Artistic director Chris Fields: "We've had a very simple system at the Echo. We read a play every week amongst ourselves and talk about it. If we respond, we'll do a public reading. … Actors would invite other actors, many of them new transplants to L.A., and so we really started to develop our network. And that really trickled...
It's a bit safer than most productions; there are "no mesmerizing choreographed musical numbers, no enchanted sets, no multi-page bios of cast members in the Playbill. The show consists of a man alone onstage; his ensemble a microphone, a harmonica, a piano and six steel strings stretched across a select slab of spruce wood." Still, Broadway. - The New...
There are issues: "Many educators of color find themselves entering or working at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) with little guidance on how to push for change and support their students, while managing to take care of themselves. And there are still cases in which an institution makes a new hire as a Band-Aid solution when they’re called out for problematic...
"Andrew Lloyd Webber and other impresarios said on Thursday they had started legal action to press Britain's government to publish research into the safety of holding indoor events during the pandemic. A joint statement from , also including Cameron Mackintosh and Sonia Friedman, said the industry had repeatedly urged the government to spell out its reasons for keeping restrictions...
These plays arrive at a time of intensified attention on racial inequity in many corners of society, including the theater industry. - The New York Times
"The Scottish Government and the city council have joined forces to offer £1.3 million worth of support to leading venue operators to help offset the impact of possible restrictions and extra health measures. … The Fringe funding is aimed at helping to pay for the costs of creating temporary outdoor venues, which public health experts say are much less...
Andy Señor, Jr., a Cuban-American actor and director who played the role of Angel on Broadway and helmed productions of the musical around the U.S. and overseas, talks about directing the show's first-ever staging in Havana, which happened at a key point in American-Cuban relations. (audio) - Variety
"With state-based funding for the regional theatre system, we could return to a repertory model with full-time employment for actors and serve our local audiences better than a national program ever could. In doing so, we could establish a secure, socially just work environment for the American theatre artists of the 21st century." - American Theatre
"If it were just me, I would happily risk arrest and fines to make a stand and lead the live music and theatre industry back to the full capacities we so desperately need." - BBC
Theater is perhaps the closest term to describe the experience, but even that is poorly suited; “Liminality” evades any one category or definition, though what else could we expect from a show that’s all about the in-between spaces in perceptions and realities? - The New York Times
"The 17-page agreement says that producers must require all members of the traveling company to be fully vaccinated and mandates free weekly virus tests. Also: 'absolutely no interaction' will be permitted between performers and audience members." - The New York Times
Declaring "Come to the theatre and arrest us," Lord Lloyd Webber vowed last week to reopen all his West End venues at full audience capacity on June 21, "come hell or high water." At the beginning of this week, with caseloads of the Delta variant of COVID rising, Boris Johnson postponed the lifting of theatre restrictions from the 21st...
Marissa Wolf was midway into her first full season as artistic director at Portland Center Stage and had just opened The Curious Incident of The Dog In the Night-time in March of 2020. - The New York Times
Despite some trepidation from the actors, the Royal Shakespeare Company is live-streaming for the public select rehearsals for the upcoming production of Henry VI Part One. "I'm intrigued by how much I've learned," writes Michael Billington — who wasn't more impressed than anyone else ever is by watching actors warm up but was fascinated by seeing the actors work...
