Sydney Theatre Company has recorded a $10m boost to revenue after its Dorian Gray production became a West End hit, and is poised to reap millions more when it receives a cut from this year’s even more lucrative Broadway run. - The Guardian
Sonia Friedman, the producer behind, among many others, last season’s game-changing revival of Merrily We Roll Along, the revival of Sondheim’s Company with a female Bobbie, and this season’s Dead Outlaw, discusses why New York’s model is dysfunctional and how box-office reporting makes things worse. - TheaterMania
“How are New York City’s theatres really doing in the wake of pandemic disruption, economic instability, and social upheaval? (This report) dives deep into this question using three years of comparative data (2019, 2022, and 2023) from more than one hundred nonprofit theatre companies across the city.” - SMU DataArts
Venezuelans suffering through the worst of Maduro saw themselves in the show, but so did committed Chavistas. Same for anti-Lukashenko protesters in Belarus, Occupy Wall Street, Arab Spring demonstrators, Jan.6 insurrectionists, anti-Beijing Hong Kongers, and Mormons. Zachary Pincus-Roth considers what they all see in the show. - The Washington Post (MSN)
Tracy Young: “I’ve seen nothing to counter the notion that Shakespeare was a populist. All about the people, and the audience’s kind of theater guy. … That to me was the real affirmation of why Play on Shakespeare is worthy. I have no complicated feelings about the rightness or wrongness of it.” - TheaterMania
On Sunday, the Tony Awards paid homage to the astonishing array of acting talent that drew audiences back to the theater. But it wasn’t star power that determined the evening’s prizes. It was boldness — unadulterated theatrical fearlessness — that carried the day. - Los Angeles Times
At the preshow, “Buena Vista Social Club, a musical about a Cuban band, picked up awards for choreography, sound design and orchestrations, while Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a prequel to the Netflix series, won for sound, lighting and scenic design.” - The New York Times
“Singing robots. Undead frenemies. A dead train robber, and a dying cave explorer. A fumbling group of spies, and a bumbling group of pirates. Also: Hamilton.” - The New York Times
"The pressures that deformed the news in Murrow’s day have only grown more intense, and its defenses weaker. The last line of protection is those people sitting in the dark, watching George Clooney remind them what they have to do.” - Slate
“Obviously, I’m very neurotic. I’m always trying to understand what’s happening and why. My friends every day talk about what they’re anxious about, and yet no one’s asking for the theater to address that anxiety — but that’s what it’s supposed to do.” - Washington Post
“There have been many efforts to adapt Baldwin’s works since he died in 1987, nearly all unsanctioned or unsuccessful in earning approval from his estate. … Giovanni’s Room in particular has been attempted several times” (including an abortive screenplay by Baldwin himself) — making this world premiere in Philadelphia an event. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Every year, I run a statistical model based on precursor awards, which categories a show is nominated in, blended critic predictions, and betting markets to project the odds that each nominee will emerge victorious in every category. - The Hollywood Reporter
Trump is a fan. At campaign rallies he would make his entrance to the anthemic "Do You Hear the People Sing?" blaring from loudspeakers. The U.S. Army Chorus performed the song at a ball for the country's governors at the White House, hosted by the President and First Lady. - NPR
