If you do theater, you learn something very quickly: no audience is the same. Some audiences will completely understand what you're doing; others will shun you. To upbraid the audience like this not only represents a colossal hubris, but a crisis in confidence. It is a failure to understand that audiences do indeed have brains. Maybe the audience is troubled by something else. Or maybe there's something you did that prevented your work from getting through to them. The line between artsy and commercial is something that every artist has to decide. But whatever the case, it's vital to do your damnedest to not take it personally when you make certain concessions. Besides, it's a lot more fun when there are accidental connections. But Perlman clearly has lost that joyful sense of discovery.
If you do theater, you learn something very quickly: no audience is the same. Some audiences will completely understand what you're doing; others will shun you. To upbraid the audience like this not only represents a colossal hubris, but a crisis in confidence. It is a failure to understand that audiences do indeed have brains. Maybe the audience is troubled by something else. Or maybe there's something you did that prevented your work from getting through to them. The line between artsy and commercial is something that every artist has to decide. But whatever the case, it's vital to do your damnedest to not take it personally when you make certain concessions. Besides, it's a lot more fun when there are accidental connections. But Perlman clearly has lost that joyful sense of discovery.
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