“All of us theatre people start just enthralled to this art form and wanting to participate in any way we can. The most visible way to do that is acting, and most of us try that first and are terrible at it. Not a few of us drop out and just become lifelong audience members, but others keep trying to hang on and do something around the theatre. I’ve always been a writer, and at first I thought playwriting would be it. But I guess I’m only good at writing in my own voice.”
Category: theatre
Paying Too Much For Hamilton Tickets
“I missed Soho Repertory Theatre’s Blasted because stuff got in the way. I missed the original production of Ruined, and Meryl Streep in Mother Courage. I meant to go. I wanted to go. They were seminal events in the history of Western theatre. But life kept me busy. I can’t recall what kept me away. Just ordinary things. I didn’t make time for the ecstatic experience of being there. There are always a million reasons not to go and to save the money for something more important.”
Britain’s National Theatre Needs To Learn Flexibility From The Temporary Space It’s About To Close
“What I hope – and all the omens are very good – is that the closure of the Temporary Space will not mark the end of something, but the start of new era at the National. … It’s a mindset which understands that the theatre must be far more progressive, diverse and porous in every way if it is to become truly national. That means in the stories it tells, the way it tells them, the audiences who come and the artists making work.”
An Almost Storybook Tale Of The (Bright) Star Of ‘Bright Star’
“Cusack has hustled to earn a living — she couldn’t afford to finish her degree at the University of North Texas — whether as a singing waitress near a Fort Worth freeway; on a cruise ship crooning Burt Bacharach songs; or as a jazz chanteuse in an underground wine bar for $40 a night. Sitting in her cramped dressing room at the Cort Theater the other day, Ms. Cusack didn’t seem bitter.”
Britain’s National Theatre Should Go Back To Being A Repertory Company, Says Ian McKellen
“I think it’s a great shame that the National Theatre, which has enough money to do it, doesn’t have, at the centre of its work, a company that stays together for a period of time.”
Why Are People Flocking To Improv Classes? Because It Makes Them Better People
Julie Brister, a teacher at Upright Citizens Brigade: “I think improv helps people become better humans. It makes people listen better. Improv rules are life rules. And so, if a lot more people are taking improv, a lot more people are being thoughtful in their daily life about how they interact with each other.”
This Year’s Tonys Could Be The Opposite Of #OscarsSoWhite
The slate of nominees for 2016’s Broadway awards looks likely to be the most diverse in history – and not only because of Hamilton.
White Actors ‘Blacking Up’ For Othello Isn’t Inherently Awful, Says Simon Callow
“Is it so offensive? I don’t know. People say it’s offensive because it reminds you of the Black & White Minstrel show. But, it’s a different thing altogether. … The great point of acting is that it is an act of empathy about someone you don’t know or understand. I continue to defend Laurence Olivier’s performance as Othello.”
What *Really* Goes On Behind The Scenes At Medieval Times
“At Atlas Obscura, we write about places, people, and phenomena that engender wonder and delight. Usually that’s stuff like bone churches, hidden beaches, and abandoned amusement parks. But what qualifies as ‘wondrous’ depends on so many things.”
Hello – Your Broadway Ticket Doesn’t Entitle You To Meet-And-Greet With The Actors
“We as fans have to learn how to rein in our “love” for these artists and realize they are human – extraordinary humans – but still humans. They get tired. They get sick. They get exhausted. And that $175 you pay for your ticket (you better not be showing out like this behind a rush ticket!) is not worth the risk of them doing permanent damage to their instrument (voice/body).”