The Sherman, Texas school board finalized a separation agreement with former superintendent Tyson Bennett, who had forbidden a high school production of Oklahoma! that included a transgender student in the cast. The cancellation was reversed after heavy pushback from students and parents. - The Dallas Morning News (MSN)
Well, turns out there's a history of very bad things happening during productions of "the Scottish play" going all the way back to Shakespeare's own company in 1606. Actors getting injured or killed onstage. Theaters burning down. Massive audience brawls. The 1849 Shakespeare riots in New York? Yep, over Macbeth. - Mental Floss
"The 37-year old’s directorial debut is the result of a three-force collaboration: the dance is by Peck himself to Stevens’s introspective coming-of-age album with a narrative written by playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury. A group of singers perform the album’s songs while dancers express Sibblies Drury’s storyline without uttering any lines." - The Guardian
With a season packed to the brim with late openers vying for awards attention, the 2024 Tony nominations were full of unexpected twists and turns. Here are the 10 biggest snubs and surprises. - Variety
"The musical Hell’s Kitchen, fueled by Alicia Keys songs, and the play Stereophonic, about a ‘70s rock band at the edge of stardom, each earned a leading 13 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, a list that also saw a record number of women nominated for best director." - AP
The pandemic hurt every live art, but arguably none more than improv. Not only did struggles force the sale of three of its biggest institutions (Second City, iO and U.C.B.), but the prestige surrounding the form faded as criticism mounted over business models built on free labor and racist treatment of artists. - The New York Times
Why? Well - there are a lot of eligible musicals, for one thing. And while Merrily We Roll Along is looking like a lock for Best Musical Revival, some other categories are hotly contested. - The New York Times
And not just reopen, but “one of the first productions to play the Taper after its 16-month pause will be the world premiere of Fake It Until You Make It, … the commissioned play by Larissa FastHorse that was halted just weeks before opening last year." - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo News)
Young women, whose bodies are at risk in the post-Dobbs United States, get this version, where Sally "doesn’t sing, dance or exist to please others—including, it should be said, us in the audience. Instead, we see a woman who in spite of everything, has chosen herself." - Variety
"The blades fell onto the street below in the early hours of the morning. The cause of the collapse is not clear. Police say there were no injuries. The first three letters of the Moulin Rouge sign also fell off." - BBC
"Comedian Arj Barker’s interaction with a mother who brought a seven-month-old baby to his comedy show in Melbourne on Saturday night has sparked outrage, sympathy and debate about the woman’s decision to bring her infant to the gig and his decision to ask her to leave." - The Guardian
"It was just after 3 AM on a Saturday night in South Philadelphia, and I was watching an angry inflatable chicken fight a Japanese otter mascot in the middle of a hastily assembled wrestling ring. Around me, several hundred other spectators chanted, 'Holy shit! Holy shit!'" - The Nation
"'The key learning moments for a playwright,' says writer David Eldridge, 'are when you first hear actors read the script, and when the play meets an audience. We’re incredibly rigorous in the rehearsal process. But somehow, when you put it in front of an audience, it exposes unnecessary overwriting.'" - The Guardian
In the Educational Theater Association’s most recent survey, 85 percent of American theater teachers expressed concern about censorship. Even Shakespeare is at risk: In Florida, new laws led to the restriction of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to grades 10 through 12 and “Romeo and Juliet” could not be taught. - The New York Times
