ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

THEATRE

Playwright Carys D Coburn On The Family Secrets That Blow Everything Apart

“Can we be real to one another and be family? … One of the things the play is charting is how often the answer is no." - Irish Times (Archive Today)

How John Leguizamo Gets Ready For His Nights At The Theatre

“I try to write at least two hours every day, if not longer. Writing is my favorite part of the day. It’s my creativity moment. I treat it as sacred.” Then the actor and playwright bikes to work at the Public. - The New York Times

A Bilingual “Romeo and Juliet” Hits London

A Welsh-English bilingual version of the tragedy, called Romeo a Juliet, is about to set off on tour, ending at Shakespeare’s Globe in London – believed to be the first time Cymraeg (the Welsh language) will have been heard at the venue on the South Bank. - The Guardian

For The First Time In 53 Years, Manhattan Theater Club Has A New Artistic Director

On December 1, Nicki Hunter, who’s currently the company’s associate artistic director, will take the helm from Lynne Meadow, who grew MTC from a small Off-Off Broadway theater to a major institution with one Broadway and two Off-Broadway houses, 31 Tony Awards and seven Pulitzer Prizes. - The Hollywood Reporter

Lear deBessonet’s Number-One Goal For Lincoln Center Theater

“The work we make here I want it to be something that anyone of any background — whether they are visiting New York City or were born here — could come in and feel restored to humanity, feel connected to other people. … I really believe it’s a place where we can gather across difference.” - AP

Andrew Lloyd Webber Visits The New Immersive Version Of “Phantom”

Masquerade is a $25 million reconfiguring of the long-running Broadway hit, spread out over six floors in midtown Manhattan. This version is told mostly from the viewpoint of the phantom himself, with more backstory, a few scenes and an hour or so of “newish” music. - The New York Times

Actors Theatre Of Louisville Names New Artistic And Managing Directors

Artistic Director Amelia Acosta Powell served as Associate Artistic Director of he Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and has held leadership roles at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Managing Director Emily Tarquin has held multiple management positions at Actors Theatre. - The Courier Journal (Louisville)

Broadway Musicals Are In Trouble

None of the 18 commercial musicals that opened on Broadway last season have made a profit yet. Some still could, but several have been spectacular flameouts. The new musicals “Tammy Faye,” “Boop!” and “Smash” each cost at least $20 million, and each was gone less than four months after opening. - The New York Times

Lauren Gunderson Is Back On Top

She wins the most produced playwrights (not counting Shakespeare, who would win every year hands down) list for the third, or is it fourth, time. Eboni Booth of Primary Trust and the team of Come from Away are up there too. - American Theatre

Federal Court Rules Against The Trump Administration’s NEA ‘Gender Ideology’ Rules

The court ruled that “a new National Endowment for the Arts policy of reviewing grant applicants to see if they comply with President Trump’s executive order on 'gender ideology’ violated the Constitution and could not be implemented.” - The New York Times

Times Square Casino Plan Killed In Victory For Theater Folks

“A state-commissioned community advisory committee brought the curtain down on the $5.4 billion plan to redevelop an office tower into a Caesars Palace-branded hotel, gambling and entertainment complex … in a vote that occurred after public hearings in which actors, stagehands, restaurant owners and neighborhood residents lined up to oppose the project.” - AP

Immersive Theatre Comes To Your Hotel Room

By taking the work into unconventional, donated spaces, they’re betting on a future where audiences don’t just consume theater but inhabit it. Time Out New York

The Japanese Island Dedicated To A Centuries-Old Theater Form

Sado Island, just northwest of central Honshu, is home to 34 of the roughly 100 Noh theaters remaining in Japan. Elsewhere, Noh is considered an arcane genre practiced by specialized professionals; on Sado it’s an integral part of the local culture, learned by schoolchildren and performed by community members. - The New York Times

The World’s Smallest Commercial Theatre Has Been Saved

Located in Malvern, England, the Theatre of Small Convenience was once a public toilet; it measures 107 sf and seats 12. It was opened as a puppet theatre in 1997 but fell into disrepair after its founder retired in 2017; community members have saved it from demolition and remodeled it. - The Guardian

Just How Can You Make Theatre In Ukraine During a War?

They have brothers and fathers in the war; they have family members cut off from them in the occupied Donbas. At one rehearsal, an actress apologized for being late; she had just heard that a friend from drama school had been killed at the front. - The New York Times

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss

function my_excerpt_length($length){ return 200; } add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_excerpt_length');