COVID arrived at a bad time for Sarasota's Westcoast Black Theater Troupe: it had just opened a new venue in February 2020. Luckily, "one of the only major Black companies in a smaller American city … seems to be in a good place these days." - The New York Times
Not-for-profit theatres contributed nearly $2.1 billion to the U.S. economy and attracted 23 million attendees, according to Theatre Facts 2020. SMU Data Arts
The Company Members (current and former artists who are the legal owners of the troupe) say they never intended Circus Oz to close. The Board says the Members knew that, if they rejected proposed governance changes (which they did), government funding would be cut entirely. - The Guardian
The absolute worst time to win, perhaps, but Michael R. Jackson's Strange Loop somehow persisted through every theatre in the world being dark and every potential audience member on lockdown. - NPR
Even as the new movie is playing in theatres, "everything about how West Side Story has unfolded suggests opera might be an ideal form to move the needle." - Los Angeles Times
The government agencies that provide 75% of Circus Oz's budget told the company that it must revamp its board and governance or lose funding. The Company Members (anyone who performed with it for at least three years) rejected that demand by a 3-to-1 margin. - ArtsHub (Australia)
"One of the main reasons theater here has been able to rebound after repeated closures is that Germany effectively has a standing army of actors, most of whom continued to receive most of their salaries during the monthslong stretches when stages were dark." - The New York Times
The structure of the Delacorte Theater in Central Park is deteriorating, and the renovation had been expected, before the pandemic, to run from 2020 to 2022. Revised plans have now been submitted, with construction to start next fall. - Gothamist
"In Assassins, the gun serves not as a tool of self-defense … but as an instrument of self-expression and self-realization. The assassins, who saw themselves as the 'good guys with guns,' are, in a perverse way, the epitome of American individualism." - The Conversation
Assassins — "It wasn't exactly a flop, but it's not exactly celebrated, either. … The songs are just as catchy, melodic, and surprising as most Sondheim, … but is there ever a good time to mount a musical in America about assassins?" - Salon
While co-founders Natalia Kaliada and Nikolai Khalezin had to leave Belarus in 2011 and are settled in London, other members of the company continued to clandestinely stage political dramas in Minsk and other cities — until this latest crisis and crackdown. - The Guardian
If theater matters differently than television and film it’s not just because you have to leave your home to be part of it, but also because you have to enter someone else’s. - The New York Times
Ivo van Hove's passion for movies has affected everything about his direction, from the use of video on stage to the themes he pursues. - The Guardian (UK)
