ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

THEATRE

Playbill Gets A New Editor-In-Chief

Diep Tran will lead a largely new editorial team at Playbill. - Playbill

America’s Oldest Working Theater Is Selling Naming Rights

"The Walnut Street Theatre is seeking a single donation of more than $10 million to complete a capital campaign for the long-planned, pandemic-delayed expansion of its Center City home. The benefactor would be offered naming rights to the existing mainstage auditorium or perhaps the entire theater complex." - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Seattle Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Departs For Chicago

Braden Abraham joined Seattle Rep in 2002 as an artistic intern, holding multiple artistic staff positions at the company, including seven years as associate artistic director, before becoming the theater’s artistic leader in 2014. - Seattle Times

Broadway’s Edgy Revival Of Oklahoma! Has Encountered Fierce Audience Reception Around America

Some performances of the Tony-winning production have continued amid clamorous walkouts or loud booing; one ended with a patron running from their seat and vomiting at a volume clearly audible to the actors. - Los Angeles Times

Technology Is Changing The Ways Theatre Artists Develop Ideas

"A lot of artists have digital records now online and the quality might not be great but you can to see just a little bit of where things originated. And that’s so important given how ephemeral theatre is." - ArtsHub

What’s A Poor Stage Director To Do When The Script Calls For Eyeballs Coming From The Floorboards Or The Entire Set On A Steep...

Michael Longhurst, Ned Bennett, Milli Bhatia, and Nadia Latif talk about meeting the challenge of staging the (presumably) unstageable. - The Guardian

“A Strange Loop” Will Have The Shortest Run Of Any Recent Best Musical Winner

"(The Tony and Pulitzer winner) will close on Broadway on Jan. 15, after a short run that reflects the industry's ongoing pandemic-related struggles and the challenges of marketing an unconventional musical that wrestles with complex themes." - The New York Times

A Leading Philadelphia Indie Theatre Company Has A New Artistic Director

"Inis Nua Theatre Co., a Philadelphia-based company that draws its material from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, has named longtime Philly theater director Kathryn 'KC' MacMillan as artistic director. MacMillan doesn’t hesitate answering the obvious question about Inis Nua." - The Philadelphia Inquirer

How A High School’s Gender-Neutral Production Of “Jesus Christ Superstar” Went Off The Rails

Members from the Union County chapter of Moms for Liberty were quick to voice their horror at the gender-diverse casting and the fact the school’s logo had been colored rainbow and was being used to advertise the show. - The Daily Beast

How Do You Translate A Word-Heavy Show Like “Hamilton” Into German?

In "Hamilton," those words go by at breakneck speed, full of English idioms and the rapping rhymes and rhythms of the musical's hip-hop roots. Also, U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton isn't exactly a household name abroad. - NPR

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

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');