In Perth, Australia, the multi-arts Fringe World loses its decade-long sponsor, the decidedly non-edgy mining company Woodside, after three years of protests by festival artists. - The Guardian (UK)
Is the theatre industry training too many students? The pandemic sure made it seem so. "There is a vital need for creative practice and an equally critical need to earn a living. It’s not a binary consideration, but one that increasingly feels antithetical." - The Stage (UK)
The Cornwall-based company, a frequent visitor to the US whose production of Brief Encounter was nominated for Tony and Olivier Awards, said in a statement that it was financially stable, but that "recent changes in artistic leadership raised questions as to whether Kneehigh could sustain their vision going forward." Founding artistic director Mike Shepherd had resigned in March after...
The citations from the federal government's Occupational Safety and Health Administration were issued to the Shubert Organization for the Winter Garden Theater "six months after Peter Wright, a 54-year-old stagehand, fell nearly 50 feet from a narrow, raised platform while performing routine maintenance in the theater." - The New York Times
"Even when not being manipulated by moneybags, the awards have regularly represented Broadway as a neurotic mess: defensive about its marginality, embarrassed by its serious works and insecure about its commercial appeal. … Now is the time for the Tonys to pull their act together." Jesse Green has a few ideas, and even argues that the recent decision to...
"As new ways of making money from The Sound of Music and the rest presented themselves, the job of advising the heirs and maintaining their income became much bigger. It was no longer simply a matter of giving (or withholding) approval for major new productions but also a strategic puzzle: How do you uphold an artistic legacy while exploiting...
"Former pupils have raised allegations including how tutors have 'grabbed' female students' breasts, made sexual comments about their bodies and pressurised them to remove clothes during rehearsals or performances. … a female student complained that a visiting teacher had sexually assaulted her at home." - The Telegraph (UK)
With capacity restrictions, social distancing rules, other safety measures, and eager-but-nervous audiences and performers, venues from mighty Caroline's to tiny Stand Up NY have some difficult tricks to pull off. There are some good jokes, though. (Brian Scott McFadden: "I spoke with my agent and I can't get COVID because I have a deal with Ebola.") - Gothamist
The earliest decision-makers were not at all sure this was the direction to go. Ask then-newly installed interim director Shirley Serotsky at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca - proposing something "completely new, hugely ambitious, and hardly cost-neutral" to the board was a challenge. "It took some convincing ... But I did believe that it was the only way we...
Celebration Theatre's longtime AD Michael Shepperd was accused of sexual misconduct over more than a decade - and the accusers say that the theatre mishandled those complaints until last week, when an internal investigation prompted the theatre to let him go. When there's a power differential, can a small theatre be a "safe, sex-positive" space? - Los Angeles Times
Not only are audience members (at a quarter of pre-COVID capacity) required to stay six feet from each other, so are all the actors and crew. That's presenting quite a traffic management puzzle for director Sean Homes as he restages his 2019 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Elizabethan theatre's reopening. - The New York Times
"Sitting on a bench in Prospect Park recently as flocks of maskless Brooklynites passed by, Lucie Tiberghien reflected on the long, strange journey toward the first full production of Molière in the Park, the company she conceived to bring free theater with a diverse cast and crew to her home borough. This weekend, after months of delays that radically...
"Three of the 25 competitive awards — best musical, best play and best play revival — will be presented live during a television program, broadcast on CBS, that will primarily be a starry concert of theater songs. But the bulk of the awards, honoring performers, writers, directors, choreographers and designers, will be given out just beforehand, during a...
For 427 days, an old wooden board inside the foyer of St Martin’s Theatre in London was stuck on the number 28,199. It had ticked upwards every night for 67 years, logging the number of performances of the longest -running play in the world. But on March 16, 2020, The Mousetrap paused for breath. This seemingly immovable object met...
Michael A. Shepperd, artistic director of Celebration Theatre, has been terminated following an internal investigation of allegations that he groped and propositioned an actor backstage during the company's 2019 production of The Producers. Shepperd, describing Celebration Theatre as "a queer safe space" where flirting and physical affection were common, maintains that any and all contact between him and his...
