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THEATRE

Hey – Theatre Kids Are Running The World!

All of these power-adult former theater kids exist in a moment when the very things that used to make drama-loving teenagers an easy punchline have become strengths. Today, performing an outsize version of oneself is often rewarded. - The New York Times

Where Have Theatre Audiences Gone?

One expert says theatres have to invest in kids to inculcate a cultural habit "they might enjoy as they get older" - but, she adds, people in their 30s and 40s can't afford houses, so theatre as cultural investment? Unlikely. - Oregon ArtsWatch

How Actor Lea Salonga Relaxes Between Performances Of Here Lies Love

Her PlayStation 5 is key, she says - and the K-Pop stars BTS. - The New York Times

It’s Time To Embrace ‘Bad’ Audience Behavior

After all, they're live. That's what we want - energy. - The Guardian (UK)

There Goes Another: Public Theater Of San Antonio “Pauses” Its 2023-24 Season

As with so many other US regional theaters, a post-pandemic cash crunch to put on hold all five of its scheduled productions for the coming season and undertake a $500,000 "Save the Playhouse" emergency fundraising campaign. When performances will resume depends on how much money is raised. - San Antonio Report

Theater In Chicago Is Facing A Lot Of Problems. Here’s One Of The Least Talked About.

Besides the much-discussed problems facing most American theaters, and that leadership at many of the city's companies has changed virtually all at once, there's this: "what once were internal disputes, such as debates over hiring, programming and the allocation of scarce resources, (have spilled) over into the public sphere." - Chicago Tribune

How August Wilson Changed Theatre

"He was viscerally aware that the essence of dramatic art is found in the living, breathing doing of it with a collective cast of participants—actors, directors, producers, mentors, audiences. Reworking isn’t failure. Indeed, Wilson the bluesman rewrote and remixed in real time, improvising and experimenting his way to mastery and historical revelation." The Atlantic

40-Year-Old Portland Oregon Theatre Shuts Down, Blames “National Crisis” In Theatre

Leaders of Portland’s Artists Repertory Theatre announced on Tuesday they are canceling the 2023-24 season, just as the company was beginning rehearsals for one of the shows it planned to produce. - Oregon Public Broadcasting

Bread And Puppet Theater’s Founder Is 89. What Happens When He Finally Passes Away?

"'(It's) always been an iffy little enterprise that depends way too much on me,” said Peter Schumann. 'Is it sustainable when I'm gone and will people recognize it as important?' Those questions remain unanswered as Schumann's incessant creation of new work keeps the focus on the present." - The New York Times

Edinburgh Fringe: On The Road To Terminal Decline?

"I’ve been talking with many here this summer, from producers to those who run venues to the artists themselves, and I’m struck by how many think the fringe is in deep trouble already. One producer I spoke to likened it to climate change." - The Stage

Has The Edinburgh Fringe Regained Its Magic? Or Is It An Atrocity of Chaos?

Depending on whom you listen to, fringe 2023 is an atrocity against mental health, social justice and artists’ bank accounts. Or it is a phoenix-from-the-ashes rebirth of the world’s biggest arts festival after the Covid hiatus and last year’s tetchy, partial re-emergence. - The Guardian

Stand-Up Comedians Vs. A.I.: Can The Bots Win?

"Until recently, comedy has been seen as so quintessentially human that it was assumed A.I. would kill humanity before it would at a club. But since the rise of large language models like ChatGPT less than a year ago, this common wisdom no longer applies." - The New York Times

Directors Of Theatres All Over Britain Are Resigning Because The Job Is So Miserable These Days

"While larger institutions ... can still attract and keep good artistic directors, regional theatres and arts centres are struggling. A job heading of one of these offers the same stress, accountability and long hours, but on a smaller budget and with a smaller salary." - The Observer (UK)

The Fantasticks, Weirdly, Had A Four-Decade And Massively Quiet Journey From Stage To Screen

Perhaps it's time to revive the film of the stage version? But early on, "there was good reason to think that a film version could be viable, at least before the bottom fell out for movie musicals around the end of the 1960s." - Variety

North Carolina Theatre Ends ‘Redface’ And Hires Native Actors

"The Lost Colony is guided by Littleturtle, a Native American storyteller. Where the Indian characters that colonists confronted once spoke gibberish and pidgin English, they now sing authentic tribal songs and speak Algonquian." - Washington Post

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