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THEATRE

How A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Teaches Theatre To Her Students

Lynn Nottage: "American Spectacle has always begun with a field trip to the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. ... We also go to vogue balls, courtroom trials, and megachurches. The event that the students especially love, which I never would have anticipated, is wrestling." - Paris Review

Very Few Stage Magicians Are Women

The figures are grim: About 8 percent of working stage magicians are women. What's that about, and how can it change? - The New York Times

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Emergency Fundraising Campaign Was More Successful Than It Dared Hope

In August, the Bay Area's third-largest theater company announced that it needed to raise $3 million by November or it would have to cancel the rest of this season. As November came to an end, TheatreWorks had raised $4 million and can exit crisis mode. - MSN (San Francisco Chronicle)

Ticket Survey: Ticket Prices Outside London Are A Third Cheaper Than On The West End

The average top-end ticket outside of London comes in at £49.19, compared with £141.37 for West End shows, while the average cheapest ticket in theatres outside of London was £21.27 – 16% less than in the West End in 2023. - The Stage

How Cirque Du Soleil Became The Backbone Of Live Entertainment In 21st-Century Las Vegas

The French-Canadian company ... opened its first permanent show, Mystère, at Treasure Island three decades ago. … Cirque has since grown into a billion-dollar entertainment juggernaut with six shows running twice a night up and down the 4.2-mile Strip, not to mention its worldwide tours." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)

London’s Royal Court Theatre Opens An Online Archive Of Every Play Ever Staged There

"Almost 2,000 plays by more than 1,000 writers are accessible on the theatre’s Living Archive, along with lists of their casts and directors. Vicky Featherstone … has wanted to create an easily accessible digital archive of works performed at the theatre since she became artistic director 10 years ago." - The Guardian

Comedians Are Complaining About Cancel Culture. But Then, They Always Have

Social media “gives the impression that people are more irrational, humorless and overly sensitive than in the past,” but vintage letters to the editor contain “remarkably similar” sentiments. - The New York Times

The Jewish Foundations Of American Theatre

Though Jews had been an integral part of mainstream theater for decades — creating, presenting, teaching and consuming it — and had found in it the ultimate and most enduring expression of their artistry, seldom was the product Jewish on the surface. - The New York Times

Broadway’s Profitable Thanksgiving Week

With total attendance holding steady – and three fewer shows on the roster – the increase in receipts can be attributed to a 27% bump in average ticket price: $151, compared to the previous week’s $118. Overall, 90% of Broadway seats were filled during the holiday week. - Deadline

Many Of Chicago’s Minority-Led Small Theater Companies Are Growing — For Now

"Although the pandemic was devastating for all arts organizations, non-majority-run organizations received a lifeline (via) government funding. … These theater companies, many of them small storefront operations, were able to add staff and produce more work. The question is whether these groups will be able to sustain their momentum." - Crain's Chicago Business

Why Sondheim Is So Hard To Let Go Of

Ravishing individual songs may reassure us that no one is alone but, in the five decades since “Company” made his reputation, Mr. Sondheim had been creating group portraits of a crowded world where loneliness was an existential fact. - The New York Times

A Man Who Investigated The Crimes Of Ferdinand And Imelda Marcos Goes To The Broadway Musical About Them

"Having seen and enjoyed the show in New York, I now realize that I missed the obvious during my years in Manila. The Marcoses, the now-94-year-old Imelda in particular, had for years captured the affection and votes of ordinary Filipinos by entertaining them." - NPR

How They Turned The Saw Horror Franchise Into A Musical

"'This is a love story that I think people wanted for 20 years,' said Stephanie Rosenberg, the director of Saw the Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw." - NPR

Non-Profit Theatres Are Finding Ways To Survive

The leaders of these theaters define success differently than they did before the pandemic, but they are optimistic about the future and intent on connecting with new and younger audiences. - The Wall Street Journal

Rethinking Where Theatre Happens (And How It Changes Depending On Where)

At the height of the pandemic, each theatre focused on a medium that allowed them to reimagine storytelling unbound by the proscenium stage. From film and livestreams to podcasts, and even on-demand viewing, these theatres found new modes of expression that blur the lines between the outreach of small and regional theatres. - American Theatre

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