Category: theatre

A new Twitter account, called “Open Your Lobby,” has encouraged theaters to welcome protesters. A post from the account recommended that the theaters “not permit police inside of the building for the safety of your protesters,” adding that nonblack staffers should block officers from entering. – The New York Times

Here’s how songwriters Adam Schlesinger and David Javerbaum and host/lead performer Neil Patrick Harris concocted, and got away with, the immortal intro to the 2011 Tony Awards telecast, “It’s Not Just for Gays Anymore.” – The New York Times

Instead of choosing the best from an incomplete list, I decided to play a different game. Looking back at the last 10 years of Tony winners, I came up with my own nominations and winners for the Charlie Awards, representing the crème de la crème of Broadway from 2010 through 2019. – Los Angeles Times

Around 70 per cent of the auditorium’s seats have been removed, with every second row cleared and seats arranged either individually or in pairs on the remaining rows. – Dezeen

It’s not film. (Except when it is.) It’s definitely not television. It’s…theatre on a screen? As COVID-19 continues to force industries online, one Bay Area organization is exploring a hybrid platform that could sustain theatre through the pandemic—and possibly beyond. – American Theatre

Several black actors, writers, and others working in the New York theater have come forward to share the stories of the racism embedded in the industry. Many of them described hearing subtly or overtly racist language from powerful white people within the industry and described their frustration with producers and theater owners currently issuing boilerplate statements (like many brands) about the Black Lives Matter movement. – New York Magazine

“Last week in [a small] city in eastern France, the residents and staff of a nursing home watched from a safe distance — some from windows and balconies — as five actors appeared in the building’s courtyard in front of a makeshift red curtain” to perform Cabaret sous les balcons (“Cabaret Under the Balconies”). “While most live events in Europe and the United States remain on forced hiatus, the relief of the cast was palpable as they performed.” – The New York Times

“The COVID-19 Theatre Think-Tank (CTT) deliberately draws from as many of theater-making corners as possible, from stage managers to directors, from the Great White Way to regional theaters. Since March, the group has been in talks with public-health officials, pooling knowledge and letting epidemiology experts steer the conversation about what a post-shutdown theater might look like. [Founder Matt] Ross and one of the first additions to the group, Hadestown director Rachel Chavkin, spoke to [Helen Shaw] about the think tank and what it hopes to achieve.” – Vulture

Due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic and social distancing rules, the company is postponing everything through the end of the year that had been announced for its Stratford-upon-Avon headquarters and its annual residency at the Barbican in London as well as its West End production of Matilda the Musical. However, the RSC is “actively exploring” a potential reopening of its main Stratford theatre in the fall, safety measures permitting, with productions that were canceled this spring or new projects. – Variety

The loss of any regional theatre, whether it is Nuffield Southampton announcing it has gone into administration or the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh taking the painful decision to hibernate until next spring, is an immediate tragedy for that local community. But it has consequences beyond the immediate loss of art, including the damage done to the social fabric of that place and the local economy. – The Stage (UK)