“Here’s what we learned: There is an apparent consensus about the season’s four best performances … as well as the season’s best revivals … But Tony voters are deeply divided about the season’s new work, with the race for best new play, as well as the one for best new musical, far too close to call.”
Category: theatre
A Brief Seven-Year History Of ‘Dear Evan Hansen’
“What follows are some highlights, beginning with the first private airing of the efforts of Pasek, Paul, Levenson and all their collaborators. It’s a shorthand mapping of Dear Evan Hansen‘s march to critical and popular acclaim and its position as one of the more remarkable shows in recent musical-theater history.”
Founder Of DC’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Stepping Down After Four Decades
“In another seismic change for Washington theater, Howard Shalwitz, who in nearly 40 years at the helm has made Woolly Mammoth Theatre a national champion of the new – and frequently provocative – American play, will leave his post as artistic director in June 2018.”
After 33 Years, Off-Broadway’s Pearl Theatre Files Bankruptcy And Closes
The Off Broadway troupe’s demise reflected both financial pressures faced by many small performing arts organizations these days, and a series of missteps that the Pearl had made.
‘This Is A Terrible Idea For A Musical’ – The Playwright Of ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Talks About How And Why They Did It Anyway
In a Q&A, Tony nominee for Best Book of a Musical Steven Levenson talks with Marissa Martinelli “about the musical’s unlikely success, what goes into creating a nuanced portrayal of mental illness, and why he found writing about teenagers especially nerve-wracking.”
Evan Hansen Is A Lying, Immoral Creep – How Is It That Audiences Love Him So?
Jason Zinoman: “It’s particularly amazing that this gifted dissembler has received such goodwill at a time when there is such anxiety about fake news and Internet disinformation. … That Evan Hansen is not just a kind of hero but one whose story will stay with a generation of young theatergoers forever is testament to the power of skillfully crafted art to reframe, manipulate, and even obscure moral concerns.”
Auditioning A Whole New Pool Of (Non-Equity) Actors For L.A.’s Smallest Theaters
Now that Los Angeles-area theaters with 99 seats or fewer must pay Equity actors minimum wage – which the tiny-budget theaters insist would bankrupt them – they want to see SoCal’s enormous pool of non-Equity talent. Jessica Gelt sat in on open call auditions held by a group of ten small theater companies.
Chicago’s Goodman Theatre Cancels ‘Pamplona’ After Star Stacy Keach Falls Ill
“The Goodman Theatre has canceled the entire run of Pamplona, the highly anticipated world premiere of the one-man show about Ernest Hemingway starring Stacy Keach that was to run through June 25 … Performances were canceled on a day-to-day basis since this past Tuesday when the 76-year-old actor fell ill midway through the opening night performance of the show.”
Robert Schenkkan’s Anti-Trump Play Found An Audience Around America. In New York Not So Much. Why?
“Schenkkan’s purpose seems to have been understood and appreciated as Building the Wall was produced around the country over the past few months, first as a National New Play Network rolling world premiere by Fountain Theatre in California; Curious Theatre Company in Colorado’ Forum Theatre in DC; Borderlands Theater in Arizona; and City Theatre in Florida. But some prominent voices reacted differently when the play opened recently at New York’s New World Stages, in a production directed by Ari Edelson and starring Tamara Tunie and James Badge Dale. And the mixed reviews surely helped end the run of the New York production prematurely. It is closing Sunday, June 4, about a month earlier than the play’s intended run.”
Taking ‘Great Comet’ From Cabaret To Broadway
First there was the experimental 87-seat Hell’s Kitchen theatre, then the specially constructed tent in the Meatpacking District, then a 540-seat theatre in Boston, and finally Broadway’s Imperial Theatre – and the designers had to figure out how to replicate, or imitate, or alter, the original design for each venue. Director Rachel Chavkin: “I can say with confidence that we never would have made this if it had started in a Broadway house, or even with that as our intention.”