"It’s meant to give people that beautiful release and time together as an audience, getting to have a really good time in the theatre. But then also, to choose your metaphor, to have the uranium rods for afterwards. ... I’m trying to make these things all exist together." - American Theatre
How is the DC theatre doing? Well, each production is "either a boffo hit, with tons and tons of people, or it’s small audiences." Some shows are good, "but they weren’t events. That seems to be the thing that’s drawing people out of their pajamas right now." - American Theatre
The recent stories about Williamstown and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival have thrown some serious structural issues into relief. "Quality theatre ... is not in question, but whether quality theatre is enough of a reason for an organization to be nonprofit in any particular community is." - Wratchford Group
"The deal comes after the union, which represents more than 51,000 stage managers and actors, had announced a strike threat against the Broadway League, which represents industry producers, presenters and general managers, on April 3, at which time a resolution seemed far off." - The Hollywood Reporter
This fall, Columbia College Chicago will begin a yearlong, graduate-level program in stage and screen intimacy, leading to a certificate — the first of its kind, it says, offered at an accredited American college or university. - Chicago Sun-Times
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced a campaign Tuesday to raise $2.5 million to “save” the season set to begin later this month and said it was suspending its planning for 2024 as it seeks to stabilize its finances. - The Oregonian
Editor Gemma Jones said the Fringe launched a “rival” review website with “an almost identical format and functionality as our ‘Tiser Fringe Adviser”, a decision she said undermined “our ability to find an audience” for similar content. - Crikey
"Dallas Theater Center will lay off an undisclosed number of staff, it announced Tuesday, a cost-cutting measure that comes as the organization has struggled to rebound from the pandemic and its chilling effect on attendance. The layoffs take effect in May." - MSN (The Dallas Morning News)
There is a difference between a theatre show and a concert. "It's a musical and you're there to hear the lyrics, hear the words, emotions, everything. - BBC
"'Only in the past few years have I had theatre companies refuse to do my plays, because they don't like some of the wording,' McDonagh said. They wanted to make some words 'more palatable to what they think their audience is', he said, despite him being 'an established writer who sells tickets'." - BBC
"(There is) a string of new stage shows based on hit books by female authors that were enjoyed largely by female readers. Waiting in the wings this spring are plays or musicals based on bestsellers that include Hamnet, The Time Traveler's Wife and The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher." - The Observer (UK)
A rowdy singalong by audience members has halted a performance of The Bodyguard. Singer Melody Thornton was unable to complete her rendition of I Will Always Love You during the musical's finale at Manchester's Palace Theatre on Friday. - BBC
Attendance for the week ending April 9 was 280,760, up 4%. The more modest jump in attendance left ticket prices to do some heavy lifting: Average paid admission was $137.46, up 8% from the previous week. - Deadline
The reason for the absence of theater amounts to what is essentially a public atonement for how the festival treated interns, apprentices and other staff for decades and a commitment to finding a new model for producing a season of world-class summer theater. - Albany Times-Union
The initial production’s optimistic look at how ethical leaders harness power to forge better worlds seems hopelessly naive in this divided political environment. Or maybe not — maybe “Camelot” is just what we need. - Variety
