It’s unclear what will happen to the 116-year-old, 1,400-seat Merle Reskin Theatre. It has landmark status, however, and won’t be demolished. - Chicago Sun-Times
“Central Works, which has been making new plays in Berkeley for 36 years, plans to close at the end of its 2026 season with the retirement of co-directors Gary Graves and Jan Zvaifler.” They tried to find successors, but nobody wanted to work that hard for that little money. - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
“Handing down a name over generations is a central part of the traditional Japanese artform, … and that ceremony gets celebrated at theaters and special events every few years. Now, the ritual is taking place with the eighth Kikugoro, who is having that honor passed down from his 83-year-old father, the seventh Kikugoro.” - AP
“Featuring four actors, a sparse set, and no props, … this production has been performed since 2023 on all manner of improvised stages. An airplane hangar in Los Angeles. An opera house in Colorado. A dining hall, library and bar at Yale. A Baptist church and various homes in Manhattan.” - The Washington Post (Yahoo!)
“The many awards for Paddington were perhaps unsurprising given that the show earned rave reviews when it opened and has played to sellout crowds ever since.” - The New York Times
Under their new leadership, Victory Gardens has hosted a writers’ workshop, a showcase of new works in collaboration with New Musical Chicago, and a staged reading of An Ocean Away, a documentary play by Belarusian playwright Andrei Kureichik about the effects of war on Ukrainians and diaspora communities. - American Theatre
“Roundabout Theater Company moved into the building in 1998 and kept its disco-era name. Now Roundabout has a $100 million plan for the first full-scale renovation of the building. The project would bring back a permanent stage, which the building hasn’t had since its disco days, and an orchestra pit.” - The New York Times
“Scott Guggenheim, who with his wife Shannon Guggenheim owns 3Below Theaters, cited an ongoing landlord dispute as one major factor in what he called a ‘difficult’ decision. ... ‘There were … specific issues — particularly around construction, signage, and commitments — that were not fully realized,' he told the Chronicle.” - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
“Evan Yionoulis, who has been dean and director of The Juilliard School’s drama division since 2018, will take over the post at Yale starting July 1. She succeeds James Bundy, who has been in the role for close to 25 years and announced his retirement last year.” - The Hollywood Reporter
For almost three decades, the ambitious, history-centered company had to make do with the second-floor of a 110-year-old church building in Lake View — along with dodgy electrical wiring, no elevator, toilets that didn’t always work and no central air conditioning. - WBEZ
The Justice Department has quietly resolved a yearslong investigation into possible anticompetitive practices by a major player in the lucrative touring market for Broadway shows, saying it decided not to prosecute the company. - The New York Times
“Cats has always been a ballroom: Distinct personalities enter the floor, presenting their style and story, and a community watches to see who commands the room. This new production doesn’t impose anything foreign onto the musical. For me, it illuminates what was always there.” - The New York Times
“There are a lot of maybes involved in The Hand & The Eye, the 36,000-square-foot magic-themed entertainment and dining complex set to open this month inside the distinctively eccentric McCormick Mansion on the corner of Ontario and Rush Streets alongside the struggling Magnificent Mile.” - Chicago Tribune (Yahoo!)
Leading figures from the world of comedy have met the government to make the case for comedy, including that it be recognised as an art form in its own right to improve funding access and policy development. - BBC
