Gregory Boyd, who served as artistic director for 29 years (and signed a five-year contract renewal in 2016), told staff that he had planned to retire after the end of last season but stayed on to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. “In this moment, while I am still ambulatory, I feel that it’s time for me to step aside …,” he said.
Category: theatre
Broadway Audience Is Getting Younger, More Local
The annual survey by the Broadway League found that 25% of attendees were under age 25, with roughly 1.65 million of them under 18, the highest number ever measured. The portion of audiences from New York City has risen to 22%, with a further 18% from the suburbs.
What Directing Teachers Teach Their Students: Five Veterans Explain
Frank Galati: “Certain aspects of the job can most definitely be taught, the way a language can be taught – the grammar, the practice. Those are rules that don’t really change.”
Sarah Schulman: “I can’t teach you talent. I can’t teach you insight, and sensitivity, and awareness, and perception. I can’t teach you poetry – but I can help you expand these skills by asking the right questions.”
What Directing Students Say They Learn In Their MFA Programs
“Robert O’Hara, who got his MFA in directing from Columbia University, was surprised when the program director, Anne Bogart, said she could teach the class all there was to know about directing in three weeks. What was the rest of the program about, then?”
New York Magazine’s Sara Holdren Wins George Jean Nathan Award For Dramatic Criticism
Holdren, who became the magazine’s lead theater critic last summer after Jesse Green moved to the New York Times, won the $10,000 prize for “The Revolution Will Not Be Hashtagged: A Misguided ‘Joan of Arc’ at the Public Theatre,” published at Culturebot last April.
Three Win $100,000 Prize For The People Who Write Musical Theater’s Words
The Kleban Prize, established by the lyricist of A Chorus Line, goes to promising lyricists and librettists. The 2018 award winners are Alan Schmuckler (lyrics for Diary of Wimpy Kid: The Musical), Amanda Yesnowitz (lyrics for Somewhere in Time), and Christian Duhamel (book for My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend).
Why ‘Hamilton’ Is Timely In London, Too
“The most knowing laughter came at King George’s caution to the newly independent colonies: ‘Oceans rise / Empires fall / It’s much harder when it’s all your call / All alone, across the sea / When your people say they hate you, don’t come crawling back to me.’ Was this a prophecy of Donald Trump’s spiralling isolationism – the travel ban, the broken accords, the looming wall – or an admonition to Brexit leaders fumbling?”
In These Days Of #MeToo, Some Classic Musicals Have Some Awfully Uncomfortable Moments
“Reviving the hallmarks of our musical theater heritage is such a widespread practice on the American stage that the mores of bygone ages are going to be dredged up and played out, for some spectators who remember, maybe even cherish the originals – and others who are going to wonder: What the heck were these authors thinking?” Peter Marks considers some examples.
No, ‘Hamilton’ Isn’t Keeping All Of Its Original Stars Rich, Says Anthony Ramos
The actor, who played John Laurens and Philip Hamilton with the original cast, is now one of the stars of Spike Lee’s revamped She’s Gotta Have It, now a series on Netflix. Ramos – who’s doing pretty well at the moment – says, “It can take people years to get another great job. This entertainment game is a gamble.”
What’s The Food Like At The National Theatre’s New Dinner Show?
Oops, the restaurant critic sent to review the on-stage edibles got distracted by the show, Network (an adaptation of the ’70s movie): The food “barely registers. It’s something dark on a plate. Food? Who cares about that? I’m too busy gawping at the kinetic fury of one of the US’s greatest actors playing not just to the hundreds in the Lyttleton theatre, but to us up here in the midst of the ultimate TV dinner”.