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THEATRE

George Clooney “Good Night, And Good Luck” Breaks Broadway Box Office Record

“Two weeks after the Denzel Washington- and Jake Gyllenhaal-led Othello broke the record for top gross in one week by a Broadway play, the George Clooney-led Good Night, and Good Luck has broken that record to become the top grossing show on Broadway with $3.3 million last week.” - Playbill

Recovering The Great American Musical Nobody Thought Could Be Recovered

Love Life, composer Kurt Weill’s only collaboration with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, seemed like a very promising project. But its debut didn’t go over well — Broadway wasn’t ready for a concept musical in 1948 — and circumstances led to almost no trace of the show surviving. Until now. - The New York Times

Who’s Getting The Highest Ticket Prices On Broadway (Not Just The A-List Movie Stars)

Earlier this week, we tracked down what the top ticket cost was to see each of these stars at the evening performance on Saturday, Mar. 22. Like any great piece of theater that warrants a second mortgage in order to afford to see, the results took us by surprise! - The Daily Beast

The Clown Car Didn’t Use To Have Any Room For Women

But, centuries in, things may be changing. - The New York Times

The Long Overdue Return Of A Great American Musical

Love Life premiered in 1948 “as a new show with music by Kurt Weill, and a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. ... Stephen Sondheim got himself a ticket, as did his future collaborator Hal Prince.” But it was never recorded, and seemed lost. - The New York Times

The Writer Of Buena Vista Social Club, Now On Broadway, Is Passionate About Protecting The Music

"I’ve felt a little bit like Indiana Jones running through a temple where tons of things are being thrown at you and you’re just trying to save the one beautiful thing because you’re like, “This belongs in a museum.’” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

In UK Prisons, A Theatre Program Helps Save Lives

That’s what one formerly incarcerated woman says. “This company came into jail and turned, not just my life around, but hundreds of other people’s. … They really, really, did save me.” - BBC

A New Report On The State Of Theatre Isn’t Exactly Reassuring

“None of the indicators show full recovery from pre-pandemic levels. And though the pre-Covid years may look booming in hindsight, many of the issues that have battered the field since 2020 were in fact long-standing and systemic, and are still being worked through.” - American Theatre

Meet Idina Menzel’s Latest Broadway Co-Star: A Tree

Stella, as she’s called, is the title character in the new show Redwood, and she has been very carefully designed. - The Christian Science Monitor

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Director Jumps To Lincoln Center

Maria Manuela Goyanes is heading to New York’s Lincoln Center Theater, where she will be artistic director of LCT3, a black-box space devoted to developing new work, as well as a producer on other projects across the organization. - Washington Post

Jury Duty As Theatre, Or Theatre As Jury Duty

“Jury Games (is) one of several immersive theater productions that are taking jury service … and repackaging it as entertainment. Similar experiences will be popping up in cities around the world this year, including The Jury Experience in … North America and Europe, and Murder Trial Tonight, touring Britain.” - The New York Times

Hugh Jackman And Sonia Friedman Launch Transatlantic Theatre Production Partnership

The Hollywood and Broadway superstar actor and the West End and Broadway super-producer, working in partnership with director Ian Rickson, have formed a joint venture called Together. The company will focus on fully-staged-but-stripped-down productions in small venues, aiming for performances both intimate and affordable. - Deadline

Why Beckett Is Perennially Relevant (But Especially Now)

Beckett is perennially timely because his works concern themselves with those eternal questions that the political emergencies of the day cannot override. Even as we confront impossible times, we remain planted in that greater impossibility — human existence. - Los Angeles Times

Two Major Theater Figures Are Working On A New James Taylor Musical

Tony- and Pulitzer-winning actor-playwright Tracy Letts (August: Osage County and The Minutes) is writing the story and book for the jukebox show, titled Fire and Rain, and another Tony winner, David Cromer (The Band’s Visit), will direct. - Variety

Going On A Fool’s Journey

“I wanted the benefits of clowning, namely feeling comfortable and even coming to enjoy reading my work in public, without any of the scary bits (and clowns in America have quite a scary reputation).” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

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