“'I was like, as long as someone is musical, any idiot can be in a band,’ Butler said. ‘I can write to whatever level.’ Later Butler realized that this was perhaps naïve.” - The New York Times
The lobby became the Vault Bar, with an elevated stage and a rotating disco-ball eye. Upstairs is the Red Bar, with dancers behind beaded curtains. Then the Green Bar has sequined fruit on the walls. Dancers move between the spaces on a tightly choreographed schedule, accompanied by a trippy musical mix. - Variety
"Five Just Stop Oil protesters have been (convicted) of aggravated trespass after they stormed a performance of Les Misérables in London's West End. Two of (them) were also found guilty of criminal damage after standing on the orchestra pit netting. … The estimated cost to the theatre of cancelling the performance was £60,000." - BBC
Alex Burns of Philadelphia's Quintessence Theatre Group has been criticized by a number of female and trans actors for, in effect, robbing them of all-too-rare opportunities. He asks, "When does the community get to abort someone else’s creative impulse or vision or claim it’s not appropriate?" - Broad Street Review (Philadelphia)
"Russian theatre director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have been added to an official list of 'terrorists and extremists' as they await trial on charges of 'justifying terrorism' … (for) an award-winning play about Russian women who married Islamic State fighters." - Reuters
"Women dressed as priestesses are at the heart of the ceremony, first held for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Leading the group is an actress who performs the role of high priestess and makes a dramatic appeal to Apollo ... for assistance moments before the torch is lit." - AP
If Broadway feels more expensive than ever before, that’s because it is. Despite crowds that haven’t rebounded to pre-COVID levels, the average ticket price for a Broadway show reached an all time high: $128 in the most recent full season. - Gothamist
“Her plays, inventive provocations whose sometimes scathing visions of race and gender can unsettle audiences, have something to tell us about the troublesome relationship between individual identity and national community” - and they’re having a bit of a renaissance. - The New York Times
“You know, at Ford’s we have an obligation. We have an obligation to the facts. We have an obligation to truth, we have an obligation to, you know, be respectful and be reverential. This is a memorial site. It’s a national historical site.” - The New York Times
Some have attributed the trend to the tourists who fill many of the seats at Broadway shows; they may be less familiar with theater and therefore especially enthusiastic. But standing ovations are the default even at shows and plays that attract few tourists. - The New York Times
Critical Insight is "a new generative arts journalism fellowship that will bring the best in the field to early-career and aspiring critics through mentorship, professional insight, arts experiences, and an immersive regional theatre retreat." - American Theatre
"Staged at a massive round table for 25 audience members, covered with 330 pounds of dried Irish peat," Luke Casserly's Distillation "is not easy to pigeonhole. It’s part TED Talk, part community-building and part campfire story, during which Casserly speaks at times in the voice of the bog." - The Washington Post (MSN)
"A small sector of New York’s theatrical economy and one that has for years been somewhere between difficult and dormant, is back in business." One key factor: location downtown. "There are several generations of potential audience members who will not go above 14th Street." - The New York Times
Even well-established comedians and other artists say that the costs, particularly for housing ("pure greed"), have soared to prohibitive levels, especially for those just starting out. Fringe officials say they're doing what they can to help. - BBC
