Yep, it’s true.  I watched the effin’ Teen Choice Awards.

I am not a teen.  I don’t have a teen.  But I’ll admit, I watched ’em.

And since John Stamos was a presenter, I didn’t feel too bad.  I mean, at least I wasn’t acting like a teen.  (That was a low blow, wasn’t it?  I don’t even know why I said it.  I love me some Uncle Jesse!)

So what was it that prevented me from grabbing the remote and going back to the Golf Channel (there’s no Broadway Channel, so what else is a guy with only two interests going to do)?

It was something the “OMG he’s so cute” host said when describing the voting for the awards.  The hottie-mcshmottie said, “Not only did you vote for the winners of the awards tonight, but we let you vote for the performers, the presenters, and we even let you vote for what the actual award looks like!”

That’s right, the Producers of the Teen Choice Awards put the entire show in the hands of their audience.  It was a show designed by the people who would watch it (something tells me the audience satisfaction polls are going to be pretty high).

Over the past several years, more and more power has been turned over to the consumer, from audience voting to user ratings.  And now, the next theater generation is getting to customize their entertainment.

If you don’t think this power and control is going to affect theater in about twenty to thirty years, well, then you should probably stick to episodes of Fuller House (There I go again!  Sorry Uncle J!).

Audiences are going to feel entitled to help pick not only what they watch and when it’ll be, but also what it is.  How will theater and Broadway react?

Will audiences pick the seasons at Non-Profits?  Could surveys decide who will star in the next Broadway revival?

Sounds like a cold way to design a piece of art, right?  But if it produces something that more people love, is it worth it?

The audiences of tomorrow are being trained to have unlimited choices in their entertainment.  We will have to adapt to make sure we remain one of them.

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