Category: theatre

“The story of the Helikon is very much the story of the new Russia over the past two decades. Conceived as the Soviet Union was collapsing, back in 1990, the company struggled through its first decade on a shoestring budget, bringing new and innovative productions to a Russian audience. In recent years, its plans to expand and renovate its theatre have been blighted by under-funding and corruption.”

“Now after years of struggle the 1,895-seat theater that calls itself Europe’s “largest and most modern show palace” has started playing to full houses, attracting younger international audiences, boosting ticket sales and making tidy profits.”

“The award-winning musical about the Wizard of Oz’s witches announced this week that any fan caught recording West End hit, Wicked, will be banned from all future performances. The fact that this was announced through social media – Facebook and Twitter – serves as a bittersweet irony. Only last week, executive producer Michael McCabe admitted that much of the show’s success was due to the instant word-of-mouth allowed by the internet, Facebook in particular.”

“It’s not that Mr. Sondheim doesn’t deserve to have a theater named after him. If he doesn’t, nobody does. But it’s also worth noting that only 24 of the 40 theaters on Broadway are named for individuals. Who are these rare birds, and exactly what did they do to merit so uncommon a tribute?”

The Lakeshore Theater, most recently a busy comedy venue on Chicago’s North Side, is to abruptly close, effective April 10, the venue’s co-owner Chris Ritter says.

“It is a case of the UK’s most talked about experimental theatre group joining forces with one of its mightiest opera companies – and the results could be spectacular. English National Opera is to create a version of John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi with Punchdrunk, the company that has made waves with its habit of flinging the audience in among its performers, and creating work in atmospheric, abandoned buildings.”

“Nominations for the 25th Lucille Lortel Awards – which recognize achievement in the off-Broadway theater – were announced Thursday with The Glass Menagerie, The Pride and When the Rain Stops Falling leading the field with six each.”

“The national tour of the new musical 101 Dalmatians will come to an end earlier than expected following its upcoming April engagement at Madison Square Garden … The production opened in October in Minneapolis … [and] was supposed to [make] stops in New York, Pittsburgh, L.A., San Diego and other cities.” But the tour “appears to have been a troubled one.”

“The flagship director (that would be [Robert] Falls) of our flagship theater (that would be the Goodman) is supposed to get this town, this big town, all riled up. He is supposed to do so with a fresh work of magnitude and ambition. He is supposed to make a series of bold, risky theatrical choices. … Job done.”

Actor Michael Ball: “Sondheim has never written typical musicals – the kind made famous in the US in the 1940s and 1950s – he writes about the human condition, with layer upon layer of depth. His is musical theatre – like plays with music – not musical comedy, and there’s a big difference. It’s also why his legacy is so important: Stephen Sondheim changed the face of the medium.”