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ONE
MORE FOR THE ROAD: The commercial theater business has been
booming. But ominous signs are afoot. Some are proclaiming the
end of the mega-musicals, the engine that has been driving business
on Broadway and on the road. What's to replace the big musicals
on the touring circuit? Boston
Globe 02/27/00
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Where's
new work to come from - and, almost more important, where
are the places for it to go?
Boston Globe 02/27/00
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DON'T
BEAT A DEAD "CATS": Please oh please oh please
say it isn't so - since the announcement that "Cats"
will close in June, ticket sales have sky-rocketed, making it
the hottest show on Broadway. The whiff of "extend-me"
is in the air. New
York Times 02/25/00
(one-time
registration required for entry)
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THE
WOMAN WHO SHOT ANDY WARHOL: Should you like her never-produced,
long-forgotten play? Nah. But that's not the point, says a San
Francisco producer, who's presenting the play in tandem with
an Arthur Miller play about censorship to "make a point
about currents of 'repression' in the United States." Salon
02/23/00
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WHAT'S
SO FUNNY? On Broadway, not much these days, where comedies
have dried up. Where have all the laffs gone? To TV, mostly.
But let's also blame the Zeitgeist. Philadelphia
Inquirer 02/21/00
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OLD
ACTORS NEVER DIE... Young people bring enthusiasm, older
people bring experience. More and more older Americans are performing
in "senior theaters." San
Francisco Examiner 02/21/00
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THE
LAST MEOW: "Cats," Broadway's longest-running
production ever, will close in June, after 18 years. New
York Times 02/20/00
(one-time
registration required for entry)
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LONDON'S
OLIVIER AWARDS honor Peter O'Toole, "Lion King".
BBC
02/19/00
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List
of Olivier theater award winners.
BBC 02/19/00
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A
SATURDAY NIGHT 40 YEARS AGO: A Stephen Sondheim show, written
four decades ago, finally gets its premiere. New
York Times 02/18/00
(one-time
registration required for entry)
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LET
FREEDOM RING: Philadelphia's Freedom Theatre, one of the
city's major African American cultural institutions, this week
opens a new $7 million performing venue. The effort to open
nearly killed it with debt. The enterprise is alive only by
"slashing the staff by more than half, reducing the annual
budget by a third, establishing a five-year plan of financial
recovery, and raising money." Philadelphia
Inquirer 02/16/00
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DISNEY
creates new theater division to produce live Broadway and road
company projects. Backstage
02/15/00
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THEATRE
DICTATE: A study for the Arts Council of England finds that
traditional "text-based" drama is rapidly losing its
appeal to modern audiences. "A funding review of 50 theatres,
mainly in the provinces but including some noted London venues
outside the West End, has found an alarming decline in the popularity
of conventional plays. The review suggests that 'live theatre',
such as laser, acrobatic and video spectacles, have wider appeal
and should be embraced by theatres as a condition of receiving
public grants."
London Telegraph 02/14/00
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MISSING
THE MEGAS: As the era of the mega-musicals on Broadway wanes,
theatres around the country that count on the shows to fill
their seasons face difficult times. Hartford
Courant 02/13/00
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LES
MIZERABLE: Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg are
used to the success of the giant hits they have written in "Les
Miserables" and "Miss Saigon." The current failure
of "Martin Guerre" and producer Cameron Mackintosh's
decision to cancel a Broadway run leaves the duo humbled. Los
Angeles Times 02/13/00
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THE
THEATRE PROBLEM? Stephen Sondheim goes to London and sounds
off about the current state of theater: "It's quite discouraging
to see that London is slowly becoming like Broadway," he
says. He bemoans the fact that Americans are drawn to productions
whose values are based less on the words and the music than
the length of the spectacle and the number of scenery changes.
He is most frightened by the lack of serious plays on Broadway.
In his opinion, audiences in London have broader tastes, attend
more regularly and treat the theatre as enjoyment rather than
a chore. The British hunger for challenging productions has
helped to provide opportunities for new talent, from the West
End to the fringe. London
Sunday Times 02/13/00
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A
VISION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY:
For 22 years playwright August Wilson has been writing plays
to tell a story of Black American history of the 20th Century;
along the way refinements, but the goal has remained constant.
Chicago Tribune 02/09/00
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TO
CUT OR NOT TO CUT: A historic first-meeting
of Shakespeare experts from around the English-speaking world
in Stratford sparks raging debates about performance practice
for the Bard. Backstage
02/08/00
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FIRST
THINGS FIRST: "Stories
may make plays, but people make stories. People come first.
Why, I wonder, do so many playwrights have such a hard time
with this seemingly simple notion? Why do their characters seem
an afterthought, making little sense and possessing little substance?
Why do writers for the stage persist in putting ideas ahead
of people, rather than permitting themes to emerge, peekaboo-style,
from the welter of human feelings and behavior?" Philadelphia
Inquirer 02/07/00
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24-HOUR
THEATER: Chicago theater, written, rehearsed and performed
in a 24-hour period - theater without a net. New
York Times 02/06/00
(one-time
registration required for entry)
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BRING
OUT YOUR DEAD: New Chicago series
mounts old Broadway musicals that haven't been produced in years.
The classic shows are resurrected and produced in concert version.
Chicago Sun-Times
02/04/00
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OF
WRITING AND PLAYWRITING: Elie Wiesel is a great writer.
But as a playwriter...
Dallas Morning News 02/03/00
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CONSUMER
REPORTS: A new book finds British theater critics in a state
of disarray. Some blame editors for making their jobs harder.
Others report a dichotomy between older and younger critics.
"The older generation instinctively sees theatre as central
to our culture. Younger critics won't talk about theatre as
a serious art medium. They question it all the time." The
Independent 02/02/00
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SHAKESPEARELAND:
London's Globe Theater, a replica of the building where Shakespeare's
plays were first performed, announces a new exhibition, said
to the be the largest ever dedicated to England's greatest writer.
The exhibit is expected to attract up to 400,000 visitors a
year. Those visitors "will be able to compose their own
sonnet with a quill, watch displays of swordplay and even join
in a production through micro-camera technology." The
Times of India (Reuters) 02/02/00
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LACK
OF BROADWAY DRAMAS has some in the theater business lamenting
the Disneyfication of Broadway and wondering if there's a crisis
in American theater. CBC
02/02/00
