Amber Gray auditioned as well as she could for the Broadway-bound Hadestown: She “couldn’t read sheet music but had prepared for the tryout by diligently listening to the assigned song from the production’s buzzy concept album — which had since been tweaked.” Oops. – Los Angeles Times
Category: theatre
The Faces (And Words) Of This Year’s Tony Nominees
Vulture somehow found time to photograph and interview a lot of people on the list: “The nominees spoke about their shows, their collaborators, their group texts, and their reactions to being nominated, before heading off to their Wednesday matinees.” – Vulture
A Two-Time Olivier Winner Says He’s Prioritizing TV Because Theatre Doesn’t Pay Enough
David Bedella says he has to focus on LA instead of London. “TV offers celebrity and financial security and these things are important in an age where you don’t know where your next job is coming from. I want to be able to make the kind of money to support my family and not worry.” – The Stage (UK)
Perhaps The World’s Biggest Theatre Empire? Cruise Ships
Consider: Royal Caribbean International’s cruise line directs 134 shows in 50 theatres on 26 ships around the world, including seven Broadway-originating shows, eight aqua shows, 18 ice shows and dozens of original musicals. It’s an audience of 100,000… every night. – Toronto Star
When Classic Broadway Stories Meet Modern Gender Politics
“Empowering the female lead may be a celebratory hook for selling a show, particularly given that women buy the bulk of Broadway tickets. But on closer inspection, it is rarely the women that require revision. … No, the real problem with these stories is the men. They are terrible, and yet they have the audacity to believe they can teach these women lessons, and to come out on the other side looking like plausible romantic leads. A modern production’s success rests on how it tames its man.” – The New York Times
How Do You Get People To Line Up All Day For Your Theatre? Sell Tickets For 65 Cents
Well, since this is the UK, it’s 50p. Citizens Theatre in Glasgow offers 100 tickets at that price for every production, writes artistic director Dominic Hill — and there are also £2 tickets for neighborhood residents and the unemployed and £10 for people under 25. (Their top ticket price is only £26.50.) – Arts Professional
A Seattle Theatre Has Plan To Grow Audience: Give Away All The Tickets
“Frankly, I’m sick and tired of seeing empty seats in our theaters,” says Intiman Theatre’s artistic director Phillip Chavira. “I think we do a disservice in the nonprofit arts: We ask you to participate in this amazing art, but ask you for a fee.” – KUOW
Will Theatre Ever Again Be At The Center Of Our Culture? Wrong Question
“[Stage plays] once entertained the tired businessman, and also somehow managed to stir hearts and minds with piercing social critique. Eugene O’Neill made the cover of Time four times in his career! How will we ever get back to that halcyon age, which was — well, when was it, exactly?” People have been asking that question at least since the advent of moving pictures, and it may not even be an apt question about, as Rob Weinert-Kendt puts it, “an art form expressly built to die and be reborn.” – American Theatre
Using Chickens, Kate Winslet, And Theatre To Help Fight Climate Change
Australian theatre artist David Finnigan’s first piece on the subject was, perhaps imprudently, titled Kill Climate Deniers. (It was about an attack by, er, highly motivated environmental activists on the parliament in Canberra.) Reporter Steve Dow has a look at Finnigan’s new show, You’re Safe Til 2024, which, yes, involves chickens and Kate Winslet (Titanic version). – The Guardian
Owner Of Summer College Prep Program For Theatre Students Stiffs **Everyone** Involved
Last summer, Broadway Break Thru, a theatre education outfit in Chicago, held its first College Break Thru, designed to prepare high school students for the process of auditioning for competitive university theatre programs. But most of the students never got the aid they were promised, the teachers never got paid, the owner’s roommate never got paid rent … Even the financial firm the owner hired to sort things out over the winter got stiffed. Allison Considine reports. – American Theatre