The Revival returns "with the opening of a new theater in the South Loop. And The Home Comedy Theater, conceived by a collective of iO and Second City veterans, is building out a space in Lake View as an artistic residence for displaced long-form improvisers." - Chicago Sun-Times
Snehal Desai: "It’s not that CTG doesn’t have folks coming; we have tens of thousands of folks, it’s just that we’re not necessarily getting folks to move within our venues.” - American Theatre
Redmayne, just nominated for a Tony, explains, “We’ve had sort of moments where the audience interaction can get a bit too vocal ... and we’ll have to sort of clamber through and improvise around the situation but that, again, keeps us on our toes.” - The Hollywood Reporter
"The hope must be that the more traditional audiences will move with the times, and come around to new visions. You can’t please all of the people all of the time — but you can do your best to take them with you." - The New York Times
Playwright Eleanor Burgess's "Galilee, 34" at SoCal's South Coast Rep depicts Jesus's family and followers months after the Crucifixion as they try to figure out — sometimes arguing and frequently cussing — what to do next and whether to continue the preaching that got Jesus executed. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
Throughout his time in Seattle, John Langs has become known as a champion of new work, an advocate for local artists, and a director who values long, collaborative working relationships. - Seattle Times
The Sherman, Texas school board finalized a separation agreement with former superintendent Tyson Bennett, who had forbidden a high school production of Oklahoma! that included a transgender student in the cast. The cancellation was reversed after heavy pushback from students and parents. - The Dallas Morning News (MSN)
Well, turns out there's a history of very bad things happening during productions of "the Scottish play" going all the way back to Shakespeare's own company in 1606. Actors getting injured or killed onstage. Theaters burning down. Massive audience brawls. The 1849 Shakespeare riots in New York? Yep, over Macbeth. - Mental Floss
"The 37-year old’s directorial debut is the result of a three-force collaboration: the dance is by Peck himself to Stevens’s introspective coming-of-age album with a narrative written by playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury. A group of singers perform the album’s songs while dancers express Sibblies Drury’s storyline without uttering any lines." - The Guardian
With a season packed to the brim with late openers vying for awards attention, the 2024 Tony nominations were full of unexpected twists and turns. Here are the 10 biggest snubs and surprises. - Variety
"The musical Hell’s Kitchen, fueled by Alicia Keys songs, and the play Stereophonic, about a ‘70s rock band at the edge of stardom, each earned a leading 13 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, a list that also saw a record number of women nominated for best director." - AP
The pandemic hurt every live art, but arguably none more than improv. Not only did struggles force the sale of three of its biggest institutions (Second City, iO and U.C.B.), but the prestige surrounding the form faded as criticism mounted over business models built on free labor and racist treatment of artists. - The New York Times
Why? Well - there are a lot of eligible musicals, for one thing. And while Merrily We Roll Along is looking like a lock for Best Musical Revival, some other categories are hotly contested. - The New York Times
