Theater for twits

IOP- ED n an unsavory confluence of social media and the arts, we now have what are known as the tweet seats – sections of otherwise dignified theaters where communicating via Twitter during shows is actually encouraged. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has tweet seats from which patrons can carry on what organizers call “digital conversations” during concerts. In Florida, the Palm Beach Opera set up a tweet section for a performance of “Madama Butterfly.” Last month, The Public Theater in New York said via Twitter: “We think we may be the first of the large theaters to do some Tweet Seats, don’t know about smaller theaters.” So what’s the deal with tweeting and texting in theaters? Are promoters so desperate to attract younger audiences that they’re willing to risk disrupting the experience for the majority of paying theatergoers? The answer, in five characters, is “u bet.” Here’s a suggestion for the Palm Beach Opera: Since you already have super titles to provide the English translation, why not also display messages from the tweet seats? They could scroll along during the show, the way CNN and Fox News Channel have been running distracting viewer tweets across the bottom of the TV screen during presidential debates.

There’s plenty to learn via the thumbs of socially aware theatergoers. For example, according to actual postings during a concert featuring works of Mozart, furnished by the Cincinnati Symphony, with a k53 wrote: “Music hall looks a lot prettier from the top balcony.” And hippielunatic tweeted: “star spangled banner always chokes me up a bit in music hall.” It was in the film “Trains, Planes and Automobiles” that Steve Martin said to John Candy, “You know, everything isn’t an anecdote.” He advised, “Have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener.” But Martin’s quip was so 1987. Having a point doesn’t seem to be important in today’s text-as-you-view entertainment scene. It’s all about the experience and the moment. At sporting events – where, mercifully, fans are not so easily bothered by the behavior of others in the crowd – texting while rooting has become practically mandatory. Sportswriters routinely tweet from the press box during games for the benefit of followers unable to wait for the postgame blog.

Several players have been discovered tweeting during games, among them Chad Ochocinco, who was once fined $25,000 by the NFL for sending messages during a Cincinnati Bengals game. What’s next? Placido Domingo tweeting from backstage at The Met that the conductor failed to keep up with him during “The Enchanted Island”?

A cable-tv series coined a term for this before the advent of smartphones: “Short Attention Span Theater.” And once the tweeters become bored with Puccini, aren’t they likely to fire up “Words With Friends”? How many in the “Madama Butterfly” audience are really playing “Angry Birds”? Perhaps the real goal of frightened theater managers is not so much to enhance the experience for the majority, for whom Mozart works just fine without tweets from the balcony, but to make the time go faster for those who barely tolerate the arts but may have purchased a ticket as, say, a favor to their companion. Or maybe it’s just for members of the Twitter-tethered community who believe Mozart is best enjoyed in 140 notes.