Category: theatre

Martin McDonagh seemed to have it all three years ago. Coming from nowhere, suddenly “several of McDonagh’s ferociously comic and unsettling plays” won great reviews and top literary prizes in the US and Europe. But then there was a drunken squabble with Sean Connery at an awards ceremony, “some cranky critical backlash and a few damning interviews” and McDonough retreated. Now he’s back with a new play. – Seattle Times

Movies like the “X-Men” are all about special effects, things being destroyed and shooting. So why do you need Royal Shakespeare Company-trained actors like Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan for that? “Shakespearean actors need to make a living too; why should the Keanu Reeveses and Tom Cruises of the business grab all the money and the fame? And one can imagine that a Hollywood blockbuster like ”X-Men” gives actors such as McKellen and Stewart a few months to rest their well-trained acting muscles – the equivalent of reading a beach book after a year of classics.” – Boston Globe

Plans for a movie are already far along. Now a planned stage reading has rumors flying around Broadway that a “Harry Potter” musical is in the offing. – Theatre.com

Performance art got a lot of attention in the ’90s. What’s it up to now? “People seem more interested in packaging it than in actually doing it. Let’s just say that if performance grew out of a wish to make art more present, more visceral in the ’60s and ’70s, that trend has decidedly reversed itself. Over the past decade, this art form definitely shifted toward entertainment—or, at least, the proscenium.” – Village Voice

Glasgow’s Citizens’ Theatre “revolutionised Scottish theatre in the 1970s with highly-charged, visually-striking productions, and scandalised the good councillors of the city with blood, nudity, and cross-dressing.” Artistic Director Giles Havergal reflects on how the Citz has reinterpreted itself in recent years.  – The Herald (Scotland)

Minnesota’s Guthrie Theatre had a good year – record subscriptions and box office, commitments for building an ambitious new home and the extension of its artistic director’s contract. – The Star-Tribune (Minneapolis)

The surprise 1997 hit movie “The Full Monty” is set to open on Broadway this fall as a full-fledged musical comedy, which has some observers wondering whether Broadway really needs one more “musicalized” version of a slight tale. “There’s nothing new in Broadway musicals adapting featherweight entertainment. Back in the ’50s, shows like ‘Damn Yankees’ or ‘The Pajama Game’ were based on light novels. Today, those light novels are more likely to be TV shows or movies.” – Salon

Is theatre in Los Angeles merely a showcase for movie talent? A ghetto where actors toil until they get discovered by the movies or TV? Not hardly. “Local stages are a resource that the industry has been able to exploit with virtually no outlay of cash.” But the thriving LA theatre scene exists quite apart from the commercialism of the Industry. – Los Angeles Times

Judging by most of its statistics, the musical “Footloose,” which closed last week on Broadway, was a pretty good success. It staged 737 performances, played for well over a year and half, was seen by hundreds of thousands of people, and produced a cast album, a national tour (with another planned) and the possibility of future companies in London and Australia. So why did it still lose money? – The Star-Tribune (Minneapolis) (NY Times)

Archeologists have uncovered a colonial theatre at Williamsburg that counted Washington and Jefferson among its patrons in the 1760s. – Chicago Tribune (AP)