“Theatre producers and owners suffered a difficult opening to the year – box office revenue was down 6% between January and March. However, this picked up during the second quarter which was 2% up on the same period in 2010. That improvement has now been carried on into the third quarter.”
Category: theatre
What’s With All The Bad Audience Behavior These Days?
“After a while, mere gum-clacking, loud talking and candy-wrapping stops fazing you because they are now such common occurrences. People behind you will use the back of your chair for a footrest. People in front of you will drape their coats into your lap. Even answering a ringing phone during a performance isn’t all that unusual anymore.”
Steve Jobs, Given The Full Daisey Treatment
If Steve Jobs hadn’t died, Mike Daisey might not be selling out the Public Theatre. Then again, if Steve Jobs had bothered to visit the Foxconn factory in China, Mike Daisey might not need to be telling the story of Jobs, warts and all.
‘Controversy Is The Lifeblood Of The Arts,’ Says Royal Shakespeare Company Founder
Hordes of people seem to be leaving the RSC’s current production of Marat/Sade. Sir Peter Hall, who founded the now iconic company, says that’s ridiculous: “The RSC’s first production of Marat/Sade back in the Sixties was indeed controversial but the reactions then, it seems to me, were more mature than they are now.”
Sondheim Doesn’t Eat His Words, Or His Hat
Stephen Sondheim didn’t write memoirs. He doesn’t want to talk about his life. What he wants to do is talk about his two books of lyrics, his art, and how shows get made. But every once in a while, life sneaks in.
Refugee Camp Theatre Comes Back After Its Director Was Killed On The Front Steps
“The Freedom Theatre has always seen itself as a family. For the past six months, it has been a family in mourning. On 4 April 2011, its charismatic founding director was shot dead outside the theatre doors.”
London’s West End Headed For Another £500M Year
“London’s Theatreland looks set to break the £500 million mark for the third year in a row, with revenues during the summer up 5.6% on the same period in 2010.”
Ben Brantley Speaks The Truth: It Doesn’t Matter Who Wrote Shakespeare’s Plays
“If someone were to come up with conclusive proof that his plays were the product of an underground cell of Carmelite nuns, I would be, for a moment at least, open-mouthed, awestruck and titillated. But nothing could change the way I already feel about my Will.”
New Street Parking Fees Threaten London’s West End
“It will be the first time the council has charged for parking after 6.30pm or on Sundays, with London theatres claiming it could put audiences off coming to the theatre and cost them as much as £70 million in ticket sales annually.”
Theatre Has Declined. And The Critics?
“Even Broadway is at the margins of culture. It may make a billion dollars in ticket sales and attract 12 million people to theatres, and have plenty of big-name stars, but it is not central to culture.”