Category: theatre

Unsolicited plays never make it to the Steppenwolf stage, even though thousands of scripts get submitted each year. But John Wells’ play did. “In a matter of months, Wells’ play “Men of Tortuga” has gone from “self-addressed return envelope enclosed” to a gripping full production, currently running through Aug. 28 as part of Steppenwolf’s new First Look Repertory festival in the Garage Theatre. There, Wells’ first play sits alongside “The Sparrow Project” by the nationally established author Melanie Marnich and “A Blameless Life” by Joel Drake Johnson, a fairly prominent Chicago scribe known for his warm humanism. Actually, “Men of Tortuga” doesn’t just sit. It blows its companion pieces out of the garage.”

“Behind the Iron Mask” had some of the worst reviews ever seen in London’s West End. “One theme running through many of the reviews was summed up by Sheridan Morley in the Daily Express: “How did Behind the Iron Mask get as far as a first rehearsal, let alone a first night?” How did a production that the nation’s critics could see in an instant wasn’t fit for public consumption end up doing battle on one of the theatre world’s most fiercely commercial markets? How did a script littered with potholes end up being accepted at one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatres and how was anyone persuaded to work on it? The answer, according to one person close to the company, is with a great deal of money and naivety.”

A new play about Anne Landers makes its debut, but the stars aren’t the actors. “It’s the darn letters. Many of the famous ones are here: ‘Would it be possible for me to be buried in my 1937 Dodge instead of a casket?’ ‘I like to do my housework with no clothes on. . . . ‘ What could be more apt? Such is the dirty little secret of the advice biz. Pick the letters well, stick ’em in print, and people will flock to the column. After all, nothing is more soothing for the ego than reading about someone else’s crisis. Oprah Winfrey and her post-Landers ilk, you could argue, merely take those Ann Landers-type letter writers and stick a camera in their faces.”

A couple of big festivals – one carefully chooses what art gets in as recommended by a jury. The other throws names into a hat and it’s luck of the draw. It’s not that one way is about quality and the other isn’t. “The thinking is that a nonjuried show is the one place where everyone has an equal opportunity. The other thinking is that this is supposed to be something that gets away from this tradition of sitting back with arms folded and judging something based on its quality.”

Every year for 25 years, the Edinburgh Fringe has hosted a free Sunday, offering hundreds of acts and drawing 200,000 people. But costs have doubled in the past few years and organizers say they can’t afford it. “We love Fringe Sunday. It’s fantastic, a wonderfully inclusive occasion that gets a broad mix of people which you wouldn’t see in theatres. But costs have risen from £32,000 in 1998 to £65,000, and are set to rise in years ahead, while income from catering concessions was less than half that figure.”

“Michael John LaChiusa, who has written serious-minded musicals like “Marie Christine” and “The Wild Party,” committed what many in the industry consider an unforgivable breach: he published a scathing attack on many of his colleagues in the August issue of Opera News. The article, titled “The Great, Gray Way” began by declaring, “The American Musical is dead,” and went on to assail a large percentage of the musicals that have played Broadway in the past few seasons, and their creators. That might have been that, had not Marc Shaiman’s wildly popular show, “Hairspray,” come in for particularly stinging criticism…”

The movies may be having a dreadful year at the box office, but Broadway has had 20 winning weeks. “According to the League of American Theatres and Producers, Broadway ticket sales and attendence for each of the past 20 weeks have bested the marks set during that time period last year.”

Has the Edinburgh Fringe become too expensive? It costs performers to stage their shows, and ticket prices are up. It all adds up to a lot of pressure to try to lure crowds… and that means taking fewer risks.

The new musical based on the life of John Lennon has New York’s theatre world all abuzz – but for the wrong reasons. Two directors have already left the production, and retooling has been constant and contradictory. “There are also complaints that the show… has become nothing but a Lennon whitewash job, turning one of the 20th century’s most complex cultural icons into a bland, peace-loving hippie. His drug use is just hinted at; his bisexuality ignored; and his serial philandering only dealt with head-on in one scene. Backstage, the mood at Lennon is grim.” So who’s behind all the problems at what ought to be a blockbuster show? Why, it’s Yoko Ono, of course.

You might expect a show entitled “The One-Man Star Wars Trilogy” to attract a bunch of costumed nerds and one-track-minded sci-fi geeks, but… oh, okay, you’d be right. But though Charles Ross’s tour de Force “may seem like just an oddball summer gimmick, it is in some ways the logical extension of where commercial theater is headed. The crowds at ‘Spamalot,’ a highly polished imitation of old Monty Python skits, laugh before the punch lines. And the many jukebox musicals – which, don’t fool yourself, are not going away – preach to the converted. The element of surprise matters less than the comforting pleasure of seeing something familiar. The geek audience has become highly sought after by Broadway producers. And everyone else, if they want to be in on the fun, has no choice but to join in.”