This is the video from my Contemporary Issues in Arts Management conference paper, Will digital innovation be the future of theatre? The paper was delivered as the penultimate module of my Music, Theatre and Entertainment Management degree at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. To find out more about the conference, as well as the abstracts of all of my classmates delivering papers, visit artsconferences.co.uk.

There were a huge variety of papers, all covering contemporary issues which interested those speaking. They covered a range of topics, including music sync fees, social media and the evolution of the live music industry. To read the abstract for my paper as well as a little bit more about the topic itself, have a read of my previous #CIAM post. You might also want to follow the #CIAM hashtag on Twitter, where a variety of links are posted reflecting the reality young performing arts managers think they will be facing upon graduation.

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I have quite an admission to make. I have just spent the evening gorging on the first 8 episodes of Fox’s surprising ratings winner, Glee. I first read about the American musical comedy series on Ken Davenport’s blog, Producer’s Perspective, where he highlighted how good for Broadway the series was. Ken felt it was a great way of getting Broadway stars working in a high profile project as well as bringing musical numbers into line with pop songs and onto TV.

It would appear that the launch and marketing behind this musical theatre bonanza could not have been better primed. The pilot episode was premiered straight after an episode of American Idol in May, capturing a ready made audience of tweens, lovers of all things camp and those who appreciate a tight dance routine – the perfect musical theatre audience.

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