HOMETERTAINMENT: LIVE ART & HAMILTON
Thanks to lockdowns, the world of home entertainment is having a major moment. Covid-19 has loudly reinforced the importance of the role of entertainment, arts and culture in people's day-to-day lives.
From museum exhibits to music, we are seeing the era of ‘live’ come into its own. On Friday 17 July, Tate will host the first online Late at Tate Britain. Curated by young people, for young people, Late at Tate Britain is a gathering space for experimentation and idea generation. In one piece, the multidisciplinary femme-focused platform HERVISIONS invites viewers to make their own face filter with artist Huntrezz - considering what reality and identity mean in the age of social media. Huntrezz will also discuss how she engages with activism through her practice.
Elsewhere, we’ve seen streaming platforms gain great success. Most recently, Disney+ streaming hit Broadway musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda has driven huge online conversation. Last weekend, according to figures from the analytics company Apptopia (the same weekend the filmed version of the hit Broadway musical went live on Disney’s streaming service), downloads of the app were 74% higher than the average of the last four weekends of June 2020. In the US alone, 458,796 mobile devices downloaded the app.
“I was so excited to see Hamilton was coming onto Disney+! I’ve seen the stage show twice and can’t imagine that it will live up to that but I’ll take what I can get while theatres are closed! I think it’s a good way to make the arts more accessible to everyone if done well but hope if anything it makes people more excited about going to a real theatre. The performing arts are really struggling at the moment, especially theatres and putting pressures on them to put shows online. Hopefully a platform like Disney+ can encourage interest in buying tickets and seeing live shows when we can again. I think the incredible quality of online entertainment from sites like Netflix means we expect a lot more from more traditional media (like BBC) and live art.” Michelle, 27, UK
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