Category: theatre

“A Hellenic group plans to build a solid marble, open air amphitheater modeled after a 2,400-year-old theater in Greece. The group planning the theater says it would be unique in the United States, and expects it to become a cultural and educational landmark.” But this is in Connecticut, where homeowners are proprietary sorts, and the neighbors of the proposed amphitheater are taking a not-in-our-backyard approach to the whole thing. The usual concerns apply here – the size of the theatre, lack of available parking space, and excessive noise. So far, plans are going ahead, but residents are determined to shoot down the project.

As part of the Lincoln Center Festival, “theatergoers taking part in ‘The Angel Project’ will be led one by one at five-minute intervals through an individualized journey to nine locations, many in the area of 42nd Street. The walk is scheduled to begin on Roosevelt Island, where people will be given a guidebook to follow as if on a kind of theatrical treasure hunt. Everyone goes on the same journey, but each person will see something entirely different by virtue of the canvas being so huge.”

The Minnesota Fringe Festival is the biggest in the country. But its future is in dancer. “The festival is confronting a triple whammy of a continued slumping economy, uncertainty from corporate sponsors and the loss of $20,000 in funding from the Minnesota State Arts Board. ‘The problem is not that people are saying no to us, it’s that they’re not saying either yes or no. We’re literally going to print with the program tomorrow night and we still don’t have the final word from some of our sponsors. As you can imagine, that makes forecasting difficult’.”

Broadway theatre is a license to lose money. “Off Broadway meanwhile teemed with invention. Partly this has to do with economic reality; it simply costs less to put on a show Off Broadway, so the risks are smaller and the fund-raising is less onerous. But partly it’s also about sheer creative energy…”

London’s theatres and playwrights are actively involved in political commentary, leading criticism of contemporary political leaders. There is “an acceptance of plays and playwrights as vital participants in a national dialogue, something Americans may well marvel at. And it’s not just contemporary playwrights whose voices speak from the opinion pages. An editorial cartoon in The Daily Telegraph showed a brooding Mr. Blair with the caption: ‘For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings. . . .’ That’s Shakespeare of course…”

Denver theatre is top heavy. There are a couple of large companies at the top, then… an absence of mid-size theatres. So what’s the problem? “The greatest weakness of the Denver theater community is its repetitively conservative fare. New and innovative works are the lifeblood of any artistic community, but in a down economy, familiar titles keep theaters open. More than a dozen companies have folded in the past 18 months – and none of them was producing standard fare.”

Ontario’s Shaw Theatre Festival has a new artistic director, and Jackie Maxwell is wasting no time in putting her mark on the organization made famous by her predecessor, Christopher Newton. That type of situation is bound to make fans and critics (not to mention actors) a bit nervous, but Christopher Rawson says that the Shaw appears to be as artistically vibrant as its ever been. “Of the three shows I saw, two are well worth traveling to see and the third is worth seeing once you’ve made the trip.”

“After the Civil War… consumers moved away from communal celebrations and began to enjoy culture in small groups or alone, a development heralding the eventual triumph in our day of the home entertainment center. Yet 150 years later, Shakespeare is undergoing a rebirth in this country, thanks to dozens of well-entrenched festivals devoted to his work, as well as a new initiative by the National Endowment of the Arts. Paradoxically, the biggest name in literature once again finds himself most at home in smaller cities and towns.”

Peter Marks reflects on his first year covering theatre in Washington DC. “For a critic making his way through his freshman year in the area’s playhouses, these were the moments that defined the season, that most exuberantly lifted the spirit and dazzled the senses and boggled the mind.”

The discount theatre ticket booth in Times Square is 30 years old. “Back then, the average TKTS ticket went for $4.50, at 50 percent off. Now, it’s ten times higher, the average price being $40.75.” Over three decades TKTS has sold 43 million tickets to Broadway shows collectively worth $940 million…