Category: theatre

To American theatregoers, it seems almost unbelievable that London’s world-famous theatres are dark every Sunday. That tradition is about to change, though, as the UK’s National Theatre is preparing to offer Sunday matinees, with other venues sure to follow. Many in London are wondering what took so long.

“A former Livent accountant insists that theatre impresario Garth Drabinsky ordered him and newly hired finance executive to make sure outside auditors checking the company’s books for a U.S. buyer didn’t find any evidence of fraud.”

“I’m not suggesting that size alone matters, obviously. But if the American theater is to remain an aesthetically robust enterprise, a vital step may be removing the invisible shackles from the imaginations of playwrights, making it natural — making it possible — for them to dream huge once again.”

“This year, for the first time, sound designers will compete in two Tony categories: best sound design of a play and best sound design of a musical. That’s a serious gesture from the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing, which present the awards.”

“The Tony is probably the country’s best-known and most eagerly sought theater prize, and the one with the highest stakes: results can make or break a Broadway show. But it is not alone. Everywhere actors and audiences gather, it seems, awards are handed out. And the fallout, much like that after the Tonys, is not always pretty.”

“A £4m stage adaptation of the classic novel Gone with the Wind is to go down as one of the biggest flops in West End history after closing more than three months early… [The show] opened with great fanfare but received one of the worst critical maulings in years.”

“Ever since 2003 when New York City banned smoking in enclosed public spaces, theater directors have been walking a thin line between artistic freedom and legal necessity. Under a special exemption for the arts, theaters are allowed to use tobacco-free cigarettes… [But] theater staff admit that some audience members see it as an intrusion from a less socially aware time.”

Improvisatory theatre is the hot new thing in London, and critics there don’t seem quite sure what to make of it. “You can see why: impro delivers a smack in the face to much that our culture holds dear… Until impro happens, there’s nothing to say about it. And once it’s happened, it’s sort of unreviewable, because it’s not going to happen like that again.”

Paid attendance at Broadway shows, at 12.2 million, was down slightly from last season’s record of 12.3 million. Broadway grosses were off by about $1 million, at $937.5 million.

“The premiere of Václav Havel’s new play, Odchazeni (Leaving), may have been touted as Europe’s most eagerly awaited theatre event of the year, but he seemed eager to escape from the spotlight as quickly as possible.”