Category: theatre

“Broadway has become a very expensive game, with producers taking our money in exchange for profits and all our names being billed above the title. … It’s getting out of control. But Broadway nowadays can’t survive without us.”

“Very few first-string critics now make an appearance at the fringe, and those that do often find the filling in of forms in triplicate that is necessary to secure a ticket off-putting.”

“The historic Amargosa Opera House suffered serious flood damage after heavy rain struck the tiny town of Death Valley Junction, Calif., last week.” More than a foot of water “ripped through the theater, warping the original wood floors of the 91-year-old [venue].”

Charles McNulty: “Liam Neeson doesn’t have the Shakespearean chops but he has that combination of paternal fury and tenderness that is just what the role requires. … Al Pacino would either be the greatest Lear in recent memory or the most embarrassing. Actually, he could very well be both at the same time. … Nathan Lane is hardly just a comic actor.” (We haven’t even told you the real curveball.)

“Putting a new spin on crowdsourcing and the very risky business of producing Broadway shows, investors Howard and Janet Kagan have launched a new online investment platform invest.maxolev.com, offering equity in Broadway productions.” Their first venture, , begins previews about five weeks from now.

Lyn Gardner: “It’s always good to talk, and maybe these shows and others are a sign that we are getting better about being honest with each other about our own frailties. When I’ve discussed these shows with other people, several have opened up their own mental-health issues. That can only be good. It’s as if these shows give us permission to talk about the taboo, let down our guard.”

“Patrick Bateman has been haunting the theater director Rupert Goold lately. And it’s not just the ax, chain saw, and nail gun that Bateman uses on flashy A-listers … No, Mr. Goold is preoccupied with getting Bateman right for the Off Broadway run of his musical adaptation of American Psycho this winter after suffering mixed reviews during the world premiere at [London’s] Almeida Theatre.”

“The Tony-winning classical troupe performs in Penn Quarter on two of Washington’s biggest stages, but its offices and shops are miles away” – scattered throughout the District and beyond. Nelson Pressley looks in – and sees why STC has bought land on which to consolidate.

Fringe/Fringe “was conceived by Joshua McLucas, 21, a Swarthmore College senior who thought the 18-year-old Fringe Festival, and even its little sister, the Neighborhood Fringe, were just too mainstream, too big, and too expensive for his fledgling [redacted] Theater Company.”

“South Africa’s fearless theatre-maker Brett Bailey has made a career out of tackling the most difficult aspects of race. His new show” – titled Exhibit B – “features black people in cages, in reference to real 19th-century human zoos – and even some of the performers are uneasy about it ”