Category: theatre

“Adam Kenwright, managing director of leading marketing and promotions agency AKA, has warned that London’s ‘inconvenient and deeply uncomfortable’ older theatres are deterring customers from buying tickets for West End shows. Kenwright, who has devised campaigns for hit shows including Billy Elliot the Musical, Dirty Dancing and Jersey Boys, criticised venue owners for using the historic status of buildings as an excuse for not improving the theatregoing experience for audiences.”

“Erik Ehn, the dean of the School of Theater at California Institute of the Arts, is leaving his position to head the graduate playwriting program at Brown University. ‘He did a good job, but the position went against his nature. He truly is a writer at heart,’ CalArts President Steven Lavine told Culture Monster today. ‘I asked him if we could do anything to make him stay. In the end, he just received the perfect job offer from Brown.'”

“Broadway- and West End-style musicals have gained ground in Gaul, expanding the fledgling market for French tuners with live musicians and a genuine dramatic arc. French producers Dove Attia and Albert Cohen’s $10 million operatic rock musical ‘Mozart,’ skedded for a September bow, epitomizes this relatively new trend.”

“Along with social networking sites, theatre producers are harnessing the reach of cellphones and blog sites on the Internet in a drive to attract attention and raise awareness, as well as taking out advertising space on hoardings above main roads and highways, and setting up online bookings.”

“Perhaps alone among American playwrights of his generation he uses history as a character, letting its power fall on his protagonists as they stumble through their own and others’ lives. And like a prophet, he wants his listeners to think hard about the world and their place in it.”

“This has been hailed as an exceptional period for drama in Britain, the effects of which extend far beyond its shores: almost a third of all Tony nominations this year went to Brits. Whether this golden moment has come about despite or because of the political and economic apocalypse is up for debate.”

“Center Theatre Group, the West Coast’s largest nonprofit stage company, has laid off 12 employees — a tenth of its full-time staff of 120. Those who remain will absorb one or two weeks’ unpaid furlough in the coming year, with the highest-earning third losing two weeks.”

“Twitter made it easier, as I could re-post all of the characters’ updates to one account. Plus, the fact that Twitter is a ridiculous concept (communication under 140 characters) that is ultimately really addictive made it perfect.”

Collaboraction/Teatro Vista theatre in Chicago makes the offer. “Of course, money-back guarantees have been around at least as long as the Sears catalog, though not in the theater. They’re a surefire marketing tool, much less about returning cash to a few dissatisfied customers than about giving an exponentially larger number of them the gold-plated confidence to buy the product in the first place.”

“Despite the challenging economy, the can-do spirit is flourishing in San Diego, one of the leading theater cities in the nation. Not only has San Diego produced a slew of Tony winners, it also sends the most shows to Broadway.”