"'This is the hardest season yet,' said the president of the Off-Broadway League, citing the combined effects of smaller audiences, shifting philanthropic patterns, rising wages and costs, and labor shortages at a time when the emergency government assistance (from) the lengthy pandemic shutdown has largely run out." - The New York Times
Until recently, the artistic director has been thought of as the singular person whose vision drives the programming and culture of a theatre. That idea has both eroded and expanded over the last 15 years. - American Theatre
One of the Broadway kids performing in front of an audience of Broadway aficionados said, "I was expecting to have the best show ever and that happened." - The New York Times
After a play about Black Frenchwomen's experiences premiered in the summer in southern France, a series of racist attacks followed - and one actress dropped out before the play transferred to Paris. - The New York Times
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
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)
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
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)
"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
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
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
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
"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
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
