Category: theatre

How A Show About, Of All Things, Cambodian Surf Rock Became One Of This Season’s Most-Produced Plays

“With the Off Broadway production of Cambodian Rock Band now in performances at Signature Theater, [playwright Lauren] Yee and director Chay Yew appeared on Stagecraft, Variety‘s theater podcast, to talk confronting history, rocking out, and why they think audiences have responded so enthusiastically to a show that Yee said her husband didn’t believe she would actually write.” (includes text and audio) – Variety

Amar Ramasar Is Not Leaving Broadway’s ‘West Side Story’. Neither Are The Protesters Who Want Him Fired

Ramasar, who was sacked from, and later rehired by, New York City Ballet following his role in the nude photo-sharing scandal at the company, is playing Bernardo in the new production by Ivo van Hove. Protesters at the theatre most nights, and their fellows on social media, want West Side Story‘s producers to fire Ramasar and for audience members to boo him; the producers say they’re not going to discipline him for an incident that happened somewhere else two years ago. Neither side seems inclined to budge. – The New York Times

Tough Talk On Theatre Diversity Efforts

I am a white, male, liberal administrator working in New York’s nonprofit theatre community. I see firsthand how the word “diversity” has kicked up a lot of dust throughout the industry. Yet for as long as we’ve been having conversations, and task forces, and panel discussions, and industry-wide conferences, I’m still struggling to see how this word aligns with clear, intentional, or lasting change. – Howlround

Can A Theater Function With Four Artistic Directors? Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater Will Try It

Blanka Zizka, who founded the company with her ex-husband Jiri about 40 years ago and has been sole artistic director since a couple of years before his death in 2012, “has recruited three new co-artistic directors — noteworthy local playwright/director James Ijames, Russian-born director Yury Urnov (who’s had a long association with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington), and Morgan Green of the New Saloon theater in Brooklyn — to share the AD responsibilities with her starting this summer.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer

How A Theatre Powered The Downtown Revival Of Illinois’s Second-Largest City

That city is Aurora, an outer-ring suburb of Chicago with about 200,000 people, and the theatre is the twice-restored, 1,885-seat Paramount. in fact, writes Chris Jones, “with the exception of Cleveland, which has benefited immeasurably from the Playhouse Square Center, I’d argue that no Midwestern downtown has been more changed by a single arts organization.” – Chicago Tribune

A Theatre Director Rates The Presidential Candidates On their Performance Style

“Maybe it’s an occupational hazard, but I tend to view politicians, and especially the current crop of contenders for the Democratic nomination, through the lens of performance. As a director I’ve watched thousands of actors audition; it’s a truism in the field that you can tell whether or not someone is of interest within the first 60 seconds.” – ArtsFuse

The Royal Shakespeare Company Hires Its First Spanish Actor

David Luque, a 47-year-old actor from Madrid, has been working steadily in theatre for decades, starting when he was a student using the EU’s programs to study in Germany. But really, right as Brexit hits? He says, “The RSC is in an opening moment, breaking old schemes to try to reflect on the stage the diversity. …  It may seem paradoxical at this time when Brexit has just taken place, although perhaps it is precisely the reaction of the art world.” – El País (Spain)