Category: theatre

“Broadway fans would be wise to brush up on the New Testament this season as two Christ-themed musicals” – Godspell next month and Jesus Christ Superstar in March – “are scheduled to descend from the heavens onto New York.”

The decision to close “Billy Elliot” came after a somewhat precipitous decline in ticket sales that accelerated through the late spring and summer amid competition from new musicals like “The Book of Mormon” and “Priscilla Queen of the Desert,” hit revivals like “Anything Goes” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” and “Memphis,” the durable recipient of the 2010 Tony for best musical.

“The theatre’s annual report showed in detail just how much of a cash cow the production has become – and how the forthcoming play One Man, Two Guvnors could prove just as lucrative. ‘We have not had to make any cutbacks because of the Arts Council cuts,’ the NT’s director, Nicholas Hytner, said.”

“Composer Jonathan Dove, playwright Tanika Gupta and directors Peter Brook and Rufus Norris are among the artists creating productions for World Stages London … [The] event is a collaboration between Battersea Arts Centre, the Bush Theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith, the Royal Court, Sadler’s Wells, Somerset House, Theatre Royal Stratford East and the Young Vic.”

Lyn Gardner: “Without Osborne and Pinter, Kenneth Tynan would have been just another mid-20th-century critic admiring the French window sets. But does it also work the other way? I think it must: I’m not convinced that it’s possible for a strong theatre culture to thrive in a place or an area of work where there is little or no critical attention.”

“Obviously no actor has ever reached opening night knowing none of his lines, but the absurdity of it all is no defense against the pain. In the dream ‘reality,’ the stark, paralyzing fact is that you are about to experience an agonizing humiliation. “

“Barnes told a few dozen striking members outside the center to put away their signs but assured that the union would continue to demand increases in wages and benefits, improvement in working conditions and protection and expansion of their jurisdiction.”

“Sometimes the play really is the thing, to the exclusion of almost everything else, most notably in comedies that explore the joys, perils and humiliations of mounting a show and the sublime self-centeredness of those involved in the process.”

“Julie Taymor will square off next week against the theater producers who fired her in March as director of the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark as the two sides begin arbitration proceedings over more than $500,000 in royalties that Ms. Taymor says she is owed.”

“The historic Lincoln Theatre is on the verge of closing, unless it is offered a $500,000 bailout by the D.C. Council.” The city-owned venue “is a historic landmark in D.C. for its role as the cultural heart of ‘Black Broadway,’ a phrase coined by singer Pearl Bailey.”