Category: theatre

“One of the reasons British theatre criticism lags behind British theatre practice is that reviewers and arts editors prefer to stick with what they know and often fall prey to PR pressure to cover particular work. Bloggers don’t need to do that, and yet they are mostly to be found in the mainstream.”

The Weinstein Co. — a minority co-producer on the season’s Tony-winning play and play revival, “August: Osage County” and “Boeing-Boeing,” respectively — has developed an ambitious slate of stage projects, likely to kick off with the upcoming tuner version of “Finding Neverland” in 2010, followed by a stage incarnation of Pink Floyd album “The Wall.”

“Even for someone not inclined toward theatrical xenophobia, it was a night to burst with civic pride. So what does it all mean? Does this win Chicago theater permanent fame and fortune? A Broadway pipeline? A chance to retire the Second City moniker for good? More theaters? More jobs? More audiences? More media coverage? More funding? Does it maybe even help with the Olympics?”

The innovative Minneapolis theatre company is closing. “They are an incredibly committed and talented group. They didn’t fail for lack of passion or commitment. But debt is debt. It’s like what’s going on in the mortgage crisis: At a certain point, you get over a tipping point, and you can’t tip yourself back.”

The play, by Tracy Letts, which won five Tony awards last week, will receive its UK premiere at the Southbank venue in late November, although an exact date is yet to be announced.

“You would expect the Tony producers to take a more sanguine view of the current scene. Instead this year’s telecast seemed desperate to erase distinctions between the nominated shows and the (often justly) overlooked, between seasons present and past.”

Cry-Baby,” a musical based on the John Waters movie of the same name, will close Sunday after 113 performances at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre. It probably will have lost its entire $10-million-plus capitalization.

“The non-profit Theatre Development Fund runs two TKTS Booths in Manhattan offering tickets up to 50% off regular price. More than 50 million tickets have been sold since TKTS first opened in 1973. TKTS doesn’t offer any tickets to Brooklyn events, but that too is about to change.”

“The thing that struck me was the incredible marketing machine that made the most of the evening to raise awareness of what was happening on Broadway. It’s a shame there isn’t that kind of support around the awards in England. I also really loved the ensemble awards that the drama desk gave out to two companies. I wish there were more of those, like a Best Chorus Award, perhaps.”

Martin Bragg announced yesterday that he would leave his position as artistic producer of the Canadian Stage Company at the end of the 2008-2009 season, his 17th with the organization.