Category: theatre

“For the past 24 hours, the Tonys have been plunged into turmoil. Producers and Tony officials have been shouting at one another; the two organizations that oversee the awards – The American Theater Wing and The League of American Theaters and Producers – have been at war; and CBS, which broadcasts the Tonys, is fuming because it has so little control over a telecast whose ratings are always in the cellar.”

Susannah Clapp says that the question of whether the old guard of British theatre critics are a pack of misogynist stick-in-the-muds, as National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner recently alleged, is somewhat beside the point. “This current spat won’t do the theatre, so often derided by non-theatrical columnists, any harm: there it is, discussed in pages usually given over to Lily Allen’s prom frocks. Still, it only touches on the real threats to the independence of critical opinion.”

The Coast of Utopia was chosen best play of the New York theater season, and Spring Awakening was named best musical in awards given Sunday by the Drama Desk, an organization of theater journalists. Utopia, Tom Stoppard’s epic look at 19th century Russian intellectuals, was the night’s biggest winner, collecting seven awards. Spring Awakening, a rock musical about the sexual anxiety of 19th century German teens, followed with four.

“It’s taken 10 years to produce, and at £12.5m, it’s the costliest musical ever to hit [London,] so The Lord of the Rings had better be good. And, oddly enough, it just might be,” despite universally horrible reviews and public indifference during the show’s aborted Toronto run last summer.

August Wilson’s cycle of plays spanning the 20th Century is a landmark in theatre. “The worth of the cycle as a whole cannot be underestimated. All the plays echo and comment upon one another (to the point that a family tree might be helpful to anyone reading the whole cycle). Yet each exists as a self-contained drama. And though each is specific to the era in which it is set, none feel cramped by period details.”

“Many theatres have given in to boosting the voices of actors in straight plays which would otherwise have no chance of ever reaching beyond row eight – never mind the back of the stalls. Does this matter at a time when it’s taken for granted that any self-respecting musical performer will automatically be fitted with a head-mike? Why shouldn’t straight drama feel free to follow suit?”

Nicholas Hytner says old white male critics are ruining theatre. “Does Hytner have a point? Are male critics turning into crusty, theatrical Patrick Moores raging at these infernal women? I’d say the facts are against him. Any critic worth his or her salt judges a production by the quality of what happens on stage: not by the age, gender, sexual orientation or reputation of the participants.”

“An Ohio police officer who dabbles in amateur theatre has been suspended from work for plagiarizing a Canadian play and staging it as his own. Edmonton playwright David Belke learned one of his plays had been plagiarized after a fan alerted him to a production in Los Angeles that resembled one of his plays.”

“In a season rich with contenders, ‘Spring Awakening,’ a dark rock musical based on a 19th century German play about sexually anguished teenagers, led the field of Tony Award nominations this morning with 11, including chances at awards for best musical, director and best actor for two of its cast.” “Grey Gardens” and “The Coast of Utopia” followed with 10 nominations apiece.

“The most surprising thing about a season with all that is that there have been, well, no real surprises. Yet. All of this season’s shows have now officially opened — some have already closed — and the Tony Award nominations are to be announced today, officially kicking off the monthlong cocktail party of discreet and indiscreet politicking around Broadway, which culminates in the Tony Awards ceremony on June 10.”