Category: theatre

West End hit Hairspray has received a record 11 nominations at the Laurence Olivier Awards.

It seems that Northeast Ohioans are hungry for new, or newish, American plays…

“I was excited and happy to be able to write the dialogue without having to write about places. That is you could say a place was such and so. You did not have to really make it as in a novel so that the reader can walk in and know it is true. A set designer would have to make it from your knowledge.”

“Seeing a play is not generally considered an interactive experience, unless fidgeting, coughing, applauding and chuckling at the latest comic innovation in squelch-the-cellphone announcements qualify as participation in the performance. But theater that invites the audience to get in on the act may be poised to become a more prominent component of the theatrical scene.”

The tabloids have loads of fun writing about onstage nudity. “At first glance, it seems remarkable that any newspaper so rammed full of pictures of assorted near-naked models, pop stars and Z-list ‘celebs’ can still manage to generate any interest in an undressed actor. In fact, quite the reverse is true: this sort of coverage seeks to bring down to the level of smut something which is not remotely smutty….”

On theatre schedules across the country, February — a.k.a. Black History Month — is often the automatic, and only, slot for black plays. Not so in Chicago. “The biggest recent change seems to be that traditional theater companies are reaching out to African-American audiences, not only by producing black-themed plays and stories, but also by casting blacks in prominent roles, in the hopes that if you cast them, they will come.”

A 90-minute play in which no one says a word is currently playing at London’s National Theatre. The play, by Austrian playwright Peter Handke, is not completely silent – “there were bangs, and crashes, and people screaming” – and the author himself has said that he isn’t sure whether the play has real value. “It simply exists.”

Following a disastrous and aborted stage production in Seattle, cast members of the supposedly Broadway-bound Lone Star Love brought actor Randy Quaid up on charges with the Actors Equity union, alleging physical and verbal abuse and blaming Quaid for the show’s early closure. “On Friday, Equity handed down its decision… The union has banned Randy for life – life! – and fined him $81,572.”

“West End hit Hairspray has received a record 11 nominations at the Laurence Olivier Awards… The stage version of The Lord Of The Rings is also a best new musical contender, despite mixed reviews, [and] three Shakespearean actors will battle it out in the best actor category.”

“If a show with a cultlike following, stellar reviews, a not insurmountable $1 million capitalization cost — and after some adjustments, a $50,000 weekly running cost — couldn’t turn a profit, then what could?”