Category: theatre

The best theater in New York these days isn’t on Broadway, says Barbara Stewart. And it isn’t exactly traditional fare, either. Think less Shakespeare, and more Rumsfeld. “Everybody I spoke to – with the exception of agents pushing their Broadway clients – agreed that the interesting new shows are on off-Broadway or off-off-Broadway. Forget musicals, almost. And gird yourself for stories apparently spun directly from World News Tonight.”

Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theater is in the final stages of its fundraising push to finance its huge new home on the banks of the Mississippi River, and that means that it’s time to involve the general public. Of course, the general public doesn’t like to shell out its hard-earned cash without getting a trinket in return, so the Guthrie is offering a range of options for lower-end givers. $100 will get you a refrigerator magnet, $1000 equals a set of new Guthrie notecards, and for $5000, your name gets nailed to a seat in the new $125 million theater.

You can’t turn around these days without bumping into a theatrical production that is little more than an excuse to showcase music that was wildly popular a few decades ago. From Mama Mia to Movin’ Out, Broadway is rife with such shows, and the new season will include new revues featuring the work of The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash. “A quick look at the demographic of the theatre-going public reveals that once again — as in so many other places — the dreaded boomers have a stranglehold. It’s no wonder, then, that producers will try to woo them with material from their happily remembered youth.”

“A Toronto production company has failed to come up with the mil lions of dollars it had planned to in vest in several of this season’s new Broadway musicals, leaving the producers of those shows scrambling to fill significant last-minute gaps in their budgets.” Affected shows include a revival of La Cage Aux Folles, and the new musicals Brooklyn and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Puppetry is suddenly hot again, with marionettes playing leading roles at the movies, on Broadway, and even at the Metropolitan Opera. These days, students at the University of Connecticut can even major in puppetry. “But all this sophistication can be a bit jarring for some audiences. For many, ‘puppet show’ doesn’t suggest existential crises – just something fun for their kids. And when they get something else, there can be problems.”

The director behind the runaway Broadway hit, Avenue Q, has been tapped to produce a stage version of the Dreamworks movie Shrek. The production will begin with a non-New York run in 2006, and then move to Broadway shortly thereafter. Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire will write the stage play, and theater and film veteran Sam Mendes will produce.

Is the Broadway musical dead, or just hibernating while the theater world decides on the best way to revive the form? After all, in the 500-channel world, it’s difficult to determine whether an art form as broadly based as the musical should be trying to find its niche market, or still seek to appeal to all corners of an increasingly fractured audience. But even if the musical does make a comeback, it’s unlikely that Broadway’s melodies will ever again be recognized as “America’s soundtrack.”

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s shift to having a single artistic director oversee all of its programs was a factor in the sudden departure last year of James Houghton, the head of the prestigious O’Neill Playwrights Conference. Following the abrupt resignation last summer of J Ranelli, the center’s first overall artistic director, the O’Neill is now looking not for someone to fill that spot but simply for an artistic director for the playwrights conference. (Second item.)

The Public Theater may announce the successor to its artistic director, George C. Wolfe, as soon as next week. Doug Hughes (“Frozen”), who spent four years as artistic director of Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Conn., and Mark Russell, the former artistic director of P.S. 122, are said to be the favorites.

“Good play posters do more than just give theater lovers, collectors and local luncheonettes artwork to display on their walls. They sell a show. To do that, they must catch your eye and hold it long enough for you to see who’s in a show and what it’s about. In those few seconds, you can get psyched about seeing the show. Simple, right? Anything but.”