Category: theatre

The Denver Center Theatre cancelled its opening show of next season – “Diner Stories” – with book, music and lyrics by Nancy Shayne. “It would have been the only musical in the new season and, more important, the only world premiere. Apparently, the author withdrew the show, and it’s unlikely she will take it to another company. Denver Center, which has eliminated its literary department, has few resources for discovering new works by new talent” for a replacement.

“While pop music critics wonder at the dearth of anti-war anthems (the Beastie Boys’ ‘World Gone Mad’ may be the first major exception) and films and non-news TV churn out their usual comfort-food diet, theatres nationwide are doing what theatre does best: awakening us to our present condition, with live bodies on the line, in real time and shared space, and challenging us to dialogue, reflection, even action.”

Since the advent of movies and the beginning of a culturally dominant film culture, theater aficionados have taken comfort in the old saw that the worst stage play is still better written, better acted, and better conceived than the best Hollywood dreck. But, says, Ed Siegel, that may no longer be the case. “This year should be a wake-up call for theater professionals and patrons alike. By any standards, this has been an extraordinary year in filmmaking and a yawningly ordinary one in theater.”

“A battered Broadway’s spring season officially begins March 27 with the arrival of Urban Cowboy, a musical based on the John Travolta-Debra Winger movie. And it could also be the start of even more uncertainty for Broadway theater if the war continues into April and beyond… Most in the industry expect some immediate negative impact, just as there was during the 1991 Gulf War. Already, a revival of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which had been struggling at the box office, will fold April 6, after a short, two-month run and a loss of $2.5 million.”

Some Broadway watchers are worrying about the health of area theatres. “Daily ticket sales have been sluggish all winter and everybody expects them to fall further now that war has started in Iraq. But yesterday several producers and theater owners were surprised that the plunge wasn’t as precipitous as they had expected.”

“Once supported by kings, queens, vaudeville and Ed Sullivan, magicians have turned to corporate America. The trade show or the convention floor has taken the place of the old variety theaters and variety arts shows. Where else can magicians pick up a regular paycheck? Of course, the weird thing is, nobody’s ever coming there because they want to see you. You’re only there because some events planner booked you. That’s why Magical Nights can pay top-notch magicians a pittance.”

At the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, a city which prides itself on being home to several great theater companies, women make up over 50% of the audience. So why does the city’s leading theater troupe present so few plays written or produced by women? Is it misogyny? Tradition? Simple oversight? Other area theaters have expanded their offerings over the years to include more works by women, with much success, so why hasn’t the big dog in town followed suit? “On some level the Guthrie’s record is so gaudily bad as to be almost a mystery.”

What is it with opera stars that they aren’t satisfied with their own extensive repertoire, and feel the need to try to belt out Broadway showtunes in their over-the-top, ridiculously stylized voices? David Patrick Stearns doesn’t like it one bit, not even when the offender is as critically acclaimed a performer as Renee Fleming. “So what if operatic vocal amplitude overwhelms the words, rhythm, and any number of other things? It sounds so pretty!”

Baz Luhrmann’s critically acclaimed staging of La Boheme may be in some unexpected trouble on Broadway. “Last week’s gross receipts rang in at $590,000, just a fraction above the break-even of $550,000. According to Variety, “Boheme” grosses have been plunging tens of thousands of dollars every week since a high of $830,000 in February.” Michael Riedel blames the show’s lack of popularity on the unwillingness of Broadway fans to take a chance on anything more mind-stretching than John Waters’s Hairspray.

CBS has decided to expand its broadcast of this year’s Tony Awards to three hours. “For the last five years, the Tonys were shown for two hours on CBS, with an initial hour on PBS, which usually featured the design awards as well as awards for director of best play and best musical.” This year PBS was unable to handle the broadcast and some feared that the first hour wouldn’t be televised.