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THEATRE

Defining The Nonbinary Play

A nonbinary playwright takes a crack at it. "There will be many holes in this amorphous theatrical survey, and I hope other non-binary creators will fill them. ... However, the impossibility of completion is no excuse to shy away from the urgency of starting." - American Theatre

Inside The Transformation Of Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” From Movie To Stage

Derailed by COVID-19 for two years, Almost Famous is set to open on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater in November. - Vanity Fair

Second City To Open A Branch In Brooklyn

"The improv stage and training center, based in Chicago since 1959, announced on Thursday that it would open a location in New York City for the first time."  The theater and classroom facility will begin operating next summer in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood. - The New York Times

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Aspects Of Love” Is Being Reworked Again

Beyond the initial version, successful in the West End in 1989 but not on Broadway in 1990, the show has had at least three major revivals with various revisions to the script.  (Lloyd Webber released a "definitive script" in 2014.)  Next spring's West End revival will be a "chamber" version. - Playbill

Five Of Eight Staff At Shakespeare Dallas Quit In One Week

“What happened? There’s not a smoking gun to produce,” says board chair Lauren York, who will lead exit interviews of the departed staff members They include the managers of development, education and marketing. - Dallas Morning News

Theatre Community Defends Oregon Shakespeare Festival Director After Death Threats

“If, by producing writers of the global majority, an artist like Nataki Garrett can be subjected to death threats, what does that say about the precarious situation our theater industry is in?" - The Hollywood Reporter

“Suzan-Lori Parks Does Not Like To Be Policed!”

"We (Black people) have to wake up to the ways we are policing each other to our detriment. 'No more trauma-based writing!' These are rules. And Suzan-Lori Parks does not like to be policed. Any policing cuts me off from hearing the spirit." - The New York Times

Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s New Director Has Been Making Major Changes (And Some Folks Are Not Happy)

Nataki Garrett has reduced the amount of Shakespeare in the company's programming, introduced color- and sometimes gender-blind casting as well as non-traditional stagings, made staff working hours more humane, and lowered ticket prices.  And she's gotten death threats. - NPR

Here’s Meta For You: A Play About Whether And How Working-Class People Can Do Professional Theatre

Class Act, based loosely on Shaw's Pygmalion and Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady, is inspired by lead actor Mish Gregor's "bogan" (that's Australian for "white trash") background and how she changed as a person as she crossed class boundaries as a theatre professional. - ArtsHub (Australia)

Wendell Pierce Is Broadway’s First Black Willy Loman, A Role He Never Knew He Was Perfect For

"Even though Pierce has enjoyed a robust career, which includes long stints on prestige television shows and an Obie award for sustained excellence of performance, the questions that obsess Willy — questions of attainment, opportunity, legacy — are questions that obsess him as well." - The New York Times

Experience Shows: Four Veteran Stage Actors Discuss The Good Things About Acting Past Age 70

"What I think is so wonderful about getting older in this work is that you learn how much you don't have to do. You learn simplicity, you learn economy, you learn you don't need to have all this energy to tell the story." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)

Portland Theatres Collaborate On New Venue Collective

The Cuomo Theatre Collaborative will serve as a new building for small to midsize theatres such as Third Rail and PETE, and will serve as a space to nurture artists and the performing arts. The Cuomo Theatre Collaborative will operate under a model of collective leadership, artist empowerment, and affordable access. - American Theatre

“Transformative” $22 Million Gift To Canadian Theatres

The money – gifted in sums from $125,000 to $1.5-million, to both big institutions and smaller independent theatre, mostly based in Toronto, all but one in Ontario – is earmarked for a pair of broad purposes over the next two years: theatre production and marketing. - The Globe & Mail (Canada)

Not Every Device Shakespeare Used Makes Sense After 400 Years.  How Do Today’s Directors Work Around That?

"Unfamiliar language, outdated ethics, baffling behaviour? We've become used to sifting racism or sexism in these texts – but what other problems give people pause in rehearsal or performance? ... Where do audiences and creatives stub their toes on Shakespeare's plays?" - The Guardian

What’s The Hottest Theatre Piece In Brooklyn This Fall? An Installation Inspired By Noah’s Ark

The Antwerp-based collective FC Bergman bringsto BAM a work titled 300 el x 50 el x 30 el (the dimensions of Noah's Ark as described in scripture), "an ambitious hybrid of theater, installation and live video, with an elaborate set that recreated a rural settlement onstage." - The New York Times

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