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THEATRE

Producers Can Make A Fortune Presenting Movie Stars In Broadway Plays. The Stars Themselves? Maybe Not.

Really famous stars anchoring and co-producing a show — George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, Bette Midler — can negotiate a good percentage of profit for themselves.  Most well-known movie and TV stars, however, get paid what looks like a hefty salary for stage actors but is nothing close to what they earn for screen work. - Forbes

Almeida Theatre, London’s Pint-Sized Powerhouse, Appoints Dominic Cooke Artistic Director

The 325-seat playhouse in Islington, which has a long history of spawning award winners and West End and Broadway hits, has chosen Cooke, formerly of the Royal Court Theatre, to succeed Rupert Goold (who’s moving on to the Old Vic) next year. - The Guardian

Edinburgh Fringe Loses Major Sponsor, Seeks City Help

No new sponsor has been found for the Fringe to replace Johnnie Walker, Fringe chiefs have admitted, as they draw up plans to demand tourist levy funds from Edinburgh Council. - The Scotsman

How The Broadway Cast Of “Purpose” Coped With Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Constant Rewrites

Glenn Davis: “The hardest day I’ve ever had as an actor: Branden rewrote our two scenes in the second act. ... We rehearsed the new scene that day, and then performed the old scene that night. And that was a juggling act because I got two scenes in my head.” - The New York Times

Philly Gets A Brand-New Festival Of Nouveau Circus

“The new 10-day event, the Philadelphia Contemporary Circus Festival, features more than 24 exhibitions, workshops, and artist showcases throughout Old City and Camden, … (offering) offers audiences a look into circus operatic singers, acrobat-led theater dramas, and comedic oral histories led by, of course, a ‘professor clown.’” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

McNulty: Here’s What Play Ought To Win The Tony This Year

There was a time not so long ago when the future of the Broadway play was in serious doubt. The threat hasn’t gone away, and Tony voters shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to honor true playwriting excellence. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Is AI Coming For Backstage Jobs?

Or, excuse us, we mean, is it bringing a “revolution” to theatre? - The Stage (UK)

The Newest Hint That There’s Strong Interest In Off-Broadway Shows

“There are a lot of really beautiful shows that just are never going to attract the audience, and/or support the budget, that you increasingly need to put on a flashy Broadway show.” So? Commercial theatre returns to Off Broadway. - The New York Times

The Man Who Brings Celebs To Broadway

Director Jamie Lloyd, who’s brought Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Nicole Scherzinger to Broadway, says, “It’s about creating an event rather than just a theater piece.” - Washington Post (Yahoo)

What A Show Day Is Like For A Tony-Nominated Performer

The physical preparation is truly its own full-time job. Red light therapy, vocal therapy, physical therapy, a trainer, two hours of warm-up, three people to set her wig and sew her into her first costume … and then Megan Hill is on. - The New York Times

Patti LuPone Apologizes To Audra McDonald, Kecia Lewis

But will anyone on Broadway believe her? - The New York Times

Guthrie Theater In Minneapolis Bounces Back From Financial Debacle

After a record $3.8 million shortfall on a $32 million budget in fiscal 2023, the Guthrie has made a dramatic turnaround. For fiscal 2024 (which ended last Aug. 31), the company’s deficit on its $29.6 million budget was only $85,578, far lower than the anticipated $1 million gap. - The Minnesota Star Tribune

How AI Is Changing Theatre

We’re currently “embedded in the fourth industrial revolution” and points out that, like in previous revolutions, there is always a period of disruption and “disconnect” that follows the advent of a new technology. - The Stage

Artforum Attempts The Near-Impossible: Describing the Experience Of Watching A Richard Foreman Play

“Regularly staged behind large Plexiglas sheets that forced the audience to watch reflections of themselves perceiving the show, the plays had mesmerizing ways of generating momentary amnesia in viewers. It was far more than just spacing out." - Artforum

Diversity Is Now Deeply Embedded In Today’s Theatre

"After a weekend of seeing four very different plays at four unique theatres, the word that hung in my mind was diversity. So many people have talked, trained, cried, pushed, borrowed, and begged for the theatre to be a place of multitudes. That's why the sociopolitical tumult of the current moment is especially piercing." - American Theatre

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