ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

THEATRE

National Black Theatre Prepares to Move Into Building Worthy Of Its Work

CEO Sadie Lythcott says, "Our artistic ambition was always stifled by the space that we had." Come 2027, NBT will move into a block-long complex with two theaters, a set-building shop and affordable artist housing, all on 125th Street in Harlem. - The Guardian

How Does Lin-Manuel Miranda Decide What Projects To Pursue?

“If it’s just one idea, it will probably die in the impulse phase. If the idea opens avenues and you see many more roads, that’s worth pursuing. It doesn’t leave you alone.” - Fast Company

The Most Devoted Fans Of Sleep No More Are Mourning Its Eventual End

And they’re going to see it again - and again, and again. Not that that’s unusual. - Washington Post

Exit Interview: Rufus Norris On Running London’s National Theatre

Known for his lack of grandness, Norris is reluctant to offer up high-minded pronouncements on his departure. - The Guardian

A Theater Critic Watches A Show From Backstage. Fittingly, It’s “The Play That Goes Wrong”

Lily Janiak writes that she was reminded — very gladly — of just how many things go right to pull off a farce like this one so successfully. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

In A Metro Atlanta Town That’s Half Hispanic, A Theater Company Goes Bilingual

Merely Players Presents was founded in Doraville, a DeKalb County suburb whose population is 45% Hispanic, in 2018. This year, for the first time, the company did dual productions of a play, Nilo Cruz's Anna in the Tropics, in English and Spanish, reaching an audience that local theaters rarely connect with. - ArtsATL

Scripts About Politics Lead List Of Most-Produced Plays In U.S.

For the second year running, Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me is the country's most-produced play, and in fifth place is Selina Fillinger’s POTUS: Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. - The New York Times

Roundabout Theater Company, Broadway’s Nonprofit Powerhouse, Names New Artistic Director

Christopher Ashley, artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse in California and known for directing the Broadway hit Come From Away, will succeed longtime Roundabout chief Todd Haimes, who died last year. - Variety

Christopher Marlowe Had A Co-Author For “Dr. Faustus,” Says Researcher

"Scholars have long suggested that Marlowe had a collaborator for the comic scenes of his classic play, although his name alone is on the 1604 published edition. Now a largely forgotten dramatist, Henry Porter, has emerged as the likely co-author, based on comparative linguistic evidence ... from his surviving play." - The Guardian

Does “The Show Must Go On” Create Unhealthy Workplaces?

Theatre workers across the sector have now described to The Stage how they feel pressure to "power through" all but the most extreme health conditions due to financial insecurity and a "strict" culture. - The Stage

“La Haine,” Revelatory Film About Paris’s Suburban Slums, Is Now A Stage Musical

Matthieu Kassovitz's 1995 prize-winner is still considered the reference film about the crisis in France's suburban housing projects. After almost 30 years, Kassovitz and stage director Serge Denoncourt have turned it into a hip-hop musical — with the new subtitle "So Far, Nothing Has Changed." - AP

Meredith Monk’s Deep Desire To Help Humans Connect Through Performance

Meredith Monk, in her 60th year of performing: “We are all on this plane. … We’re all born, we’re all going to die, and we all want to be happy, so why are we wasting our time?” - The New York Times

The Drag Queens Of France, Internationally Derided By Right-Wingers, Come Back Strong

France was late to American-style drag, but as at the Olympics, it’s now prominent. So: “Answering hatred with glitter is a time-honored drag tradition, and Drag Race France Live, which premiered in Paris this week, showed French drag in defiant form.” - The New York Times

Ellen Armstrong Was Segregated Black America’s Preeminent Magician And Performer

The act of the only Black woman magician touring during Jim Crow “was fun, full of 'marvelous, mystifying magic, music and mirth,’ as her advertising posters said, … cautioning that she ‘will not pay for doctor bills if you faint from laughter.’” - The New York Times

Lin-Manuel Miranda Gives Status Of Possible “The Warriors” Musical

This project started, as Hamilton did, as a concept album, which is being released next month. Miranda said that he won't proceed with creating and producing a stage show until he sees how the album is received. - Fast Company

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss

function my_excerpt_length($length){ return 200; } add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_excerpt_length');