“Commercial theater relies on nonprofits to develop material, and commercial success can give those projects a much more lucrative shelf life – not only on Broadway but later in productions that rely on the cachet of Broadway success.” So why shouldn’t the two work together to help each other out? A theatre summit explore how. – Los Angeles Times
Category: theatre
LEARNING THE HARD WAY
How can Broadway shows possibly satisfy the tastes of the crowds lining up to see “Footloose” and “Saturday Night Fever” as well as those looking for avant-garde productions and the many critics sore that the Great White Way has “become just another aisle in the great Disney store”? The Public Theater is learning the hard way – its “Wild Party” just closed at a loss of more than $5 million (just two years after its “On the Town” lost them $7 mil). “The Public’s multimillion losses might be admirable for an online pet-food start-up, but not for a nonprofit organization with just over 30 million dollars left in the bank. And all because a director of extraordinary but erratic ability – George C. Wolfe, the man responsible for Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America” and “Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk” – wanted to single-handedly reinvigorate Broadway. What a dumb idea.” – Feed
ACTRESS NANCY MARCHAND DIES —
— in Stratford, Connecticut at age 71. Broadway veteran and four-time Emmy Award winner for her role on “Lou Grant,” Marchand was famous most recently as Livia Soprano on “The Sopranos.” – New York Times
THE CHANGING FACE OF THEATRE
“In 1974, the first gathering of commercial producers and leaders from the nonprofit regional theater was, by many accounts, a prickly session that featured name-calling, walk-outs and the feeling that there was nothing remotely in common between those two disparate sides of the American theater.” Now, telling the difference between the two is often problematic. – Hartford Courant
EMBARRASSMENT IN PRIME TIME
This year’s Tony Awards broadcast was a shambles. “The yearly bash celebrating Broadway’s best has surpassed fiasco. Fiasco is merely incompetence, but this year’s telecast was flat-out embarrassing. It’s time for those who think theater still has some dignity to stand up and be counted.” – Philadelphia Inquirer
THE LITTLE SHOW THAT COULD
“The Fantasticks” celebrates its 40th year in continuous production off Broadway. It’s given 16,500 performances in its 151-seat theater. The show has also played in more than 12,000 U.S. productions, and internationally in 900 productions in 69 nations, including Saudi Arabia, Japan, China, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. The show’s original 44 investors have received a 19,465 percent return on their modest $16,500 total investment.” – Chicago Sun-Times
A PROFIT A-NON
Producers of non-profit and for-profit theatre get together to talk about the business of theatre. “Although the two worlds used to regard each other with suspicion and even disdain – some of which still lingers – commercial and nonprofit producers have increasingly become partners.” – New York Times
INTERPRETING GOGOL
Nikolai Gogol’s play “The Inspector” was first performed in Russia in 1836, but like enduring works of art it still relevant to today. The inspector is a “man truly lost, a man totally lacking in principles” – a new Japanese production demonstrates how Eastern acting styles (in contrast with Western methods) allow the actors to arrive at the point of truly understanding a role. – The Japan Times
TOO OLD TO ACT?
- A new study says that actors -particularly women – over the age of 40 don’t get many roles on stage. “Do we have to wait until we’re a hundred years old and Willard Scott shows our picture on the “Today Show” to [be recognized]?” – Backstage
REINVENTING THEATRE
“If theatre began the 20th century as the dominant art form and the major source of entertainment for most people, it begins the 21st in a much less happy position. Some claim that the new digital technologies will sound the death knell for theatre. This seems as absurd as the idea that the replacement of candlelight with gaslight would destroy all the magic of the stage. After all, old technologies were once new technologies. There was a time when the stage revolve was considered a thing of wonder.” – The Guardian