Category: theatre

“For longtime Shubert attendees, the newly glorious auditorium will be a jaw–dropper. Over the years, the finer details had become obscured. Relighted and freshly and exquisitely painted in a rich, dark red-and-gold theatrical palette, the moldings, leafing and other decorative elements that had been present for 100 years now pop with astonishing new vivacity. ‘All of the incredible detail had been painted over in that beige and brown. Now people will finally be able to see it’.”

“A few years ago, we analyzed several comparable metropolitan areas that have solid theater reputations and realized that yes, we had the largest (by budget) regional theater in the country and the largest children’s theater and the most-successful dinner theater. But the analysis showed that the healthy current of small and midsize companies was the secret ingredient that pushed the Twin Cities ahead of like-sized metros and made us competitive with the big guys. These smaller troupes provide work for actors, designers, directors, writers, costumers and carpenters. For audiences, they enrich the ecosystem’s diversity.”

An off-Broadway play about two HIV-positive women – one in Los Angeles, one in Africa – has become an unexpected hit in Zimbabwe. AIDS is still a taboo subject throughout much of Africa, despite the devastation the disease has wreaked on the continent, and the characters in the play are plenty explicit about the events that got them infected, so no one was sure how the production would be received in Harare. But the playwrights and their work have been embraced by the Zimbabwean theatre community.

When American actor Sam Wanamaker first conceived of the idea of rebuilding Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre on the banks of the Thames, many scholars, actors, and theatre folk sneered. But nearly a decade into the new Globe’s existence, it has carved out an important niche for itself. And this spring, a symbolic milestone was reached, as one of the initial naysayers took over as the theatre’s new artistic director.

It’s been 50 years since John Osborne’s much-lauded play, Look Back In Anger was published, and many in the theatre world are falling all over themselves to celebrate the classic. But is Osborne’s work really worth celebrating? “Even taking into account Osborne’s physical and emotional suffering at the hands of women, his misogyny was extreme… A defective, even disgusting, personality doesn’t rule out the creation of great art; many artists can leave theirs in the unsatisfying world of real life while they get on with creating a better one. This is not the case, however, with Look Back in Anger, which is weakened not so much by misogyny as by immaturity.”

The Tony nominations are always received with great excitement in London, where an impressive array of nominations can indicate that a British theatre star has truly arrived on the American scene. This year, the Brits have plenty to celebrate, particularly the ascent of producer Susan Friel, whose revival of “Faith Healer” garnered four noms.

“Today’s theatre houses several outstanding, award-winning young black playwrights, such as Roy Williams, Kwame Kwei-Armah and Debbie Tucker-Green. But two decades since I was first inspired by British theatre, the black presence is little more than marginal.”

“The proposals on the table are hopeless. Either the museum is to stay in its current premises until its 22-year lease expires, bolstered by some undefined partnership with neighbours such as the Royal Opera House. Or the Covent Garden premises will be vacated, and exhibition space for the collection shoe-horned into the V&A’s South Kensington site. Such blinkered thinking has dogged the Theatre Museum ever since it was first mooted in the 1950s.”

The most notable snub among yesterday’s Tony nominations was Julia Roberts, who was shut out of the best actress category. But how you view that snub likely depends on who you are. “If you’re, say, a muckety-muck at Creative Artists Agency, which represents Roberts, you’re in a foul mood these days, ranting about ‘out of touch’ nominators and ‘pathetic’ critics who are making Broadway inhospitable to movie stars. On the other hand, if you’re a member of the American Theater Wing, the nonprofit organization that holds the Tony copyright, you point to the snub as evidence that the nomination process has integrity and doesn’t bend to industry pressure to celebrate stars.”

Everyone bitches about Broadway, and a glance at the history books will tell you that everyone always has. And while it is true that the quality of New York theatre probably isn’t as low as everyone says, it is also true that “there’s a technical problem with Broadway in the new tourist era: It’s mostly boring.” It also doesn’t seem to have anything to do with New York, being mainly a concoction to lure free-spending tourists; nor does it have much to do with quality, with everything from orchestras to stage crew being squeezed to keep the profit margin up. In fact, to find really interesting theatre with a New York flavor these days, you almost have to look Off-Broadway.