Theatre

Not everything in Anna Leonowens’s memoirs about her time at the Siamese court is a lie, but quite a lot is untrue, especially about Anna’s own mixed-race, plebeian origins. (For instance, she’d never even been to Britain when she went to Bangkok.) Thence come many of the problems in the musical, like the white-savior narrative. David Henry Hwang’s rewrite of the book of Flower Drum Song preserved the Rodgers and Hammerstein songs in a more sensitive context that’s workable for the stage today, and writer Sravya Tadapalli suggests one potential scenario for The King and I that could do the same. – American Theatre

Charles McNulty on the Bard in 2021: “Shakespeare’s characters keep drawing us back because we want to understand them more fully. They leave us with an impression of unfinished business. Just as no one in our lives can be fully known, so the figures in his plays reveal only so much about what they think, feel and believe.” – Los Angeles Times

“Each of the attendees submits a screening form in advance and undergoes a COVID rapid test on-site, in an ivory-walled corridor that suggests a 1940s hospital on a Ryan Murphy set. Face masks are mandatory; wearable “passports” reflect row assignments, and the “Social Distance Ground Crew” lights the way with tarmac-style batons. To me—effectively a pandemic-era shut-in, having spent the year working from home—the protocols married the politeness of a school field trip with the novelty of an intergalactic mission.” – Vanity Fair

“If you live and die at the box office, as does Broadway, you are not rewarded for indulgence or self-involvement. More importantly, you often are better able to reach non-elites. Broadway attracts more lower-middle class theatergoers than many pretentious nonprofit institutions; it pulls more young people to shows like “Mean Girls” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and it is far more likely to attract the large and diverse audience for shows that intersect with the history of recorded music. In short, the argument for a capitalist Broadway in a capitalist society is that it tends to end up as populist.” – Chicago Tribune

“Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, which emerged from Chapter 15 protection after a sale in November, announced on Wednesday that it is restarting four of its unique offerings, including O and Mystère. Most Cirque du Soleil shows have been dark in the U.S. since March 15, 2020.” – Deadline

“The answer is not more diverse critics because what the fuck does that mean? More diverse critics and then they go where? More diverse critics writing for £25 an article. Is that going to change anything?” – The Stage

The 90-odd people who worked, some for decades, as waiters, bartenders, dishwashers and the like were told last fall that their furloughs were officially layoffs. But now Second City has a new owner and is making plans to reopen — and those workers find out that, rather than getting a chance at their old jobs, all catering at the theater is being outsourced. (The new contractor says former staffers get first crack at applying for the new jobs.) Meanwhile, president and CEO Steve Johnston has up and quit. – Yahoo! (Chicago Tribune)

Says Ken-Matt Martin, who was named artistic director last month after having been Robert Falls’s number-two at the Goodman, “If I figured out how to get Black people to come to a theater in Des Moines,” — he founded the Pyramid Theatre Company, which present the work of Black artists in Iowa’s capital — “I can probably figure out how to get all peoples within this larger beautiful city to come out as well.” – The New York Times

The problem that companies like ACT had been having, said Randy Taradash, was that they weren’t just having to juggle new technology, but also new tech partners whose business models didn’t necessarily fit the way nonprofit regional theatres function. The difference with the National Theatre Network, he noted, is that it’s not a tech company or ticket seller coming in to figure out theatre; it is run by theatre people who are aiming to help regional theatres take the next steps into the future. – American Theatre

We found that attending these plays increased empathy for people depicted in them and changed people’s political attitudes about a variety of issues related to the show, such as income inequality. Additionally, seeing theatre changed behavior. After attending these plays, people donated more to charity — whether or not these charities were related to the show. – Psychology Today

Lacking in visionary leaders? Absolutely not. They’re just blocked from the table by their status as a young person, or as a queer person, or as an artist of color. – Theatre Mania

The key seems to have been Rudin’s high-profile, high-stakes production of The Music Man, set to start previews in December. While some of the key people involved in the revival reportedly showed “apathy” about the allegations of Rudin’s appalling office behavior, the two stars did not: Hugh Jackman told others he was “very concerned” but did not give an ultimatum, while Sutton Foster said publicly that she would go if he did not. – The Hollywood Reporter

The COVID lockdown hit Britain just days before this production was to open and put the company’s entire operations on hold; the show was set to start again last autumn when a second lockdown had to be imposed. Now, by heaven, they’re doing it, at least for broadcast on BBC Four. “What’s curious is that, if you were looking for a drama that distills the emotions so many of us have been through in the past year, it would be hard to find a better candidate than The Winter’s Tale.” – The Guardian

Not great: “Broadway producers I spoke to told me that Rudin seems to be sincere about stepping away from the day-to-day running of his megahits, The Book of Mormon and To Kill a Mockingbird, but no one seems to think he’ll be relinquishing his financial stakes. When Broadway resumes, so will his revenue streams.” What can Broadway, and Hollywood, do? – Los Angeles Times

There’s no audience; there’s no one in the building, but Newark Symphony Hall is busy. There’s a new “career accelerator and business incubator” in the making. “Musicians, singers, dancers, actors, spoken word artists, directors and theater technical staff are eligible for the program,” and some of the proposals will result in virtual shows. In pandemic times, it could be far worse. – Newark Star-Ledger

Rudin emailed the Washington Post on Saturday to issue an apology for years of causing pain to colleagues (and employees). He also wrote that he would be “taking steps that I should have taken years ago to address this behavior.” But specifics remain unclear; “Rudin declined to elaborate on the statement, or on what exactly retreating from ‘active participation’ entails.” – Washington Post

James C. Nicola, the artistic director of New York Theater Workshop, announced on Friday that he will step down in June 2022. At that point, he will have spent 34 years — nearly half his life — at the off-Broadway theater, which spawned the once-in-a-lifetime hit musical “Rent” and grew under his leadership into a steady home for provocative fare by the likes of Caryl Churchill, the Five Lesbian Brothers and the director Ivo van Hove. – The New York Times

The Freedom Theatre, founded in the Jenin camp in 2006, has as dual missions “to build back Palestinian identity destroyed by years of brutal occupation and tour the often unheard, first-hand experiences of Palestinians to the international community.” Ten years ago, the company’s co-founder and leader, Juliano Mer-Khamis, was murdered just outside the camp. Director Zoe Lafferty, who has worked several times with the company, writes about how tenaciously it has kept at its work in the face of enormous obstacles. – The Stage

“When political theatre preaches to the choir, it removes its potential to disrupt. Indeed, by having such a laser focus on bringing “awareness” to issues, much political art forgets to have a point of view. Art in the current landscape tells us that we live in a racist society or that violence against women exists, but it doesn’t tell us how to fight back. So, we’ve left behind activist theatre and are now engaging in an empty journalistic theatre.” – Howlround

“Ancient stories, and texts that have stood the test of time, can be portals to honest and dignified grappling with present wounds and longings and callings that we aren’t able to muster in our official places now. It’s an embodiment of the good Greek word catharsis — releasing both insight and emotions that have had no place to go, and creating an energizing relief.” Krista Tippett interviews Bryan Doerries, founder and director of the project Theater of War. (audio) – On Being

Says Jon Carr, who came to the company’s Chicago headquarters from Dad’s Garage in Atlanta four months ago, “It’s a little strange, because there’s nothing routine happening at any of [our theatres] right now, so it’s a lot of rebuilding of things from scratch.” – American Theatre

“When members of the community say about LASA that they didn’t feel included or respected, my heart goes out to them. I ran the organization, and I often felt the same way.” – Stage Raw

For the performing arts community, the closure of Cape Town’s Fugard Theatre was something of a last straw. “In just a decade of existence the theatre, named after world-renowned playwright Athol Fugard, had become a much-loved venue that put on work by local writers as well as internationally known plays and musicals.” Artists are asking their government to do much, much more for them – and their strapped venues. – BBC