Results tagged “Mike Daisey” from Drama Queen

Sorry to have missed Friday's Mack Attack, but I'm out of town until April, so regular postings will resume then.

In the meantime, while I'm out in Colorado, the Denver Post is my local source for all things arts related. Yesterday's paper featured this interview with American theater's very own canary, Mike Daisey, whose warning of theater's dependence on the newspaper industry and subsequently, the dangers it faces without the support (or existence) of that industry, comes from the mouth of a very dark coal mine.

Proving how right he is, after reading that interview, I'm now considering making the three-hour drive from my base camp up in the mountains to go see his show "Monopoly" down in Colorado Springs next week. And on the strength of Denver Post critic John Moore's  review of Reyna Von Vett's family-friendly burlesque revue (no, that's not a typo) "Leadville or Bust", I might also hike the family two hours down to Denver for the evening. Yes, I'm a pretty motivated theatergoer, but even forgetting my professional interest in the topic, there's just no substitute for being in a new town, picking up the paper and reading a local, respected critic's perspective on the area's performance scene. It generates excitement, offers a sense of legitimacy, corrals all the information into one consistent, reliable, quality spot, and of course, inspires ticket sales.

It's pretty rare for an artist to openly express appreciation for the spot on the creative food chain occupied by arts critics. However, as we become even more of an endangered species, I suspect Mr. Daisey may find himself among a growing number of like-minded conservationists, and hopefully, they will emerge before we have reached extinction.