Category: theatre

A theatre in Williamsburg is excavated and examined. Among the discoveries “was a large iron rod, now believed to have been part of a spiked fence near the stage used to keep audiences from rioting. Further archival research revealed no lobby to speak of. And at 270 seats, space was at a premium. You had no more than 9 to 10 inches of seat space, compared to 40 inches today.”

Richard Foreman is New York’s king of experimental theatre. His arsenal includes: “nonlinear tableaus about the unconscious mind, deliriously decorated sets, actors dressed like commandos from Dr. Seuss’s special forces. Voices (often Mr. Foreman’s own) and, lately, projected films add to the sensory overload.”

Broadway has no shortage of famous men trodding its boards this spring, and their presence has cash-hungry producers licking their chops. But so far, it’s the women of Broadway who are showing the fastest commercial appeal: “Vanessa Redgrave, Joan Didion, Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes have been racking up impressive numbers, far outselling big boys like Kevin Spacey, Christopher Plummer, Brian Dennehy, Frank Langella and Michael Sheen.”

Richmond, Virginia’s Landmark Theatre is dark after the city’s Broadway Under the Stars series went out of business. “Many season ticketholders, who shelled out $180 to $287 for the five-show series subscription last spring, have been unable to secure refunds. ‘When a theater goes out of business or leaves people high and dry, it’s bad for the whole industry; it’s bad for theater in general’.”

“Tacoma Actors Guild, Tacoma’s only resident professional theater company, ceased operations last week,” citing insufficient funds to continue with its current season. The company had been thought to be turning its fiscal fortunes around in recent months, but a cash shortfall forced the shutdown.

Plans to construct a new mid-size theater in Rochester, New York have been scrapped in favor of a more modest plan to renovate existing venues. “The plotline of this theater drama is rooted in how the state Assembly plans to spend $18 million secured last year for local theaters.”

Alexandrinsky theatre in St Petersburg is Russia’s oldest theatre. Theatre managers were fed up with trying to convince patrons to shut off their mobile phones, so they have begun jamming the signals.

Minneapolis’ Theatre de le Jeune Lune is changing the way it operates. “The changes for Theatre de le Jeune Lune include returning to the troupe’s original way of staging productions project by project instead of planning for a season of shows, as is the custom. St. Paul Pioneer Press theater critic Dominic Papatola says this is a risky move for a theater that has grown into one of the larger companies in the Twin Cities.”

Boston’s Shakespeare on the Common will be sharply cut back next summer from three weeks to one. The production will also be smaller. “For more than a decade, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s run on the Common has grown, both in cost and audience size, attracting about 100,000 people last year.”

“There is undoubtedly a discrepancy between what an actor is paid and the value of the art they bring to the stage. Unfortunately, this discrepancy is not limited to actors alone, but also holds true for other artists and professionals throughout the industry.”