Michael Longhurst, who took the top job at the small and extremely successful theatre in 2019, will depart when his five-year contract ends in 2024. (He also expressed confidence that the Donmar would remain financially healthy despite the loss of its Arts Council England funding.) - WhatsOnStage (London)
A new Some Like It Hot musical tries to balance painful depictions "and the rich reality of drag as art, self-expression, and everything in between. But can a revision of an old story featuring harmful stereotypes ever truly be a vehicle for authentic representation?" - The Takeaway
"Dallas Mayor pro tem Omar Narvaez brought up the issue of 'sticker shock' at the very start of the meeting early Tuesday. In 2010, a master plan put renovating the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed theater at $25 million." The current expected cost? $308 million. - KERA (Dallas)
Hayley Finn, 48, is a career-long specialist in new plays and has conducted workshops for nearly 1,000 scripts. She's currently associate artistic director of the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis. - MSN (The Washington Post)
Funding for the King's Theatre rehab had been secured at the project's original budget of £25.7 million, but COVID-related delays, supply chain issues and inflation have increased the cost by £8.9 million — and management says necessary work can't start until the extra money has been raised. - The Scotsman
Almost every show, even ones that closed relatively quickly, created a cast album. And "some improve on the shows they preserve merely by jettisoning most or mercifully all of the book. In other cases, you can actually hear what the authors had in mind." - The New York Times
"Equity is calling for a pay increase of 17% in year one, and a further 10% in year two. Other demands include a five-day rehearsal week as opposed to the current six days, and an increase in holiday entitlement from 28 days to 34." Any walkout would happen around Easter. - BBC
Six productions — including A Strange Loop, Topdog/Underdog, and Death of a Salesman — closed last weekend, having struggled at the box office despite good reviews. Yet all saw ticket sales rise in their final week, and a few had the highest grosses of their runs. - Broadway News
"The first phases of the gay play, crucial in their moment (the second half of the 20th century), are over. The spotlight has passed from that narrow band of the LGBTQ rainbow, and the specific drama of coming out, to a much wider and wilder journey." - The New York Times
"The more that I've reflected on it, it really makes sense to me that A Strange Loop would be a supernova that cuts across the firmament and then explodes. It's not necessarily a piece of art that’s meant to fill a commercial need indefinitely." - The New York Times
This summer's season will have six shows, down from 11 pre-pandemic and eight in 2022. AD Nataki Garrett: "Our numbers have come in between 46 and 50 percent of people returning, which is the same return rate as most theatres across the country." - American Theatre
"Here Lies Love will be produced in the fully immersive, mostly standing-room format that was an essential element in its world premiere engagement ... and subsequent productions. That immersive setting had posed the greatest challenge in getting the show on Broadway, where ripping the seats out is not an every-year occurrence." - Variety
Theater involves “active learning” — getting up on your feet to take in information, rather than merely sitting at a desk. “When you put something in your body, it’s more durable, it lasts longer, and you remember it longer.” - Washington Post
OSF has recently been trying to offset deficits from the pandemic’s impact, including reducing its number of shows each season, shortening its calendar for performances and diversifying the shows it offers. “OSF realizes it must invest in a strategy that will impact the long-term success of the organization.” - Oregon Public Broadcasting
Stephanie Ybarra is resigning, effective March 31, to become a program officer at the Mellon Foundation. Taking over as interim artistic director is Ken-Matt Martin, whose firing by the Victory Gardens board last June, and the ensuing turmoil, was 2022's biggest story in US regional theater. - MSN (The Baltimore Sun)
