Category: theatre

“There are plenty of so-called ‘difficult’ musicals, where ‘difficult’ actually refers to the sorts of challenge that raise the creative bar. Three of the most challenging musicals are about to open in Britain, two of them from the authorial pen of Oscar Hammerstein II.”

“The History Boys” received six Tonys, more than any other production, also taking home prizes for actor, Richard Griffiths; director, Nicholas Hytner; featured actress, Frances de la Tour; and two design prizes, sets and lighting. While “Jersey Boys,” picked up the top musical prize and received four Tonys, its main competitor, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” the Canadian-born musical that affectionately celebrates Broadway’s past, won more awards — five — including best book and score.”

So who will go home happy from tonight’s Tony Awards ceremony? It might not be that hard to figure: “The best play and best play revival categories look to be about as suspenseful as a three-minute egg: Alan Bennett’s History Boys and the revival of Clifford Odets’s Awake and Sing!, said those polled, are safe money. The directors of those two plays, Nicholas Hytner and Bartlett Sher, are leading contenders in their category; Mr. Hytner will easily win. Indeed, The History Boys seems so likely to dominate the evening’s proceedings that it would hardly be surprising if the play somehow won the award for best regional theater, even though the recipient has already been announced.”

“The League of Chicago Theatres, the advocacy organization for approximately 190 local venues, is about to cease publication of Chicago Plays,” the program book created four years ago to replace the late, lamented “Stagebill.” Chicago’s extensive theatre community had hoped that a joint effort to produce a Chicago-specific program book would prove profitable, but as of this summer, the league owed $400,000 in back printing costs, and the project became unsustainable.

“The Globe has very broadly discussed Jerry’s project. We love Jerry, who, of course, worked with (artistic director) Jack O’Brien on ‘Damn Yankees.’ I’ve supported his effort and advised him on what it would take to get the project to the Globe. If the project moves along and it makes sense for Jerry and the Globe to work together, that would be terrific.”

“Though Broadway sold a record 12 million tickets in the 2005-06 season, the musical year was notable more for spectacular fiascoes than hits. Among the flops were “Lennon,” about the late Beatle, and “Lestat,” a big-budget Warner Bros. show with music by Elton John which closed after a month.”

“While people are cramming into cinemas, museums and concert halls, the vast majority of theatres remain obstinately shut. It’s mad. It’s anomalous. Now, at last, something is being done about it. Nicholas Hytner, the director of the National Theatre, who has already revolutionised seat prices with his £10 Travelex-sponsored ticket scheme, is now working hard on his next big idea: to phase in Sunday opening.”

“They have no composer or lyricist. Those are not minor details when you’re putting on a musical. They also aren’t announcing the name of the book writer(s) yet, which does not suggest Mr. Lewis is working with anyone with any experience at all in doing a musical. They hope to do a tryout at the Old Globe in San Diego in 2007 but apparently, no one’s bothered to tell the Old Globe about this. It’s a little late to be booking for ’07, plus a brand-new musical by new people will probably need more outta-town tryouts than a few weeks in San Diego before it’ll be Manhattan-ready.”

“The idea of using circus arts to help troubled youth was the brainchild of the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil. The Montreal-based entertainment empire began its first two “social circus” pilot projects in Chile and Brazil, in 1995. Today, Cirque du Soleil has 50 projects running in 19 countries, many of them in developing nations. Cirque du Soleil says the programs help get kids off the streets, off drugs, and improve their performance and behavior in school.”

A reality show tries to pick a play that can be produced in London’s West End. “Is a West End play different? You’d think the answer would be a straightforward no – a play is a play is a play – but if anything emerges from the first episode, it’s that the concept is indeed nebulous. Sonia Friedman and her fellow judges, agent Mel Kenyon and actor Neil Pearson, row spectacularly as they sift through the 30 shortlisted entrants (cherry-picked from over 2,000 submissions: more than double the number of people who applied for Pop Idol, according to Younghusband).”