NEW YORK (AP) – A conference on how to make the Broadway experience better for audiences and performers alike has come up with some prescriptions – be open, inclusive but, above all, be true.
“There’s great value for telling the truth in art,” said Benjamin Scheuer, who wrote and stars in his autobiographical solo show “The Lion.” A cancer survivor, he gave perhaps the most heart-felt endorsement of honesty in theater: “Tell the truth in art about bad things. You’ll be doing something good.”
The fourth TEDxBroadway conference on Monday brought together 19 speakers – producers, marketers, entrepreneurs, academics and artists – to try to answer the question: “What is the best Broadway can be?”
TEDx events are independently organized but inspired by the nonprofit group TED – standing for Technology, Entertainment, Design – that started in 1984 as a conference dedicated to “ideas worth spreading.” Video of the Broadway event will be made available to the public.
The conference, held in the off-Broadway complex New World Stages, included speakers with no theater experience but with interesting insights on the human experience, including atmospheric scientist Adam Sobel and cognitive psychologist Laurie Santos.