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THEATRE

Lunchtime Theatre, With A Pint? How Very British

Actually - how very Scottish. A Play, A Pie, and A Pint premiered in Glasgow in 2004 and hasn’t stopped (aside from the early days of COVID-19) producing 48 new plays a year ever since. - BBC

How To Get Broadway Out Of Its Winter Doldrums? Let Audience Members Ride The “Sweeney Todd” Death Slide

In the current staging, Sweeney's barbershop is above the stage; when he slits a customer's throat, he pulls a lever that sends the victim down a slide into Mrs. Lovett's basement. Under the tag "A Bad Idea Worth Considering," Rebecca Alter points out that slide's underutilized revenue potential. Wheeeeee! - Vulture (MSN)

Another San Francisco Theater Has To Do An Emergency Donate-Or-We-Close-Down Campaign

"Cutting Ball Theater, the 25-year-old company known for form-breaking new plays and rejuvenated classics, ... says it needs to raise $45,000 by March 1 and $200,000 by June, out of a $750,000 annual budget, in order to stay open." - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

Second City Has Opened Its New York City Branch

"The new site (in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood) is less of a traditional comedy club than it is a sort of small campus for comedy aficionados. The 12,000-square-foot, two-floor complex includes two cabaret-style live theaters, a training center …, and a restaurant bar called The Bentwood." - Time Out New York

How Arizona Theatre Company Thrives In Two Homes

“What people don’t realize is that in a $6 million budget, the expenses in Phoenix are only $1 million more. We netted close to $2 million more by being in two cities; we got two bats with only one batter." - American Theatre

For This Brazilian City’s Carnival, The Giant Street Puppets Come Out

In Olinda, a town on the northern coast near Recife whose historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage site, the puppets range from the traditional Midnight Man and Daytime Woman (and their son, Afternoon Boy) to David Bowie, James Brown, and the John Travolta of Saturday Night Fever. - The New York Times

One Of London’s Best Theatres For New Plays May Have To Lay Off Its Literary Department

"The Royal Court is known for putting the names of emerging playwrights up in lights for the first time, but … (its) literary department is struggling to survive as the venue on Sloane Square, renowned for staging risk-taking shows over 60 years, makes swingeing cuts in order to keep going." - The Guardian

Will This Production Of “The Wiz” Change How Broadway Does Business?

“Broadway and the road have gone through different eras and phases, and it will continue to morph, but we may be beginning a chapter of something new. Because this works artistically, it works economically, and so far, it’s been very exciting to do it this way.” - Los Angeles Times

Hezbollah Goes Into The Immersive Theater Business

No, this is not a joke, though Robert F. Worth thought it was, when he first saw the announcement that the Lebanese Shiite militant group was staging an "immersive theatrical performance" titled The Crossing, complete with live gunfire and Hamas-style tunnels. - The Atlantic (MSN)

Actors Equity Authorizes Strike Over Development Pay

"We know there is no revenue from the development sessions themselves, but it’s still work, and that doesn’t change whether there’s revenue today or whether it’s an investment producers are making against future profits. And that work must be appropriately compensated.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Ralph Fiennes: Time To Get Rid Of Trigger Warnings In The Theatre

Fiennes, 61, renowned for his roles in Schindler’s List and the Harry Potter films and currently starring in a touring production of Macbeth, said audiences should be “shocked and disturbed”. - The Guardian

Theatre Leaders In Kansas City Vow To Rebuild After Fire Guts Historic Building

This year was the Metropolitan Theater Ensemble’s fifth year in the Warwick Theatre building, which "originally opened on Sept. 26, 1914, and seated 1,200.” Though the theatre’s structure wasn’t damaged, "the costumes, electrical system and dressing rooms were destroyed." - Yahoo News (Kansas City Star)

How To Create A Musical With A Deaf Main Character

Never forget Deaf and hard-of-hearing audience members; audio signals must be matched with visual cues. And “finding the right actor to enlist as Jones — a deaf character who tricks his fellow soldiers into thinking he’s hearing and carries much of the show’s vocals — also proved critical." - Washington Post

Ralph Fiennes Wants Theatre To Be More Affordable, And More Surprising

That he, he’s so very finished with content warnings for something like the Scottish play, which he and Indira Varma star in. He said theatre should “shock and disturb,” and added, “I don’t think you should be prepared for these things." - BBC

Method Acting Can Actually Empower Women Actors (Despite What Natalie Portman Says)

Portman, who plays a method actress in May December, called method acting "a luxury women cannot afford." But acting professor Evi Stamatiou points out that "most accounts of the method style focus on male actors misbehaving under the guise of the character" and there are much better approaches. - The Conversation (ArtsHub)

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