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THEATRE

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Is Getting An Overhaul

"Actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge" — honorary president of the Fringe Society — "has hailed a 'new dawn' for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as the biggest ever shake-up of the event aims to crack down on exploitation, reduce its impact on the environment and win over more local people." - The Scotsman

The Scene In “How I Learned To Drive” That Paula Vogel Herself Says Makes No Sense

Declares the playwright, "It makes no sense in the structure of the play. It's a complete interruption of the narrative."  But she won't cut it because "I don't think it came from me. ... (Writing it) literally felt like I was taking dictation." Yet actor David Morse made sense of it. - Variety

The Scoop On This Sunday’s Tonys

There are around 831 eligible voters—and still ballots to be completed and votes totted up. The Daily Beast spoke to three voters anonymously about who and what they were voting for, and what buzz and gossip they had heard from fellow voters. - The Daily Beast

The Strange Loops Of “A Strange Loop”: The Meta-Musical’s 20-Year Journey To Broadway And A Pulitzer

"Through its lengthy development process, A Strange Loop underwent countless loop-the-loops of revisions, workshops, and more revisions. Here, its key players detail the dizzying path to production — and the sense of déjà vu that drove its success." - New York Magazine

Why Chekhov Adaptations Seem To Be All Over The Place These Days

"With his compassionate humor, Chekhov neither indicts his characters nor lets them off the hook for their myopic concerns. His plays are a tonic reminder to artists across disciplines that lives are lived not in headlines but in passing moments." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)

Grease: The Musical That Almost Didn’t Make It. Fifty Years Later

It would go on to transfer to Broadway for a then-record eight-year run, spawning several touring companies and a celebrated film. Not many know that it was almost stillborn. - APNews

American Theatre Still Lives in Joe Papp’s World

For among the many things this feisty, indomitable leader recognized was that New York City’s five boroughs were as under-served by the arts of his time as any rural community, and that his city’s diverse populations needed and deserved theatre as much as its moneyed elites. - American Theatre

San Diego Rep Cancels The Marquee Production Of Its Current Festival

Ali Viterbi's multi-award-winning In Every Generation was to be the centerpiece of this year's JFest (officially, the Lipinsky Family San Diego Jewish Arts Festival). Previews, scheduled to start last Thursday, simply didn't happen, and this week the theater officially cancelled "due to personal and financial reasons." - The San Diego Union-Tribune

A New Theatre Festival That Doesn’t Look Like Anything Else

 “When communities are allowed to craft their own narrative, that narrative is more complex. We are not imposing on or colonizing them with a form of performance that isn’t indigenous or locally grown to their space.” - American Theatre

With Cell-Phone Cameras Everywhere, Will Stage Actors Refuse To Do Nude Scenes?

Says one publicist, "Ten years ago, I don't think the first thing out of my mouth (to a client) would have been: 'Are you OK knowing that there is a decent chance that this will ... be out there on social media?'" - The New York Times

After Twelve Years, Old Vic Bristol Has A New Leader

“For Bristol Old Vic to appoint a highly talented Black Latinx woman as artistic director provides a real opportunity to effect real change in how we express the multiplicity of British identities, experiences and histories.” - The Guardian

How Did “The Karate Kid” Turn Into A Musical?

"Robert Mark Kamen was through with The Karate Kid, his semi-autobiographical 1984 martial arts film that spawned a string of movies, an animated program and the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai, until he saw Hadestown in 2019."  And so ... - The New York Times

How They Lifted A Historic Times Square Theatre Thirty Feet

The theater, which weighs 14 million pounds, is a protected landmark, meaning the structure, from the stage to the balcony, had to be moved without suffering as much as a crack in the delicate plasterwork adorning ceilings, arches and box seats. - The New York Times

“Tony! (The Tony Blair Rock Opera)” — Yep, That’s The Title

"Blair is played by the comedian Charlie Baker. Saddam Hussein, with moustache and cigar, is given a Groucho Marx makeover. (Playwright Harry) Hill describes the show's Cherie Blair as 'a cross between Lily Savage and Lili Marleen – seductive, but coarse'. And 'we have a woman playing Osama bin Laden'." - The Guardian

Hitting The Right Notes In History Musicals

If history musicals don't succeed this season, it won't be for sheer effort, or numbers. The doubt is always there: Hamilton made it, but can anything else? - The New York Times

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