Category: theatre

“Just like any dedicated arts group, Loose Moose Theatre, a 26-year-old improv company in Calgary, has been going against the grain and bucking a trend — although certainly not on purpose.” The company was forced out of its home in a thriving Calgary neighborhood last winter, and has been searching for a new home ever since. Meanwhile, other theater companies around town have been moving into new spaces with significant help from provincial and federal arts funding programs, and a further influx of public money into Calgary’s theater revival seems certain. There may even be some for Loose Moose.

A musical stage version of the movie “When Harry Met Sally” is headed for London’s West End. It’s the latest in a string of theatre projects to be made based on movies. “The play is set to open in February for an initial limited run of 16 weeks. The role of Sally – Meg Ryan in the film – was likely to go to an American actress, producer James Tod said.”

“Several small, non-profit Chicago theaters still are reeling from a surprise Nov. 21 crackdown by the City of Chicago’s Department of Revenue on venues without the required Public Place of Amusement (PPA) licenses. And at least one of the city’s theaters consequently has given up its home for good.”

“In the biggest smashup of the two-year Austin arts bust, Broadway Texas, formerly known as Austin Musical Theatre, filed for bankruptcy Monday.”

Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame) has been talking about writing a show for Broadway called “Spamalot.” “But opposition to “Spamalot” has come from an unexpected quarter: Plans are also afoot for a revival of the classic Lerner and Loewe musical “Camelot” on Broadway that same season. Those producers aren’t keen to share even part of their title. Recently, an attorney from “Camelot’s” production team faxed a note to the Monty Python people suggesting that since “Camelot” got there first (it was originally produced in 1961, while “Holy Grail” was released in 1975), perhaps the “Spam” folks should consider changing the moniker of their production.”

Michael Boyd has a tough job trying to re-energize the Royal Shakespeare Company. The RSC is full of problems, logistical, artistic, and perceptual. Yet Boyd has a plan. “It is based on the very old-fashioned belief that sustained collaborative work can produce theater of more lasting value, of more profound values, than any other way of working. I believe that with a core ensemble of around 40, I can provide rigorous, exciting training for everybody, including the old lags who still want to learn.”

The New York and Seattle Fringe Festivals are facing crises of money. They won’t survive without an infusion of support.

“Arthur Miller believes that if a young playwright wrote “Death of a Salesman” today, it wouldn’t have a chance of getting produced. Not that there isn’t an audience for it. But the producers would not be interested, largely because of the finances involved.”

Getting “Angeles in America” from the stage to the TV screen puts it in a different context. “The arrival of “Angels” on television now puts this work into new frames of reference and understanding. First and primarily, because this adaptation preserves so much of the play’s thematic complexity, bracing intellect and ravishing language, both its panoramic sweep and visionary intensity come through. That was by no means a given.”

Ontario’s Shaw Festival had a terrible year. “From a creative point of view, it was not a season without high points, but from a financial perspective, this was the kind of year in which everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The result: after 10 consecutive years of budget surpluses, the once invincible Shaw Festival will be looking at about $2 million of red ink. The bottom line: A big chunk of the regular audience failed to show up — especially Americans. SARS was one big factor, but not the only one. There was also the war in Iraq, the power blackout and the declining value of the U.S. dollar.”