Category: theatre

The Guthrie Theater is Minnesota’s largest, and one of America’s most important regional theaters. But at its beginnings more than 40 years ago, the Guthrie was the product of a monumental clash of egos, a battle between impresario Tyrone Guthrie and architect Ralph Rapson. A new play memorializes the rocky relationship…

“Four years ago he was an unsung young director honing his talents in Northampton. Now – after a hatful of awards for his Macbeth – Rupert Goold is juggling packed houses, rave reviews and a schedule crammed with Lear, Pinter, Pirandello – and Andrew Lloyd Webber. After his meteoric rise, is Britain’s brightest directing talent heading for the National?”

The new artistic director of Boston’s American Repertory Theatre wants the company to become known for a willingness to think outside the theatrical box. But “can Diane Paulus, with very little administrative experience, rise to handle a position that is just as much about managing resources, fund-raising, and navigating elite university politics as it is about putting on a really, really good show?”

Hip-hop star Jay-Z may be on the verge of investing in a new Broadway production in a big way. Fela! – which is based on the life of Nigerian musician and political activist Fela Kuti – is a creation of choreographer Bill T. Jones, and is currently running off-Broadway.

“Who else is going to produce him? I’d like to say two things about that. This show [Road Show] has been around and has failed to come to New York. The producing community has let Sondheim down… Secondly, as we kept working on the show, the great themes of the piece started to feel more and more like Public Theater themes to me… Good God, the show is about a real estate bubble that bursts!”

Washington, D.C.’s Signature Theater is in the midst of a complex change from presenting musicals 100% acoustically to making use of the high-tech amplification systems that have become standard in the business. “Paradoxically, it might be harder than ever to sing in the musical theater, even with the help of high-tech sound systems.”

“Graduates of San Francisco’s Clown Conservatory Class of 2008 have stripped down to their birthday suits to make a 2009 Naked Clown Calendar.”

Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 best seller is headed to the Great White Way — maybe. “Graphically bloody novel, which juxtaposes Reagan-era decadence and gruesome killings, includes prominent references to bands of the era, a fact that contributed to the idea of musicalizing the story. … Current economic woes have prodded producers to put the tuner on the fast track.”

“Filmmaker Lawrence Page has bought and renovated downtown venue The Actors’ Playhouse with the intention of producing a reality TV skein about thesps putting on dueling legit shows. … The TV skein would eventually culminate in full stage shows to play at the Playhouse, with a cash prize going to the offering that draws the biggest crowds.”

The company is presenting a series of Russian drama, including four new scripts, at Stratford-upon-Avon. “Michael Boyd, the RSC’s artistic director who trained in Moscow early in his career, told The Independent yesterday that he wants Russian money to flow into theatre in the way that it has helped the visual arts to prosper.”