Yes, it's because of Brexit: a statement from a company spokesperson said that "the potential additional costs for visas and current uncertainty around social security contributions mean regrettably it is currently not financially viable. We hope that in future we'll return to tour in Europe. However, that will not be possible until we have further clarity on these points."...
Last summer, after the pandemic led to the layoff of two-thirds of the company's staff and accusations by alumni of color of serious race issues, co-owner and executive producer Andrew Alexander resigned; in October, he put Second City up for sale. Final purchase negotiations are now reportedly underway with private equity firm ZMC, which is owned by the CEO...
A British employment tribunal unanimously rejected Seyi Omooba's claims of breach of contract and religious discrimination, finding that "there is no breach of contract because the claimant was in prior repudiatory breach … the contract was empty because the claimant would not have played the part, and her conduct, pulling out at a late stage, had she not been...
In the last seven months, there has been a groundswell of support for Black-owned businesses and nonprofits that are focused on specifically and directly helping the Black community. People have recognized that to dismantle a flawed system, we need to invest in a new one. After decades of talk about funding theatres and artists of color, some are finally...
"The result is a worldwide swarm of approaches that have profoundly opened up the possibilities of the form, most likely for good. The word ‘theatre’ stands at the starting post, all but outgrown. It now applies as much to something happening in the palm of your hand as it does to an event beamed to you from a thousand...
Lyn Gardner: "At their best, are creative powerhouses, community hubs, a place of inspiration, succour and sanctuary. But often they come with self-perpetuating, top-down hierarchies" — not to mention burdensome running costs — "and fuel a self-importance around that building that keeps it from connecting with local networks, unknown artists, and from practices that do not conform to...
Comedian Mike Ward made a bad joke about a teenager with a disability back in 2010. The victim sued and the case is now in the Supreme Court. Many comedians are supporting Ward. "The support comes amid concern in stand-up comedy circles that it's found itself pulled into the debate around political correctness, free speech, censorship, and cancel culture....
Howard Sherman, author of a new book about the play: "It's a play that people think they know. People want to paint it as this old-fashioned love letter to the past. And that's not what it is at all." - NPR
All of this is true: "An effort to keep the industry alive has major stars taking to the virtual stage and much-lauded past productions available for streaming. These productions can’t compare with the energy of a full theater, but what they make up in accessibility is something that can’t be underestimated." - The New York Times
Of course, "The British weather does not always help. A valiant 'drive-through' production of La Bohème staged in a car park by English National Opera last year did encounter problems owing to high winds: sometimes the elements cannot be entirely outfoxed. Nevertheless, the more sagacious arts organisations are looking ahead to alfresco possibilities." - The Guardian (UK)
First there was Ratatouille: The Musical or Ratatousical, which raised more than a million dollars for actors, with the no doubt bemused blessing of Disney. Then TikTok went sea chanty. Now? It's Bridgerton: The Musical. (Bridgertousical?) "Barlow and Bear's frequent postings on social media have drawn lots of attention, including from Bridgerton cast members. And the pair says they've been approached...
Well, that sounds hokey. But it's powerful, a program from Georgetown that, a co-founder says, shows "there is a particular power that performance has, to allow us to listen deeply, bear witness and ultimately empathize with each other." - Washington Post
"Peter Barnes had 14 soliloquies on BBC Radio 3 under the umbrella titles Barnes' People and More Barnes' People. They attracted remarkable actors, including Laurence Olivier (in his final role), Judi Dench, Alec Guinness, Alan Rickman, Janet Suzman and Jeremy Irons. Barnes wrote, though, a 15th monologue, which the BBC, in mysterious circumstances, withdrew from production in 1990....
What you get is writer-performer Kris Andersson's Dixie’s Happy Hour, "a 95-minute performance streamed to patrons of 21 arts centers and theaters across the country. … A year into the pandemic, streaming shows are nothing new, but Andersson's approach of a touring schedule rather than a one-off with a particular theater is novel. As is his profit-sharing model: Hosting...
“We are thinking that we will have a slate of work with both digital and in-person opportunities. Because digital is not going away. We’re in a digital space. There’s a lot to figure out from a union standpoint, an actors’ standpoint from all sorts of things about how we stay in the space, but I believe that it’s here...
