Category: theatre

It’s fairly standard for Broadway producers to take out insurance covering any illness or accident that causes the main box-office draw to drop out. But does McDonald’s surprise pregnancy (she’s 45) qualify as accident or illness?

The network’s Sports Science shown went backstage with high-tech monitoring equipment and finds out just how much physical strength, aerobic capacity, stamina, and balance these champions actually have. (video)

In Mexico, street clowns are beloved – and they can actually make a living. Jonathan Coumes visits with a trio of them in the city of Querétaro.

The technology presents reality and and a technological overlay that alters that reality. “Altering the visual ‘reality’ of theatrical settings by forcing them to accommodate simulated imagery, AR complicates ontological distinctions between real and virtual environments, presenting both with equanimity.”

“The tools are only interesting when they’re in the hands of artists who do new things with them. So we worked with Imaginarium, who are excruciatingly talented, and gave them these tools and said: ‘What else would you do? How do we make that happen?’ Teaching our team the agility and resourcefulness you need in live theatre has been great. It’s also been great to see the ingenuity of the designer and then rise to that, and think about how they can do their work.”

Edgar Oliver, who’s just concluded the third in a series of autobiographical plays, is so much more than a New York downtown fixture.

Ralph Fiennes won a best acting award, as did Billie Piper (whom US fans might know from Doctor Who) – and Glenn Close completes a theatre comeback in London with an award as well. The director of the Harry Potter play said, “It’s a show about the peril of isolation, about unity, about family and about love.”

With a battle on several fronts – get more women on stage; make sure their characters are real, not caricatures; get more women into directing, etc. – what is the state of theatre for women characters in general? One playwright: “Probably the best decision every writer can make is to cultivate a loyal group of friends who are much smarter than you, whose feedback you trust, and who will tell you, ‘This is bullshit.'”

Broadway, of course, and a cappella Broadway at that: “The culture’s awareness and understanding of a cappella, and all the things a cappella can do, has changed. It’s not just a bunch of old guys singing ‘Blue skies smilin’ at me!'”