Category: theatre

“A high school principal is denying accusations that she refused to let a performing arts class musical depict gay characters, effectively killing the production. A drama instructor made that charge Friday, and a lengthy account of the episode, penned by an unidentified Corona del Mar High School student, has been circulating in e-mails and was posted Friday at queerty.com, a gay-oriented blog and news forum.”

The Southern California theatre is selling property it planned to use for expansion. “The sale means that the playhouse’s longtime dream of building a second venue, rehearsal halls and other amenities is dead, at least for now.”

“The Morse Theatre, which opened in October to critical acclaim after a $6 million-plus renovation as a music hall and restaurant, may be closing in a matter of weeks. A dispute between a silent investor who underwrote much of the restoration and the three-man management team that operates the Morse is headed for litigation.”

“In the past the majority of unwanted sets ended up in trash bins. But the Broadway League’s Broadway Goes Green environmental initiative means that much of what used to wind up in a trash heap will be repurposed or recycled.”

“Penumbra — the nation’s pre-eminent African-American theater company — is slicing $912,000 from its $3.8 million budget for the fiscal year ending June 30. They plan to cut more the following year — the goal is to lower the budget to $2.5 million. It’s all a proactive response to the economy, theater officials said.”

“And with that reference, he unwittingly ventured into what many theater hands believe to be dangerous territory: any mention of the name of the doomed Scottish king in a theater outside of a performance is considered verboten by many actors, who believe it will result in a cursed production — including a greater possibility of injury, bankruptcy, even death.”

The Oscar-nominated actress will give what is apparently her first professional Shakespeare performance – as Viola in Twelfth Night, directed by Tony winner Daniel Sullivan (Proof). The Public Theatre’s other outdoor production this year will be JoAnne Akalaitis’s staging of The Bacchae, with music by Philip Glass.

“‘Rod Blagojevich Superstar!’ is Second City’s ripped-from-the-headlines, rushed-to-the-stage, ready-for-potential-touring parody. Combining the disgraced governor’s grandiosity with the musical flavors of ’70s rock operas like Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ the show probably has a limited audience of political junkies and a pretty short shelf life.” Or, given the prospect of a trial, maybe not so short.

The Obamas were in the audience and the stage was packed with stars as the newly refurbished Ford’s Theatre celebrated Lincoln’s bicentennial, but “the appearance that drew the night’s biggest round of ‘oohs’ was that by an inanimate object. After violinist Joshua Bell performed early in the program, it was revealed to the crowd that the instrument he used during ‘My Lord, What a Morning’ was last played at Ford’s on April 14, 1865 — the night of Lincoln’s assassination.”

“The latest recession-era sales strategy for hawking Broadway and Off Broadway tickets: Impulse buys. Discount theater website BroadwayBox.com recently launched LunchTix, which every weekday morning emails members with a low-price ticket offer that expires at 3 p.m. that day.”