Category: theatre

“Box-office grosses for ‘Shrek,’ DreamWorks’ $30 million flagship musical, have crashed through the subbasement as the recession continues to tighten its death grip on Broadway. … This is a startling collapse for a brand-name show that’s been open for only a couple of months.” Nonetheless: “The betting around Shubert Alley is that ‘Shrek’ will slug it out at least until the Tony Awards in June….”

“How much is a Tony Award worth to an artist’s career? An online auction may soon provide a precise answer to the question. The estate of the costume designer Florence Klotz has placed her Tony Award, received in 1985 for her work on the short-lived Broadway musical ‘Grind,’ for sale on eBay.”

“As Ford’s Theatre emerges from an 18-month, multimillion-dollar renovation and prepares to formally reopen its doors in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s bicentennial with a new play that began previews yesterday, theater officials can relax knowing they will have soon dodged what could have been the historic building’s fourth disaster.”

“There was no flashy choreography as grim-faced Broadway industry leaders pleaded bluntly and plainly with New York legislative budget writers on Tuesday to reject Gov. David A. Paterson’s proposed tax on theater tickets, which would raise prices about 8 percent. … They warned that the tax would set off a chain reaction that would deplete tourist business for restaurants and hotels and work for scenery carpenters, costume-makers, dry cleaners and others who contribute to theater productions.”

The Olivier Award-nominated production of Alan Ayckbourn’s trilogy, a hit in the West End, is set to open in New York at Circle in the Square in April. Director Matthew Warchus and the entire London cast are making the transfer.

“The heavy snowfall caused several West End theatres to cancel their Monday evening performances. … The Royal Opera House performance of Die tote Stadt was also cancelled. Promoters said the weather meant that they could not guarantee the performers and crew would be able to make it into central London.”

“All awards are, of course, a lottery,” Michael Billington writes. “But the Oliviers more than any other lean towards a consensual conservatism. Yes, we can all agree it’s been a great year for the Donmar and that La Cage aux Folles is a hugely enjoyable show. But where is the acknowledgement of risk, excitement and adventure?”

“La Cage aux Folles, which began life at the relatively tiny Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark before transferring to the West End, has seven nominations – the highest number for an individual production – including best musical revival and best director, for Terry Johnson.” Meanwhile, four Donmar Warehouse shows collected a total of 13 nominations.

“Proving that all the world’s a moving stage, a 30-member cast and crew spent a whirlwind winter’s night performing before captive audiences aboard subway trains that served as the combined setting for ‘IRT: A Tragedy in Three Stations.’ The two-hour play — which can be a bit shorter on express trains — tells the story of the evolution of the New York City subway system and the men who risked their lives building it.”

“I once sat through a fringe Lady Chatterley’s Lover in which the multiple couplings had the entire audience staring at each other, at the ceiling, or indeed anywhere at all rather than the stage, to avoid seeing the naked couple jiggling on the floor just a few feet from our noses.” The reason wasn’t prudery as much as the fact “that simulated sex on stage is more often ludicrous or coy rather than genuinely erotic and tenderly intimate.”