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THEATRE

Edinburgh Fringe Frustrated As Its Bid For Long-Term Funding Is Rejected

In fact, the enormous theatre festival hasn't been on Creative Scotland's list of "regularly-funded organisations" (those with three-year "core funding" grants) since 2018, and the agency says it gives the Fringe money through other channels. - The Scotsman

North Carolina Theatre In Raleigh Cancels Season And Files For Bankruptcy

"The theater’s board announced the decision Friday, citing 'external forces during and after the pandemic,' including higher production costs, the loss of corporate and personal sponsorships, a decline in sales and a slow return of audiences to live venues." - The News & Observer (Raleigh) (MSN)

Texas High School Cancels Student Production Of “The Laramie Project”

When notifying parents, school district leaders in the Fort Worth suburb of Keller gave no reason for cancelling the docudrama about the 1998 murder of gay student Matthew Shepard; a spokesman later said administrators wanted a play like previous productions of Mary Poppins and White Christmas. - The Dallas Morning News (MSN)

As ‘The Outsiders’ Makes Its Way To Broadway, The Young Cast Visits Its Oklahoma Inspiration

The cast and crew took a “granular, history-flecked tour of the place where, about 60 years earlier, S.E. Hinton’s coming-of-age story was written and set. Hinton, 75 and still a beloved local, was a star attraction." - The New York Times

Why Is Second City Moving To First City?

In Brooklyn, “on the site of an old record shop and club, the company has built a 200-seat mainstage, a 60-seat second stage, several classrooms, where improv and comedy writing are taught, and a restaurant." - NPR

Do Historically Black Colleges And Universities Provide An Edge For Their Theatre Alumni?

Says one HBCU alum, Broadway director and theatre founder Kenny Leon, “I was trained to believe in myself and know that anything is possible. You didn’t have to go to Juilliard, Harvard, or Yale. All you have to do is understand the practicality.” - American Theatre

“The Real Tragedy Of This Play Is That Everyone’s Right All The Time”

That's what one cast member said, during rehearsals at New York's Public Theater, about Itamar Moses's The Ally, in which the characters hash out a myriad of today's thorniest issues — and they all have good points to make. - The New York Times

Long Lost Gershwin Musical Manuscript Found

The approximately 800 pages of material included the musical’s complete orchestration, with parts for flute, cello, trumpet, trombone, percussion, violin, bass and piano. - Michigan Live

How One Of Metro DC’s Best Stage Directors Came Back From A Catastrophic Highway Crash

After midnight on Nov. 30, 2022, Synetic Theater co-founder Paata Tsikurishvili was sitting in traffic when another car rear-ended his and knocked it into the HOV lane, where it was hit at full speed by a third vehicle. Astoundingly, he was back at work in under a year. - The Washington Post (MSN)

18 Shows Are Opening On Broadway This Spring. Too Many?

The density of late-season openings — 11 plays and musicals over a nine-day stretch in late April — has producers and investors worried about how those shows will find enough ticket buyers to survive. - The New York Times

Smart Glasses Provide Live Captioning For Plays

Philadelphia's Arden Theatre Co. is offering hearing-impaired patrons the use of high-tech eyewear that displays real-time captions, adjustable for placement, size and color. People's Light in nearby Malvern (which introduced them in 2019) and Arden are currently the only US theaters to offer the glasses. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Broadway’s Big Presidents Day Box Office Boost

The Presidents Day Weekend was like a little Christmas gift for Broadway, with grosses for the 23 productions posting a hefty 27% increase over the previous week, topping out at $26,946,864. - Deadline

Trying To Learn To Cry On Cue, The Way Actors Do

Journalist Rachel Handler talks to a somatic psychotherapist, an acting coach to major stars, that coach's son, and several actors and directors, all in a quest to learn how to summon the tears. - Vulture

Lunchtime Theatre, With A Pint? How Very British

Actually - how very Scottish. A Play, A Pie, and A Pint premiered in Glasgow in 2004 and hasn’t stopped (aside from the early days of COVID-19) producing 48 new plays a year ever since. - BBC

How To Get Broadway Out Of Its Winter Doldrums? Let Audience Members Ride The “Sweeney Todd” Death Slide

In the current staging, Sweeney's barbershop is above the stage; when he slits a customer's throat, he pulls a lever that sends the victim down a slide into Mrs. Lovett's basement. Under the tag "A Bad Idea Worth Considering," Rebecca Alter points out that slide's underutilized revenue potential. Wheeeeee! - Vulture (MSN)

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