Category: theatre

English playwright Ronald Harwood has pulled out of a planned production of his “The Dresser” in Winnipeg because of the city’s smoking laws. “The reason for going back on my word is that I am a cigarette smoker. I have recently visited Canada and had to suffer the most draconian anti-smoking regulations in restaurants and public buildings. I had no intention of allowing myself to be forced out into the street in winter to partake of one of my great pleasures.”

Where are the next great plays coming from? “There always seems to be a stratum of plays just below the surface, waiting their turn in an environment that can economically accommodate a limited number of new works. Ask the question one way — Are there a lot of good plays out there that are not being produced? — and the answer from many people is a vigorous yes. But the situation is a bit more complicated.”

Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick have finished their second run in Broadway’s “The Producers.” “From its debut in April 2001 until Lane and Broderick left in March 2002, the Mel Brooks show was a perpetual sellout – despite record ticket prices. Sales lagged before the two actors returned late last year as the highest-paid actors in Broadway history. Once again, seats were hard to come by for the show that won a record 12 Tony Awards in June 2001, including Lane as Best Leading Actor in a Musical.”

When it opened in London in 1999, Mamma Mia was considered a small “filler” show. But it’s become a huge hit. “Currently generating more than $8 million a week in ticket sales, “Mamma Mia!” has grossed more than $750 million worldwide, including $200 million on the West End and $150 million in New York. If the current box office activity continues, the show should easily pass the billion-dollar mark set by “The Phantom of the Opera.”Mamma Mia!” has yet to open in a city or country where it hasn’t clicked, whether you’re talking Korea, the Netherlands, or Australia. The show claims to have been seen by almost one in every 10 Australians.”

“We are coming off what I call the 15-year feast, which basically started with the British Invasion – Cats, Les Miz, Phantom (of the Opera), Miss Saigon – segueing into Lion King. That period of time built the subscriptions up, it built buildings up all over the country in these 2,500- to 5,000-seat theaters. Now where are the shows to fill these barns, and what do you do?”

Broadway musicians are fighting against the “virtual orchestra.” But “the war has already been won (or lost, depending on your point of view) on the road. Almost all touring shows, whether union or nonunion, travel with fewer musicians than the composer intended. If you’ve been to a musical in the past few years, undoubtedly you’ve heard synthesizers, samplers or even a Sinfonia in place of strings, woodwinds and other instruments.”

“Some shows that are part of a “Broadway” series have as much to do with Broadway as Velveeta has to do with cheese. Blinded by the “Broadway” moniker, familiar logos and memories of past performances, theater goers can easily be duped into thinking the show they will be getting is straight from Broadway. Many are knock-offs, cheap shows that reflect little of the original production. Look at their programs, and in the actors’ bios you’ll find they are just-out-of-school kids in starring parts whose major credits include work on cruise ships, theme parks and university productions.”

The Walden Family Playhouse suddenly closed in Denver. “Walden handled the news of its exit surreptitiously and disingenuously, prompting many to suspect that its recent one-year anniversary was tied to a planned exit strategy. But that would mean Walden had a strategy in the first place, which it apparently did not. By pulling the plug on the development of new work here and hitting the road where Walden can recycle everything it created here in cities across America, Walden proved it couldn’t care less about the many broken promises made to the people of Denver.”

Just a year ago, Seattle’s ACT Theatre was “fighting for its life after a severe financial meltdown threatened to end the company’s nearly 40-year tenure as one of Seattle’s major professional theaters. Given the relative suddenness of ACT’s fiscal emergency and its need to raise $1.5 million fast to keep its Union Street operation going, survival was no sure thing. But along with restraint and realism, there’s the breezy scent of hope circulating through ACT’s staff offices and rehearsal halls.”

The tiny Opera House in the small town of Reedley, California has a stage that’s only 14 feet wide. The 1903 theatre has been restored and a local theatre company has taken up residence. “Whether Reedley can get used to a year-round theater company in a town that isn’t big enough to support a movie theater is the question. Think of it this way: To sell out a season, almost 10% of Reedley’s population (pegged in the 2000 census as 20,700) would have to attend each show.”