Category: theatre

Maybe the “Cat-in-the-Hat’s” biggest fans are the tykes. But producers of “Seussical,” the much-anticipated musical currently previewing in Boston have made a rule: No kids under five-year-old allowed. And that’s got some parents (and their kids) upset. – Boston Herald

You may take for granted that thin, glossy free program the smiling ushers hand out to you as you enter the theatre, but you should keep in mind not all arts-goers in the world are as fortunate as you: Says one deprived Australian, “Why can’t our theatres offer free, or at least cheap, information? Why do we pay six, 12, even 15 dollars for what should be a basic audience service?” – Sydney Morning Herald

Broadway’s 2000-01 musical season showcases the work of a surprising number of young composers, including seven premieres of new work by songwriters in their forties or younger. “I think people are just wising up to the fact that they’re going to run out of revivals. Producers are finally realizing that musicals don’t just get born somewhere where you can go shop for them, and there is a groundswell of young people writing in a more pop vernacular.” – New York Times

A new program aims to help composers of musical theatre. “Twelve of the country’s most talented musical theater writers have been chosen this first season. Should marketable musicals result, the organization will also help produce them. Each recipient will receive $20,000, as well as health insurance for up to three years, while their new musicals are being developed at Musical Theater Works’ space on Lafayette Street opposite the Joseph Papp Public Theater.” – New York Times

“On Dec. 31, American troops will evacuate Saigon this way for the last time on the stage of the Broadway Theater, bringing to a close the musical ‘Miss Saigon,’ the sixth-longest-running show in Broadway history. After nearly 10 years, the production, loosely based on Puccini’s ‘Madama Butterfly,’ will have played 4,063 performances and gone through 1,218,900 pounds of dry ice, 89,386 scene changes and 812,600 light cues.” – New York Times

“Nudity isn’t new to Broadway, but it’s hard to recall a time when five musicals and plays, four based on films, have featured nudity or toyed with presenting various states of undress. And some of these five play nudity for laughs – intentionally (The Full Monty) and otherwise (The Graduate).” – Inside.com

New series will broadcast theatre productions on TV. Broadway’s Roundabout Theatre production of “The Man Who Came to Dinner” will air live on PBS  on October 7. – Variety

The genteel, well-mannered Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake is a picture postcard. So how did Neil Munro get to be its resident director? “Plays help to get a dialogue going so we have a sense of who we are as opposed to being so fucking middle-class that when tragedy comes stomping into your living room like Godzilla, you have absolutely nothing to refer back to. You’re surprised because you thought the middle-class concept of how the world works is how the world works.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

Who was the greatest actor in the English-speaking world? Gielgud? Olivier? Richardson? Guinness? Frederick Valk? – New York Times

• The technology is here to allow producers to use digital actors instead of live ones. Does that mean real actors will be out of work? “Producers and directors who think virtual actors will be easier to work with than their human counterparts are also deluding themselves. The truth is that instead of one creative temperament or sensibility to deal with, you have 50. It’s simply better and cheaper to use a real actor.” – Backstage