Category: theatre

“Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco and the nation’s “longest-running professional queer theater company,” turns 30 this season. It’s had to weather more than the usual share of small arts institutions’ financial challenges and growing pains – including the cooptation of its special niche, as gay, lesbian and transgender themes have found homes in mainstream theater, films and TV.”

“Dire pronouncements about the moribund state of the American theater have been made for decades but, like the formerly remote concept of global warming, there is every indication that its demise has finally come. The audience for ‘serious’ theater (straight plays) is dwindling. The subscriber base — the life force of not-for-profit theaters for half a century — is literally dying, and the next generation is not filling their seats.”

“Come the long-awaited $125 million renovation at Arena Stage, a key element that won’t be much changed is the fabled in-the-round Fichandler space. The theater is built like a boxing ring: no curtains, no walls and audience on four sides.”

“Should we treat our local theater practitioners like stars? And should we make our theater-going decisions based on name recognition? In a word: no. In two words: absolutely not. In seven words: Are you out of your freakin’ mind?”

Claims that How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? provided advertising for Andrew Lloyd Webber and his production of The Sound of Music have been dismissed by the BBC Trust.

“Is blogging changing theatre criticism? Undoubtedly, yes. The newspaper review is now part of a broader debate about what is happening in the world of theatre. The blog seems to me have supplanted the kind of prolonged argument about the arts that once took place in the correspondence columns of newspapers.”

A Broadway-bound musical starring Randy Quaid and the Red Clay Ramblers has apparently run into some backstage trouble. Quaid’s wife/manager is publicly clashing with producer Ed Burke, complaining that he is “relentless in trying to force his vision of the show on her husband.” Meanwhile, “Quaid is under fire herself – she’s the target of backstage snipers who call her an “out-of-control maniac” who has “bulldozed” her way into every aspect of the production.”

“Broadway seems to get whole hosts of British theatre talents, whether they are well known or not. Why, then, isn’t the London theatre seeing more American actors of this ilk – the ones who have paid their dues without necessarily becoming a household name via TV or film?”

“A look at Shakespeare fests around the nation, reveals some of them experiencing slow but steady growth — in the number of offerings per season and, more important, in the number of actors they’re hiring, both Equity and non-Equity — while others are doing the opposite.”

“The rise of the internet and the blogosphere – still in its infancy and often stumbling as it takes its first tentative steps – makes me think that theatre criticism may get a whole new lease of life. … I welcome blogging. I don’t think it will supplant newspaper criticism, but I do think these new voices will keep us on our toes. Suddenly theatre criticism has got a whole lot more interesting.”