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THEATRE

The Workers Who Checked COVID Status For Broadway Theatres

“Our team is largely made up of lots of actors, stage managers, company managers, all of whom work in the theater. Nobody has cared about bringing Broadway back like they have.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Why Did Everything Fall Apart At One Of New York’s Most Beloved Play Development Centers? Not For Lack Of Money

When The Lark's board announced the company's closure last October, they said there was no way to keep the company financially sustainable.  Former staffers say the problem was really the departure of some unusually dynamic executives and a well-intentioned experiment in shared management that didn't work out. - American Theatre

The Guardian’s Chief Theatre Critic On Changing Her Mind About A Play

Arifa Akbar: "If a critic changes their mind, do they discredit themselves? No, because theatre reviewing is by its nature only ever an overnight response. ... It is a very different proposition to book reviewing, for instance, where critics are given days, if not weeks, to formulate their views." - The Guardian

Are Big Stars Still A Draw On Broadway?

You bet. The relationship an audience has to a Broadway star is all the more intense for being in-person. Knowing a body in space, the parabolas of certain gestures, the side angles of expressions, the timbre of a wisecrack, the mood of a certain strut lend an illusion of kinship. - Los Angeles Times

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cinderella” Posts Closing Notice, And Some Cast Members Found Out Only Through Social Media

The West End run of ALW's latest musical will conclude on June 12. But the company was told after the Sunday matinee on a holiday weekend in Britain, and many who weren't on that day — including star Carrie Hope Fletcher — got the news the wrong way. - BBC

The Goal: Something Broadway’s Never Seen Before

After the play Strange Loop, "I told I’d purchased a refrigerator magnet from the merch table, so that every time I walk by it, I can remind myself to question the narratives that run through my mind." - The New York Times

The Hugely Successful Musical Created On/Through TikTok

Over the course of creating The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, Barlow and Bear played to other fans of the show via TikTok: They rehearsed their songs, interacted with fellow performers and contributed to the thriving creative fan culture for which the video platform has become known. - The Conversation

What Happened To Method Acting

In 2022, in our heyday of superhero blockbusters and bingeable story lines, the Method seems to be fading away. - The New York Times

Who Should Next Run The Royal Shakespeare Company?

If I were to have an absolute dream nomination, it would be a director who has conquered the fields of theatre, television and film, an Oscar and Olivier award-winning titan whose every work is a magnificent exercise in must-see spectacle — and who also built up his name at his own theatre, too. - The Critic

Beyond The-Scottish-Play-Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named: Theatre Superstitions Continue To Thrive

Never wish an actor "Good luck."  (That's why they say "Break a leg.") Never bring mirrors onstage.  Don't wear green.  (We didn't know about that one.)  Alexis Soloski speaks with several performers now on Broadway about which superstitions and rituals they observe. - The New York Times

How About An Actor In Charge Of The Royal Shakespeare Instead Of Another Director?

Why, for once, should the company not be led by an actor rather than a director – someone who combines a passion for Shakespeare with an ability to attract lustrous colleagues? - The Guardian

Exquisitely Elongated Time In Noh Drama

"Attending a performance, the first thing you might notice is the way time itself immediately slows down and takes on a stretched-out quality. You suddenly have time to notice all kinds of things. Like how long it takes the actor to walk toward center-stage from the curtain." - 3 Quarks Daily

A Brooklyn Theatre’s Idea About Reinventing Subscriptions

“It got me thinking about, essentially, what would a theatre company look like that could break with the traditional modes of arts funding? You have the not-for-profit models, you have the sort of high-capitalization corporate commercial models like Broadway and big tours.” - American Theatre

More Evidence That Shakespeare Was An Inveterate Plot-Stealer

"A rare 16th-century book offers 'compelling evidence' that William Shakespeare's Cymbeline was inspired by a now-lost play by Sir Thomas North, an Elizabethan courtier and writer, new research claims." - The Guardian

Comedy Dying? I Think Not, Says Jon Stewart

“Comedy survives every moment.” And good thing it does, Stewart said, because “comedy doesn’t change the world, but it’s a bellwether. We’re the banana peel in the coal mine. When society is under threat, comedians are the ones who get sent away first.” - Washington Post

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