“What makes this initiative unusual is that these plays are already guaranteed full productions beyond their one-night-only staged readings.”
Category: theatre
Is Theatre About The Working Class, But Made For The Middle Class, Always ‘Poverty Porn’?
“It can be troubling to sit in an expensive theatre seat – that might cost close to what some people live on for an entire week – and watch actors portray the less fortunate.”
The Next Big Playwright Just Might Be A Quiet British 29-Year-Old
“Even at this stage of her career, Ms. Mitchell said, Ms. Birch is an important writer, in the tradition of Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield — ‘those tough women who can also do exquisite lyricism.'”
What A Play Is, Or Could Be, And Certainly Is Not
“If your friend wrote the play, do not tell her upon curtain that ‘the actors were really talented.’ Actors are popsicle sticks painted with eyes and animated by her mind and your praise can immolate itself on a bonfire stoked with those sticks, thanks.”
Historic Deal: “Hamilton” Actors And Dancers Will Share Profits From The Show
“The deal, which was announced by a lawyer representing more than two dozen actors and dancers who were part of the show’s development and first productions, is a major victory for the cast and could have ripple effects in the theater industry, where the huge success of “Hamilton,” and the lack of profit-sharing, catalyzed a growing debate about actor compensation.”
Inside The Structural Biases Of Race On Broadway
“Given the relative paucity of minority stories, why would an investor be drawn to them? Why risk $100,000 on an unknown black writer when you could put it into the next David Mamet/Al Pacino collaboration?”
What It’s Like To Be In A Broadway Musical That Isn’t ‘Hamilton’
“With all the hoopla and hubbub, it’s tempting to think all the other shows are Aaron Burr. Imagine working on a big new show for years, pouring millions into it and then finally finding a Broadway theater, only to discover that all anyone wants to talk about is the cool nearby rival?”
Can Cirque Du Soleil Leap To Success On Broadway?
“[The] global entertainment behemoth that has 17 different shows running worldwide is once again trying to establish a long-running production in New York City, the major-league market that has most stubbornly frustrated its ambitions. … So now Cirque is trying a high-wire hybrid – a combination of theater and acrobatics, with a splash of old Hollywood, in one $25 million musical called Paramour.”
Claim: Demise Of Repertory Companies Is Hurting Theatre
“[The rep system] is not really functioning much these days. Directors are less willing to run a company – an ongoing company – because the temptation, if you do have a big enough budget, is always to spot cast, but what you don’t get is a sense of continuity,” Alan Ayckbourn said.
It’s Happening: Barbra Streisand Will Be Playing Mama Rose On Screen
“STX Entertainment is in advanced negotiations to make Gypsy with the Grammy and Oscar winner taking the lead role, and Oscar winner Barry Levinson (Rain Man) directing.”