Because of the constant need to fundraise, says the outgoing director of the Wilma in Philadelphia, "the people who are actually creating the work are the only people who are freelancers. How do you run theaters when you are surrounded by administrative staff only?" - The New York Times
While it is laudable that these theatres no longer run programs that contribute to the industry’s holding pattern of inequity, complete cancellation is ultimately a failure of imagination. - Howlround
I do think that there is a new energy, there’s a new kind of way of engaging with live performance that is very exciting. You see all these non-traditional spaces opening up because of what happened in 2020, because of the economy, because there are more spaces available to artists to take over." - Howlround
The Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater "champions Puerto Rican and Latino artists and produces original bilingual plays and musicals," and is about to build a new center in the South Bronx. - The New York Times
Will a larger, more activist union make things fairer? Or will business remain more or less as usual? "We asked several industry sources and union folks to give us their best guesses and hopes about how this momentous change will play out." - American Theatre
Actors' Equity is requiring vaccinations. COVID safety officers are being added to production teams, and a leading epidemiologist has been hired to train them. Peter Marks looks into how the new measures are being put into practice. - The Washington Post
"His fall from grace in the mid-1950s was sudden and unexpected. From the mid-1930s he'd been the darling of the West End." Then along came the British theatre's Angry Young Men, followed by critic Kenneth Tynan, whose savaging torpedoed Rattigan's plays for a generation. - The Stage
"I hope that the theatre generally, will be open to the idea that when you limit yourself to doing only primarily white theatre for primarily white audiences, there is well over half the city you are excluding.” - American Theatre
First, Stephen Sondheim couldn’t come up with songs because he didn't think James Lapine's script needed any. So began a cascade of calamities, right up to the Broadway opening, until the show shocked everyone involved by getting 10 Tony nominations and a Pulitzer Prize. - The New York Times
I felt ashamed of my mistake, for not seeing a colleague for who he really is. “How limited your perception is, Lily!” I thought. And: “I wonder how much else I miss?” Probably, I decided, quite a bit. - San Francisco Chronicle
"Generosity for generosity's sake will only hasten (critics') redundancy. But candor and compassion aren't antithetical terms." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
Seeing theatre changed people’s behavior. After seeing the plays, people donated more to charity — whether or not the charity was related to the topics in the plays.” - Psypost
The post-pandemic (and possibly post-45) change: "As theater returns to robust live-ness, Washington has been cast in a significant role once again, as a test-market locale with sophisticated theater tastes." - Washington Post
