What is it about?
As American audiences navigate their way back to Broadway theaters, how can performing arts institutions across the country return to pre-pandemic levels of revenue? This paper details how American theater could embrace a more fiscally sound development-to-production model by embracing XR technology to reduce production costs while boosting audience engagement through genre bending immersive theatrical experiences.
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Why is it important?
Developed during the pandemic as a companion piece to the full-length musical, At the River I Stand by Alani iLongwe and Ren Casey, The Calling is Apples and Oranges’ second virtual reality musical production following the live VR experience Winter Lights created in partnership with Microsoft and The Discovery Cube Orange County. Utilizing XR technology to develop The Calling during the pandemic, Apples & Oranges Studios curbed the average $8MM-$15MM Broadway musical production costs by running virtual rehearsals and building virtual assets that will be used in the live production.
Perspectives
Using technology to bridge the gap between innovative stories and audiences around the world has been a passion of mine for going on a decade. While musicals and plays are meant to be universal, there remain socio-economic and geographic barriers preventing many from seeing the next world premiere or Broadway hit. I hope this paper inspires theater institutions around the country to embrace the XR technologies connecting millions when developing the next great playwright's newest work. By doing so, I am confident future theatrical audiences around the country will reflect the diverse world in which we live in an exciting new way.
Alani iLongwe
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: THE CALLING VR, July 2023, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3588027.3595598.
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