<\/p>\n

Will you join in our crusade, who will be strong and stand with me?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I can’t wait ’til the people who brought us the Sing-a-Long-Sound of Music<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0do that for Les Miz!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you hear the people sing? I really want to. I absolutely loved the new\u00a0Les Mis\u00e9rables\u00a0movie. In fact, I just returned from doing something I have NEVER done before: \u00a0saw the movie again while it is still in the movie theater. I wanted another opportunity to drink in in the film’s visual richness. \u00a0I wanted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,34,27],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-innovation","7":"category-marketing","8":"category-participation","9":"entry","10":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}