Category: theatre

“The current miniaturisation of Sondheim makes his more difficult works freshly viable. What it portends is a different kind of musical for our time – a chamber musical that can be produced without dependence on conservative theatrical owners and bankrollers, a genre that can take in everything from early Kurt Weill to the sort of work that never gets developed beyond festival fringes. It is exactly what spaces like Covent Garden’s Linbury Theatre and the South Bank’s Purcell Room were built for, not to mention downstairs at Carnegie Hall. When, I wonder, will these fusty places catch the wind?

A new show about the life of Frank Sinatra is ready to hit London’s West End. “The show has the blessing of the Sinatra family; it is described in publicity leaflets as ‘bona fide, 100 per cent Frank’, which sounds a little like a junk food chain trying to convince a recalcitrant public of the purity of its burgers. It is a beefy story, all right; but there is also a slightly cheesy whiff to the proceedings. Ersatz tribute shows such as this have their place, but it is surely not proper theatre?”

Last year was tough for San Jose Repertory Theatre – a huge deficit, declining ticket sales, and an artictic lineup that was overly ambitious. The company has cut back, reducing its budget and laying off staff. And while it’s now running in the black, lessons have been learned…

A high school in Missouri stages the musical “Grease.” But the high school gets complaints, writers “complaining that scenes of drinking, smoking and a couple kissing went too far, and glorified conduct that the community tries to discourage. One letter, from someone who had not seen the show but only heard about it, criticized “immoral behavior veiled behind the excuse of acting out a play.” The school superintendent “watched a video of the play, ultimately agreeing that ‘Grease’ was unsuitable for the high school, despite his having approved it beforehand, without looking at the script. Hoping to avoid similar complaints in the future, he decided to ban the scheduled spring play, ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller.”

In the years since the 9/11 attacks, Arab-American playwrights have been imbued with a sense of purpose and mission – “to counter stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims” even as America moves inexorably to wipe out extremist Islamist factions in the Mideast. The result has been a new visibility for Arab dramatists in many American cities, and an extended debate on the role of politics and culture in drama.

“The Bell Shakespeare Company, Queensland Theatre Company, Sydney’s Company B and Circus Oz are also forecasting losses this year, with combined deficits of $1.5million. Theatres were employing fewer actors and their work on stage was losing vitality because of growing financial pressures, a report released yesterday found.”

“[Washington, D.C.’s] Source Theatre Company, which provided a home for experimental plays and fledging artists for more than 28 years, has ceased operations and agreed to sell its building. Source had been struggling financially for several years and has received almost $1 million in public funds.”

Minneapolis-based Theatre de la Jeune Lune, which won the 2005 Tony Award for best regional theatre in the U.S., has announced that it will cancel the final production of its 2005-06 season after deciding that the adaptation of “The Old Man Who Read Love Stories” would not be ready in time for its June debut. The company “is known for its unconventional approach to producing and programming. In 2004, the company canceled a week’s worth of performances of “The Ballroom” after opening in order to rework the show after disappointing critical and commercial reaction.”

Remember when “robotic acting” was an insult? It still is, you say? Not according to one New York troupe. “The underground theatrical superstars Les Freres Corbusier [are premiering] the first production of Hedda Gabler in which half of the major roles are played by robots. Not humans in funny suits, but walking, talking machines performing live onstage. It’s titled, naturally, Heddatron.”

Yes, the Royal Shakespeare Company is performing the complete works of Shakespeare. But some of the productions will be… shall we say, unconventional.