Just three years ago, it seemed (at least to the outside world) that the company was turning into an improv empire: multiple locations in NYC and LA, a TV deal, corporate workshops, thousands of paying students, and hundreds of comic actors willing to perform for free. Now some of those locations are closing, staff are being laid off, and the owners signed a lease on a new flagship space without knowing that the company was running at a deficit. Writer Seth Simons looks at whether UCB can be saved and whether it should. – Slate
Category: theatre
How The Mueller Report Was Turned Into A Play And Live-Streamed By A Superstar Cast
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (The Kentucky Cycle) adapted the special counsel’s notoriously careful report into a drama titled The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts — each act covering an act of possible obstruction of justice detailed in the report. And on Monday, a cast featuring Annette Bening, Kevin Kline, Michael Shannon, Alfre Woodard, Jason Alexander, and many others read and streamed the play live; John Lithgow played Donald Trump. – Los Angeles Times
There’s A Whole New, And More Diverse, Generation Taking The Helm At British Theatres
Susannah Clapp: “There used to be a template for the artistic directors of theatres. A template about as restricted as candidates for the Tory party leadership. White and male. Obviously. This was so continuous with the default position for power in Britain that for ages it went unremarked. Not any more. … British theatre is in the process of a massive change. More far-reaching than any I have seen in more than 20 years as The Observer‘s drama critic. Accelerating. Overdue. Irrevocable. Welcome.” Here are Q&As with half a dozen of the new leaders. – The Observer (UK)
How “Hamilton” Changed The Broadway Touring Business
The 2018-19 touring season that just ended set records in box office ($1.6 billion) and attendance (18.5 million). “Hamilton” had a clear hand: There are now four productions beyond New York, up from three the previous season. The total number of “Hamilton” weeks on the road sprang from 121 to 177, according to Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League. – Washington Post
A Theatre Critic Reviews Presidential Candidates’ Performances
Peter Marks: “Political campaigns are all about seducing audiences. So why shouldn’t someone like me be out here, reviewing the art — or artlessness — of the seduction? Presidential contenders do not win merely by trumpeting their achievements and policies. No, their instrument has to resound with some other, ineffable qualities.” – Washington Post
Britain Gets Its First Play About Vietnamese Immigrants By A Second-Generation Writer
The stereotypes of “boat people” and “nail girls” persist in Britain, but playwright and actor Tyumen Do wants British people to think about the new generation and its concerns, and if she has to use the family coming together over food, heck, she’ll do it to make sure people see the play. – BBC
Will Omaha Become A Center For Children’s Theatre Development?
That’s the hope as Rose Theater gets a large new building and plans to open one of the country’s biggest theatre academies – a “game-changer” for Omaha, but perhaps for the wider theatre world of the Midwest as well. – Omaha World-Herald
Mark Rylance Resigns 30-Year Association With Royal Shakespeare Company Over BP Sponsorship
Though the Wolf Hall actor last appeared on stage in an RSC production in 1989, his very public resignation as a longstanding “associate artist” is, at the least, a public relations blow to the prestigious company. – Deadline
Casting Movie Stars Or ‘Celebrities’ In Broadway Shows Doesn’t Improve Box Office, Says Study — But Is The Study Accurate?
The researchers found, based on comparing figures for the original star of a production and the first replacement, that casting a theatre star helps ticket sales but casting a movie star or “celebrity” makes no difference. Howard Sherman, noting that this is “contrary to conventional wisdom and anecdotal evidence,” points out the study’s big flaw: who was put in which category. – The Stage
David Mamet’s Harvey Weinstein Play Is Getting Really, Really Bad Reviews
Despite the praise that critics (try to) give John Malkovich in the horndog-movie-mogul role, their verdicts are clear. “Bitter Wheat is a bitter disappointment.” “Mamet’s monstrous misfire.” “[Its] most shocking quality is its laziness.” “Bad, weird, and pointless.” – Los Angeles Times