Michael Billington: “There is more to (Arthur Miller’s play) than a single political parallel and, whenever I see the play, I am struck by its capacity to take on new meanings and to reflect the pressure of the times. I would cite three revivals in proof.” - The Guardian
Tim Crouch’s An Oak Tree, written to be performed by Crouch and a new actor each night, depicts a meeting between a father (the actor) whose 12-year-old daughter was killed in a crash and the man (Crouch) driving the other vehicle. The actor must be completely unfamiliar with the piece. - The Guardian
“(The show) brought in $4,003,481.50 last week, becoming the first Broadway play to surpass $4 million in a single week. The play also broke its own record, yet again, as the highest grossing play in Broadway history … (after it) received five Tony Award nominations, including one for Clooney.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“Performers and stage managers at Chicago’s venerable comedy venue The Second City are threatening to strike if they are unable to reach an agreement with management over wage increases. … Negotiations between Actors Equity and leadership at The Second City have been ongoing since February; … the current contract expired April 13.” - WBEZ (Chicago)
This is his first Pulitzer, though he has been a finalist twice before. The production, directed by Phylicia Rashad, originated at Steppenwolf in Chicago and is currently on Broadway. The other finalists for this year's award were Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! and Itamar Moses’s The Ally. - The Hollywood Reporter
The most memorable offerings didn’t care a whit about product-testing strategies. What marketing genius, for instance, could have predicted that “Maybe Happy Ending,” a jazz-infused rom-com about robots and mortality that originated in South Korea. - Los Angeles Times
The show was staffed with early-career, non-unionized theatermakers, and they received no severance pay or other compensation when producers abruptly ended the run. When that news reached social media, some “angel investors” came together to help the suddenly jobless cast and crew. - Playbill
Oh Mary!, Sunset Boulevard, John Proctor Is the Villain, George Clooney, Nicole Scherzinger and others are among the nominees. (Conspicuously missing are Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal for Othello.) And, of course, Audra is nominated for, and may well win, her seventh Tony. - TheWrap
Forty-two productions are eligible for Tony Award nominations this year – the announcements come Thursday morning – making many of the categories very, very competitive. - Deadline
“The cartoons were perplexing to me because the music they used is so far beyond what I would relate to,” he explains. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved it. I just didn’t have any idea how to make that kind of music. I had no (effing) clue what I was doing.” - Vulture
“The premise may seem absurd but that is precisely the point – absurdism is a way of dealing with themes that have proved ... divisive and even explosive to debate.” Deborah Levy’s play 50 Minutes “explores everything from anxiety and panic to the fearful silence around a subject matter deemed taboo.” - The Guardian
And a challenge: "We never wanted the amount of Spanish to take people out of the story. … So it’s been a kind of a dance as we figure out the right balance.” - The New York Times
The space near the OSF campus “featured a raised stage area, intimate seating in-the-round on folding chairs, and ample shade from the surrounding trees. It served as a natural, open-air theater that felt both rustic and inviting” - and COVID-19 safe. - Oregon ArtsWatch
“Something that always has to be true is: Will this story make the world a better place in some way? It’s a big question—but why tell a story if it isn’t going to move the audience forward?” - American Theatre
“In addition to feeding the fandom, the play, written by Kate Trefry, who is also a writer on the Netflix series, is set up as a prequel to the events in the streaming show and may inform some of what’s to come in the next season.” - The Hollywood Reporter
