“If the Hollywood frenzy raises questions about originality — has theater become just a derivative cog in brand machinery? — the stage adaptations may simply be too financially rewarding for the studios and Broadway to cut back. And adaptations can be artistically creative.”
Category: theatre
Tom Stoppard Wins 2013 PEN/Pinter Prize
“The prize, which was launched in 2009 by the freedom of expression charity English PEN, is given to a writer that shows, in the words of Harold Pinter’s Nobel literature prize acceptance speech, a ‘fierce intellectual determination … to define the real truth of our lives and our societies’.”
British Equity Sues Producers Of Delayed Musical For Back Pay
“Equity is launching legal action against the producer of delayed off-West End musical The Golden Voice, in a bid to claim back tens of thousands of pounds in unpaid cast wages.”
Sticker Shock: “Premium Tickets” And VIP Packages Come To London’s West End
“While the high price of theatre tickets is well known, it still comes as a surprise to discover that some members of the audience for Arrivals & Departures, the latest play by Alan Ayckbourn, may have paid £1,500 for the privilege.”
Pasadena Playhouse Lands A Deficit As It Regains An Audience
“The theater company reported a budgetary deficit of $433,900 for the 2011 fiscal year, which is the most recent period for which financial information is available. The season was the playhouse’s first full-fledged schedule since it exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010.”
Man Pleads Guilty In Plot To Defraud Producers Of Broadway Rebecca
“A former Long Island stockbroker … pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges on Monday, admitting that he had conjured up fictitious overseas investors and a phantom loan as part of a sham effort to rescue the financially troubled show.”
“Home Theatre” Gets A New Meaning With S Festival Of Plays In Private Houses
“Theatre Royal Stratford East is to produce a festival of 30 performances that will take place at the homes of London residents this autumn. … All shows will be staged simultaneously on October 26 and will be filmed and then broadcast at Theatre Royal Stratford East on November 9, as well as online.”
Pantages Theatre In L.A. Looks To Sell Naming Rights
The Nederlander Organization, owner of the landmark venue “which has served as a movie palace, hosted the Academy Awards and is now a plush venue for touring Broadway shows … is offering naming rights for sale.”
How The Stage Helps Define The Space
“The challenge for modern playwrights, then, is not to ape Shakespeare and Jonson, but to match their scope, flair and vitality: to find a contemporary voice for this tricky, rewarding space.”
Theatre Critics, Why Are You Afraid Of Off-Broadway?
When the Tony Awards opened its Regional Theatre award to non-Broadway companies within the boroughs, non-NY critics freaked the hell out. Why?