The folks at StageGrade have saved you the trouble of consulting every New York critic's 2010 ten best list and created a mathematically challenging chimera:
We combed critics' Top 10 lists (sources listed below) and assigned points according to whether they ranked shows or not: i.e., a show in the No. 1 slot on a properly ranked Top 10 list received the maximum points, while shows on unranked lists all received equal median points.
Without further ado, the consensus on the best shows in New York in 2010:
Interestingly, quick click-throughs on these titles will reveal that these weren't necessarily the highest-graded [i.e. best reviewed] shows of the year.
Unfortunately, only Merchant, Angels, and La Cage are still running.
Words just getting around this morning that Ellen Stewart, founder and eternal director of the legendary LaMama space, died last night at 91.
She had been not well for a long time, so it's not a shock. But she could still be seen at LaMama openings and events frequently up to the end, even in her wheelchair. More important than her valiant end, though, are her vitally important beginnings in, a) founding the space, b) nurturing the notable talent than came through it in the early days (Andrei Serban, Liz Swados, Sam Shepard), and c) keeping an Off-Off Broadway institution going--despite multiple changes in venue, despite a devastating economic landscape--for forty fifty years.
More tributes from others doubtlessly to come in the coming days...
At 85 Peter Brook is still going strong, but he is finally letting go the reins of his Paris Bouffes Du Nord company and handing it off to others.
On the occasion, one of his designers, Tom Piper, pays tribute:
Brook's pared style – with a stripped stage and minimal props – is so pervasive as to be mainstream now, but the director, says Piper, always worked at the Bouffes as if he were struggling in a start-up venture. "In my time he ran just a skeleton staff there. If you wanted to take anything anywhere, you had to hire a van. It was like working in a fringe theatre."
A good reminder to artistic directors--and managing directors--everywhere.
"The problem with theatre, of course, is the inflexibility of its start time. Turn up five minutes late to a restaurant reservation and your table will be waiting, five minutes late to a film and you're still only up to the Volvo adverts, five minutes late to a gig and the band haven't even come on yet – but turn up even two minutes late to the theatre and you're greeted by the disappointed face of the usher which seems to say 'Where have you been? Look, the doors are shut – and behind those doors are literally HUNDREDS of people simply more competent at everyday life tasks than you.'"
-Guardian blogger, "Sans Taste" on the shame of late seating, as well as "the century-old battle between the performing arts and the human bladder."
Personally I always compare getting to the theatre to making a plane on time. Reminds us how unfun the whole playgoing experience must feel to the layman.
As for the human bladder, here's a tip. Make sure you don't drink any liquids for at least two hours before your pre-show meal then make sure you hit the lav before your first drink at the restaurant.
Sorry I've taken an extra long holidays/New Years break. As I catch up to speed, I have some videos to share today, beginning with the footage of that Obama quote I posted last month, from his Kennedy Center Awards speech.
Too bad the AP here snipped out the original Oliver Wendel Holmes quote the prez cites. For the record it's: "To many people the superfluous is necessary." And yes, due to that split lip he got playing hoops, Obama has some trouble with Holme's eloquent verbiage.
"To him, life is a great big bang up
Whenever there's a hang up
You'll find the Spider man."
-theme song to 1960s animated Spiderman TV show
The actual plunging of a Spider-Man actor into the orchestra pit after his, um, magical powers failed to save him from a dodgy harnessing method has catapulted the show's offstage drama into even greater tsuris, if that were even possible.
This latest accident has now triggered more organized concern and even protest from the acting community, both through union reps and, now, politicians coming to the defense of "workplace safety." Crain's reports:
Assemblyman Rory Lancman, chairman of the Assembly Subcommittee on Workplace Safety, staged a press conference Thursday at Foxwoods Theater, where two performances of the show were canceled Wednesday in light of the accident. Mr. Lancman said the code of necessary safety conditions for theater productions may no longer be relevant for such technically complicated shows as Spider-Man, which has 38 aerial maneuvers that involve actors being hoisted into harnesses and flying through the air. “The current legislation that governs these kinds of performances dates back to 1953 and has not been materially updated since then,” Mr. Lancman said.
Less politic are the online outbursts of various show people, named and unnamed:
Many actors voiced their displeasure on social media, including Adam Pascal from RENT, who wrote on Facebook: "They should put Julie Taymor in jail for assault!” On Twitter, Tony-winning actress Alice Ripley posted "Does someone have to die? Where is the line for the decision makers, I am curious"....And BroadwayWorld.com quoted an anonymous “theatrical insider” at length railing against the effects of the show, saying “It's made me angry that this level of technology and that people's safety being at risk is being allowed. Someone needs to STOP Julie Taymor NOW!”
While such accusations are not pretty, I would still advise Taymor's lawyer not to take the asshole approach:
Seth Gelblum, a partner at Loeb & Loeb, and the attorney for Julie Taymor and a number of the production's investors, said actors get hurt in the theater all the time. For example, Fela! was forced to cancel a performance last year when three dancers couldn't perform because of injuries.Mr. Gelblum said the incidents are receiving outsized attention because the musical didn't work out the kinks in an out of town run, but is doing so on Broadway under the scrutiny of the New York media. “Broadway musicals are very strenuous and people always get hurt unfortunately,” Mr. Gelblum said. “But everything is magnified on this show because of the unprecedented attention.”
Stage Directions has a very helpful rundown of all the backstage technical issues involved, as well as a roundup of industry reactions.
Meanwhile...
When I posted a while back about my surprise at the NY Times' reporting on the show's first preview, I was actually not, as some of my bloggy friends assumed, condemning the paper. I just wanted to be sure everyone took note of what may be a "rubicon" moment in the whole etiquette of press reviewing. It may well be that in the age of the internet, it makes no sense for a critic to hold his peace while everyone else in the world is holding forth online 24/7. At least, that's what a couple of bigtime critics have decided...
In articles that ran over the holiday weekend, Linda Winer of Newsday and Jeremy Gerard of Bloomberg News both wrote about their recent experiences at “Spider-Man,” which is scheduled to open at the Foxwoods Theater on Feb. 7. Both Ms. Winer and Mr. Gerard acknowledge that under typical circumstances, it is customary for a theater critic to see a show in the days just before it opens, when the production presumably will not undergo major changes, and to publish the review after the show opens. They both also make the case that the lengthy preview period for “Spider-Man,” not to mention its $65 million price tag, do not necessarily constitute typical circumstances.
[...]
Mr. Gerard said Monday morning in a telephone interview that his review was “an interim report” and that he intended to revisit “Spider-Man” for its official critics’ previews in February. That said, Mr. Gerard added, “Critics should be part of the conversation, ultimately. We don’t serve the producers, we serve our readers, and I thought that it looked stranger and stranger, and my editor agreed with me.”
(Since no one actually reads Bloomberg or Newsday for theatre coverage, this is all from the Times, of course.)
This is notable because Gerard and Winer are no gossip-mongers. They are two of the most oldschool reputable critics around. And Gerard has a point there, I think, about the "stranger and stranger." It's the same question that increasingly faces all "traditional media" outlets today. Does it make sense to let the old journalistic practices keep you from talking about the thing that everyone else is talking about. (Everyone in a particular field, at least.)
One could argue maybe that's best left to beat reporters and not critics--as with the Times sending Patrick Healy, not Ben Brantley to Spidey's first preview. But then again: isn't your critic the writer on your staff best qualified to report on performance? As Winer is quoted as saying, "There’s something a little nuts that critics are now the only interested parties who can’t see the bride before the wedding."
There's also the question of how long a show can reasonably keep the critics waiting. This all might not be happening if Spider-Man had a normal two-week preview process and opened on schedule. Instead the opening has been repeatedly delayed and now has been pushed back to February 7. As Bloomberg culture editor Manuela Hoelterhoff puts it to the Times, "“I worried that by the time the show opened, I might be in a rest home with [Gerard]." Asked to comment, the Times' own culture editor makes the valid point that all this time the show's producers are pleading a grace period, they "are raking in the cash, charging some people more than $200 a ticket," adding that while the Paper of Record won't break the embargo, "We’ll wait, but not forever."
Finally, the Times also has someone's 8-second cellphone video of the notorious accident. But here's a more accurate filmed record:
Here's a nice holiday time-waster, or even a shopping list! Howard Sherman's lists of notable (if not always good) movies about the theatre: one for features, one for documentaries.
Titles I wholeheartedly second are: Looking for Richard, Topsy Turvy, Me and Orson Welles, The Libertine, The Cradle Will Rock, A Chorus of Disapproval, The Dresser, The Bandwagon, All That Jazz, and, yes, even Hamlet 2 (or at least the first half of it).
Patrick Healy has the awesome job of recounting the backstage shenanigans of the already ill-advised commercial Off Broadway revival of that creaky old Dracula play from the 20s. (The play that was the basis of the 1931 Bela Lugosi film--and hence the reason that movie bears no resemblance to the novel.)
Basically the lead actress, Thora Birch (of American Beauty and Ghost World) was fired due to no fault of her own, other than the bad luck of having the most insane stage-father ever.
This online update of the story gives even more, um, colorful detail than the print edition:
[Birch] was playing the central female character, Lucy Seward, the love interest of Count Dracula. [Director Paul] Alexander said that Ms. Birch was fired because her father, Jack, had threatened another actor during a rehearsal on Thursday night. Mr. Birch, in an interview, denied making any threat.
Mr. Birch, formerly an actor in pornographic films...
Yes, you read that right. But there's more.
Mr. Birch, formerly an actor in pornographic films who is now Ms. Birch’s manager, had attended most rehearsals to provide support and guidance for his daughter. At one point during Thursday’s rehearsal, Mr. Birch confronted an actor who had been working on a scene with Ms. Birch. [...] Mr. Birch asked the actor why he was rubbing Ms. Birch’s back during the scene. The actor – whom none of the sides would name – said that he had been directed to do so as part of the scene. Mr. Birch objected, saying that the back rub was unnecessary, and told the actor to stop. (It is unusual for anyone other than a production’s director to instruct an actor.)
[...]
Mr. Birch had been a frequent presence at “Dracula” rehearsals. Ms. Birch’s contract had called for her to have a bodyguard, and Mr. Birch said that he was serving that role because “Thora had had some stalking issues in the past.” But he and Ms. Birch also said he had been on hand to offer support and advice to Ms. Birch and confer with her about upcoming projects, including a film that Ms. Birch said her father was co-producing. “My dad is my support, and he is the best support that I could ever have,” Ms. Birch said.
I'll refrain from commenting on that eerie sounding daddy-daughter "film" project. Only because you can't make up something funnier than this next bit:
At another point during Thursday’s rehearsal, Mr. Alexander said he noticed Mr. Birch peering through a window that was part of a library set while a scene with Ms. Birch was underway. “I couldn’t believe my eyes and turned to a crew member and said, ‘Is that Jack Birch looking through the window at Thora?’ ”
Mr. Birch said that he had been backstage at that moment examining “a loose, very wobbly platform that Thora and others had to walk across.”
Mr. Birch and Ms. Birch said that he had been her manager for years. Mr. Birch and Ms. Birch’s mother, Carol Connors, were stars in pornographic films in the 1970s. Ms. Connors is best known for “Deep Throat.” Mr. Birch has been on film sets with Ms. Birch before; a gossip column in The New York Post reported in 2007 that he had been present during Ms. Birch’s taping of a sex scene for her movie “The Winter of Frozen Dreams.”
Always nice to see the child go into the family business, eh? (And how about that "How I Met Your Mother" story!)
And now for the coda...
Ms. Birch has been replaced by her understudy, Emily Bridges, whose father is the actor Beau Bridges; Ms. Bridges’s role will be played by Katharine Luckinbill, whose parents are the actors Laurence Luckinbill and Lucie Arnaz.
Well I'm sure these parents will behave themselves. After all, what diva-rights do they have. They weren't in Deep Throat!
NYU has unveiled their renovated Provincetown Playhouse, part of a new Law School building complex that almost destroyed the legendary downtown theatre.
From this angle at least, kinda looks the same to me, no? Still, the controversy continues.
"Being here with tonight’s honorees, reflecting on their contributions, I’m reminded of a Supreme Court opinion by the great Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. In a case argued before the Court in 1926, the majority ruled that the state of New York couldn’t regulate the price of theater tickets, because, in the opinion of the majority, the theater was not a public necessity. They argued, in effect, that the experience of attending the theater was superfluous. And this is what Justice Holmes had to say: 'To many people the superfluous is necessary.'
The theater is necessary. Dance is necessary. Song is necessary. The arts are necessary -- they are a necessary part of our lives."
After being bumped from his longtime perch at New York Magazine five years ago, that critic you love to hate, John Simon, now can't even hold down his cushy sinecure at Bloomberg.com. (Where the expenses of keeping him surely can't be much damage to the conglomerate.)
Like a giant tortoise from its shell, I am re-emerging on this web site. Here I will continue, freer and more independent than ever, to dispense my opinions, critiques and enthusiasms about our arts and culture. I hope to be as interdisciplinary as all get-out and separate with might and main what might remain from what must go.
Well I guess the internet won't suffer from yet another angry old white guy.
Welcome to the blogosphere, John! And in the eternal spirit of your "independent reviews" let me say that I wish your site better "legs" than what you're showing us on that profile pic!
Another gem made possible by the self-animation Xtranormal site. Here, an obviously experienced fellow named "InsaneActor" offers a cartoon sketch of "the conversation you've had with every member of your family."
My favorite: "You should go do Phantom!"
Oh, our poor, naive relatives... And the folks we meet at parties.
(In case you've never seen an Xtranormal video before, don't read too much into the bears. It's just the basic character lineup for this DIY animation kit.)
Expect to hear more about Patrick Healy's NY Times article covering last night's first preview of Spider-Man. (Posted online now, but not in today's print edition. Will it run? and, in print, on page A21 of the Metro section--probably because it's one of the last sections to go to press.) Read it, and tell me if you don't think it comes awfully close to breaking the Preview Taboo that the respectable press is supposed to observe.
Still, no denying it's an irresistible read, reminiscent of really oldschool journalism--like The Tatler.
All $65 million of the new Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” took flight on Sunday night at its first preview performance, but not without bumps. The show stopped five times, mostly to fix technical problems, and Act I ended prematurely, with Spider-Man stuck dangling 10 feet above audience members, while Act II was marred by a nasty catcall during one of the midperformance pauses....The fourth and final pause at the end of Act I was the worst glitch of the night by far. Spider-Man had just flown and landed onstage with the musical’s heroine, Mary Jane Watson (played by Jennifer Damiano), in his arms. He was then supposed to zoom off toward the balcony seating area, a few hundred feet away. Instead, a harness and cables lifted Spider-Man several yards up and over the audience, then stopped. A production stage manager, C. Randall White, called for a halt to the show over the sound system, apparently in hopes of fixing and re-doing the stunt. Crew members, standing on the stage, spent 45 seconds trying to grab Spider-Man by the foot, as the audience laughed and oohed. When they finally caught him, Mr. White announced intermission, and the house lights came on.
Some Act One curtain!
So as much I enjoy this, I do think the Times should answer to the charge of "reviewing" previews, even if they're technically not. This is especially important at a time when "The Internet" and "Bloggers" are constantly blamed for ruining the practice of criticism by doing such things.
The truth is, what you see here is a blatant move by the Times to get in on the action. The action of All That Chat, specifically. Notice how they have their gossipy story online already, probably just a few hours after the firstSpidey chatroom post. No doubt the Times also assumed that Riedel would have a story in the Post--and he does.
The Times has certainly done stories about "troubled" productions in previews before. But that's always been after there were a series of troubled previews to report about, and days/weeks of buzz. In this case, Healy clearly went to the show himself last night with the express intention of writing about it. And while he doesn't express an "opinion" or critical judgment about the show being good or bad...um, he sure doesn't make last night sound like a good night of theatre. And he quotes several audience members for their responses--a virtual "chat room" of opinions, as it were.
I don't know if I'm really outraged or not at this point, frankly. But with moves like this I do think it's time for major print media to finally get off it's high horse about what was once known as critical "ethics," especially when criticizing (so sue me) bloggers or anyone who writes online.
In case you need 5 minutes away from your family...
Presenting the new Royal Shakespeare Company mainstage in Stratford Upon Avon. After over three years' renovation, the space is no longer a proscenium but a "1,040-seat thrust-stage theater that will bring audiences closer to the actors."
John Heilpern reminds us what life in the British theatre was like under the censorious rule of the Lord Chamberlain's Office:
The Gilbert and Sullivan madhouse of the Lord Chamberlain's office within St. James's Palace was mostly comprised of lordly aristocrats and showbiz-inclined army colonels who'd been censoring any play that was remotely sexual since the Theatres Act of 1737. Homosexuality frightened the horses most. Thus, the lordly Lord Chamberlain could rule that in Tennessee Williams's Suddenly Last Summer, the cannibalism was OK, but not the implication that the cannibalized man could be gay.
And this was the law of the land until the 1960s!
All this by way of profiling the rediscovered early John Osborne play, Personal Enemy, which also fell victim to this regime.
Good book on the history of the Lord Chamberlain's office, and the damage it did, here.
Ever since the city began suffering from a widespread infestation of the pernicious bugs last year, demand has soared for people to get rid of them. Actors, it turns out, make the perfect bug busters.
"Actors have great personalities and follow directions well," says Janet Friedman, owner of Bed Bug Busters NY, who employs many people from the theater world to clean up the vermin. She favors entertainers, she says, because they can improvise, work quickly and are used to the drama of a stressful situation.
There's a joke somewhere here about agents, but I'll spare you...
Actually, the piece surveys the overall trends and changes in how New York actors make their real living in this day and age:
To be sure, bedbug hunting is not the main alternative career for New York's unemployed actors. Some are tour-bus guides, and others are seasonal greeters at Tiffany & Co., according to the Actors Fund Work Program, a New York-based nonprofit that helps entertainment industry professionals land supplemental gigs.This summer, some actors worked for the Census Bureau, and some posed as would-be renters or buyers for the nonprofit Fair Housing Justice Center, to ensure that federal, state and local laws are followed. The most common jobs for struggling entertainers in New York remain temporary administrative work, catering and waiting tables. But "because of the economy, catering and waiter work has been way down," says Kathy Schrier, director of the Actors Fund Work Program.
Any other suggestions (or crazy anecdotes) about good jobs for actors? Or bad ones?
Hardcore playwrights out there might already have spent all weekend following the ruckus going on over the Wendy Wasserstein Prize--meant for an emerging female dramatist under 32 years old. And by emerging they mean truly not emergent yet--no previous NYC productions beyond 199-seaters, or on regional mainstages, and no prior previous national media exposure or tv/film success.
The committee basically was going to pass on awarding anyone this year claiming no acceptable entry met the requirements. Apparently all the good young female playwrights are already working!
Personally, I feel most sympathetic to the argument that if someone sets aside $25,000 every year for a playwright, then the profession is better served by someone getting that money, as opposed to it just sitting there.
So it looks like the Tony Awards have had second thoughts about relocating to Harlem?
Although it's nowhere mentioned in this NY Times story, the first announcement after the awards show got bumped from Radio City Music Hall (for Cirque du Soleil, no less) was the old United Palace Theatre at Broadway and 175th St. But now:
On Wednesday, the American Theater Wing, which presents the Tony Awards with the Broadway League, announced that the ceremony will be housed at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side. Though it’s far from the theater district, it is actually on Broadway. (Radio City is on Sixth Avenue.) However, the art deco Beacon has roughly 2,900 seats, less than half as many as the bigger hall.That is bound to create some keen competition for seats to the June 12, 2011 ceremony among the increasing number of investors and producers it takes to finance a Broadway show.
Note that the United Palace has a 3,293 seat capacity. But did I mention, it's in Harlem?
Leadership shakeups and talk of mergers are what's being whispered about in the Seattle theatre scene.
Backstage at Seattle's major three theaters there have been many discussions about merger, collaboration, or other cost-saving steps. At one point, the Rep and Intiman talked about combining, with [Bartlett] Sher as the artistic director of the merged entity's three stages. Sher was not interested, having outgrown Seattle, and because the Rep has so many seats to fill that it makes it harder for an experimental director like Sher to spread his wings with risky productions. (Intiman, with a small house and a very large stage, is far better for him.) ACT had lengthy, ultimately abortive discussions with Seattle Theater Group (Paramount and the Moore) whereby the latter would take over one of the two ACT stages. Seattle Children's Theater has also been part of some of these talks.
In the end, all that came of the discussions (not surprisingly) was an agreement to combine on some educational programs; the theaters already swap costumes and props and they agreed jointly on a ticket-management system. One reason for the failed talks, aside from pride and the threat to jobs, is that the three main theaters have distinct approaches. The Rep concentrates on production values, ACT on acting, and Intiman on its edgy directors.
Gee, I would think all three would like to think they have good acting!
But seriously, mergers have got to be in the offing amongst some of our suffering nonprofits, no? Personally the idea appeals to me, but not the inevitable layoffs, of course. Maybe the logistics of nonprofit make it more complicated than it seems?
In this week's Time Out, my review of Vaclav Havel's 1960s Czech comedyThe Memorandum, in a rare revival by the TACT company.
My reaction to the production is, as you'll see, mixed. But for the Havel-curious, it's pretty much a must-see. Just not a guaranteed night of entertainment. And I wish I had space in print to single out some very fine performances by Joel Leffert (pictured) as the stern indoctrinator, Mark Alhadeff as the icy antagonist, and Jeffrey C. Hawkins' mime-like corporate tool.
Some familiar names--Rapp, Washburn. Jordan Harris--but other lesser-knowns are featured in the upcoming slate for what is, arguably, America's biggest new play festival.
The hometown Louisville paper gives an overview of this year and the program's 35 year history.
Not that this has anything to do with Louisville, Kentucky of course. The host, Actors Theatre of Louisville once upon a time had a high profile thanks to AD Jon Jory. What happened?
News out of Austin yesterday that longtime UT professor Oscar Brockett died. Or, as anyone who ever took a theatre history survey knows him, the guy who wrote your textbook!
He will surely be missed. Maybe he stopped teaching a while ago, but he was still issuing updated editions of the book as recently as 2007--the 10th and "40th Anniversary" edition, no less. What will they call it now?
For those feeling especially moved and have cash on hand, "the family requests donations be sent to the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre Endowment, Department of Theatre and Dance, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station-D3900, Austin, TX 78712-0362."
Hours of rehearsal can go into the most sublime, subtle, and sensitive acting moment on stage.Then, at any given performance, some guy with too much phlegm can just cough right over it...and no one will notice your work.
From the Onion, but no doubt based on a true story:
You know what? I'm really sorry, but I'm still not a hundred percent on exactly what's supposed to be taking place here in regard to the acting, etc. Let's kind of break things down and start with what I know. You're sitting down there, and I'm up here. That makes sense. Okay, now: I have a piece of paper with lines on it that I'm supposed to read. No, I'm asking you. Do I? Is that what this paper is for? Right, great, I figured. And so all of you are…actors? No, I'm the actor. Right. So actors and acting are all part of the same thing. Gotcha.
One thing that's sort of tripping me up is, I'm looking at this piece of paper and it says these lines are supposed to be read by a Sgt. Michaelson. Yeah. See, that's not my name, though. My name is Cliff Baum. I mean, I can absolutely read Sgt. Michaelson's lines for you anyway, but I just want us all on the same page with that. Also, and this is more of a heads up for you guys, really, but were you aware that the lines here are things I've never said before? And, totally not a big deal, but it says I'm a soldier, and I'm not. Not at this point, at least. Just so you're aware.
Which reminds me: If I start reading this piece of paper now, do I actually become Sgt. Michaelson? Like, will I still be him when I leave this room? Because I'd really rather be able to go back to being myself when the acting is over.
“By giving Shakespeare away for free, it has become inaccessible for many...Tell someone they have to wait six to 36 hours in line for a ticket and it erases 90% of population that would have considered going.”
-Oskar Eustis, Public Theatre, on the cunundrum of "free" Shakespeare in the Park.
“I think we have a very British problem here. The British don’t like confessing that they do anything well. But I go to the theatre three times a week, and there is not a capital in the world that offers as much good theatre as London. If something is not paying its way and is second-rate, I can see a point in cutting it. But it makes me mad to think of cutting first-rate work. The theatre makes a lot of money for the Treasury, provides a lot of employment and seems very central to our society.”
-Peter Hall, on the latest UK "austerity measures."
Hall--the director who founded the Royal Shakespeare company over 50 years ago and then ruled the National for 15 peak years in the 70s and 80s--marks his 80th birthday this week and, as Charles Spencer notes, to mark the occasion, "he will be made a freeman of the City of London, which gives him the right to drive his sheep over London Bridge."
Nonprofit Off Broadway is offering slightly more rush ticket options these days, and Playbill has the breakdown.
Unfortunately most are still limited to students and/or "under 30" folks.
I tell ya--I don't care what my accountant would tell me about the finances, but if I ran a theatre right now I would try automatically, no questions asked, offering $25 day-of cash-only tickets. To anyone.
Would we fall short in sales? Very likely. But at least we'd have a shot at filling the house. And if the show was really good, that would translate into more advance sales.
The nonprofit business model so desperately needs subscriptions and advance sales that it misses out on what the younger generations of playgoers value most--the spontaneity and convenience of walking up to a box office and buying a ticket...without having to show any friggin ID!
You'll always do well with advance sales when you have a hot property--a name playwright or star actor, for instance. But for the other 80% of your season offerings, why am I paying you $45 a seat a priori???
Yay for Chris Jones for calling out mass media on yet another dumbing down of professional theatre:
Despite its Chicago setting, the CBS political drama "The Good Wife" films in New York. Just as well. After Tuesday night's snobby and dazzlingly ignorant slam of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the local arts and cultural community would have run the show out of town.
The first scene of Tuesday's episode, penned by Robert and Michelle King, was set at a fundraiser in a hotel ballroom. "And now as dinner is served," says the hostess, "Steppenwolf Theatre will entertain us with scenes from their hit play, 'The Cow With No Country.'"
Yeah, that's credible. Steppenwolf does bits of its shows in hotel ballrooms all the time. Just as the beef is served.
And with that introduction, a motley and pathetic little group of ragamuffin actors popped out, replete with their crude puppet-cow and all, and do some kind of whacked-out performance that lands somewhere between moronic Medieval drama, pantomime, Bertolt Brecht, "War Horse" and "Jack and the Beanstalk." English accents and all. We kid you not. What has that got to do with Steppenwolf?
Indeed the fact that the show isn't really a Chicago show despite ostensibly being set there might explain it. Have any of the writers actually been to Steppenwolf? Or is it just the only name they could think of? Anyone hip to the company at all would know that the right way to spoof it would be two guys in t-shirts and jeans throwing each other against rubber walls and screaming obscenities!
But the insult is not just to Steppenwolf, of course, but all professional theatre. Yet again what we get has nothing to do with the artform as currently practiced, but instead is all about college theatre, really. Obviously the Good Wife writers need to get over whatever grudges they still bear against those pretentious "drama fags" in school who gave them the cold shoulder.
It makes the other recent theatrical tribute on The Office seem downright sophisticated. Which it was, kinda. And at least that explicitly was about Community Theatre.
Of course neither hold a candle to Slings and Arrows--now streaming on Netflix! But of course, that was Canadian TV...
"One of the things people most dislike about critics is that we traditionally occupy the best seats. Only recently, I got a letter suggesting that my intense enjoyment of the RSC Romeo and Juliet was dictated by where I sat. Had I been in the back row of the balcony of Stratford's Courtyard theatre, I was told, I'd have had difficulty hearing the actors....What we need, of course, are theatres where the gulf between good and bad seats is radically diminished: that will be the ultimate test of the redesigned Royal Shakespeare theatre where they have suspended a fake seat in the circle bar to show how far from the action the back wall once was. But the spaces I really warm to are those such as London's Young Vic or Hampstead theatre, where the quality of the experience doesn't depend on where you sit. Only when we create more democratically designed theatres will we share the same experience and erode the detested notion of critical privilege."
Sorry things have been quiet here the last few days. And looks like I need to tend to other things for the whole week, so I'll just sign off till next Monday.
Meanwhile, here's the first ten minutes of a cool Tennessee Williams documentary to keep you entertained. (Lots of rare interview clips.) There are six parts in all so I'll set up the blog to post one each day, so it'll be like I never left! If you can't wait, though, you can watch the rest beginning here.
Earlier today we had some buzz of one Broadway show recruiting porn star Jenna Jameson to keep alive. Now we hear of a quite different case of star casting that is apparently making it possible for an acclaimed new American play to have a rare NYC premiere on Broadway.
You may recall Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, a play that premiered here in a workshop then got a well received production in L.A. directed by Moises Kaufman. That staging led to a nomination for the Pulitzer--a nomination outright ignored by the governing board, who overruled the drama jury to award a more successful Broadway show that, I think, shouldn't even have been eligible that year, having premiered the previous season.
Now, as if heeding the lesson that only Broadway counts in the US cultural marketplace, supporters of the play are determined to get it there at all costs. Hence today's star casting in the title role of the "Tiger"...Robin Williams.
Needless to say, Robin Williams is no Jenna Jameson. (In many, many ways.) He once upon a time was a good actor, before an inexplicable string of family comedies rendered his name almost nauseating to anyone who once appreciated his gifts. And while this will be his Broadway debut, technically, he did star in that famous Off Broadway Godot twenty years ago, and did train as a Juilliard stage actor.
But of all things, Robin Williams is not the kind of actor who, um...disappears into the role, so to speak. So even though I have not yet seen or read the play, and even though I understand the character of the Tiger to be a kind of comic narrator...one has got to be a little concerned about this much anticipated new work getting hijacked by its star, no matter how well intentioned.
At least Kaufman is still at the helm, though, and will do his best to retain the play's integrity. I guess it's more the audience's reaction I'm worried about--if they come expecting to see only an artsy version of the comic's latest standup act.
"The producers were surprised, but Jenna has a good voice. And while she's famous for her X-rated movies, she can act. This may be a shock to traditional Broadway fans, but the show is always trying to push the boundaries."
-spokesman for Rock of Ages on rumors they will cast ex-porn queen Jenna Jameson in a supporting role in the long running musical.
Gives a whole new meaning to the concept of whoring yourself on Broadway, doesn't it.
Which Broadway show had the lowest attendance last week?
Would you believe: American Idiot? Yep, 53.3% capacity.
So much for getting the kids back to Broadway.
Personally, I found the show kind of fresh for the first twenty minutes, or so. (The first three numbers.) The music sounded great for, basically, a Green Day tribute band. The kids sang their hearts out. There were young folks in the audience and they were groovin'.
Then something went wrong with the script--you realized there was none. I think director/conceiver Michael Mayer made a big mistake taking care of the "book" himself and not bringing in an actual playwright. Not that it needed lots of dialogue or more "bridge" passages. But anything to make it less like the meandering Jukebox Musical it essentially is. The aim seems to have been to emulate the free-form structure that ur-Rock Musical, Hair. (After all, the kids are basically a "tribe.") But the myopic patched together narrative of three boys and their stupid problems just don't rise to the big stakes the Hair conveys. Yes, one of the kids goes off to Iraq and loses a leg, but by the end, well...it's like... it's all good, yo.
At least the show is short, at an intermissionless 90 minutes. But it could have been even shorter if Mayer didn't tack on at least three extra endings. And do you really want to end your show--any show--by having the entire cast sing straight out at the audience, "I hope you had the time of your lives..." Um, a little presumptuous, aren't we?
Today we school theatre loving newcomers to our city in the ways of obtaining Broadway tickets without defaulting on your student loans.
(The economics of ticket-buying for Off Broadway, nonprofits, and downtown venues will follow shortly.)
First let's dispel the myth that you will always have to pay $100 for a ticket to a Broadway show. Usually it's a question of when you want to see it, how far in advance you plan, how flexible you are with dates, and, most crucially, where you're willing to sit.
The $100-and-up price is now the standard quoted price for all orchestra and front mezzanine seats. Rear mezz and balcony often aren't much cheaper at around $75. Sometimes, the very, very last row or two at the top of the balcony is marked down to $40 or even $35. But they are truly awful seats, and only worth it if it's a big musical or spectacle. For a small play, you're better off watching the video at Lincoln Center.
But keep in mind all these are merely the stated price at the box office for folks who just walk up to the window blind. (Or buy on Telecharge, in which case add $15 or so for fees.) And full price is for suckers!
While you may sometimes find yourself shelling out that much for shows you really, really, really want/need to see (and do choose those carefully), most of the time, if you plan ahead and follow the advice herein, you can still get into a Broadway show for less than $75, often even $50.
ONLINE DISCOUNTS
Except for predestined star-driven mega-hits (like Pacino's Merchant of Venice or last season's Hugh Jackman-Daniel Craig monologue workshop known as A Steady Rain) most shows will initially flood the market with modest discount codes that show up in many places but are basically all the same discount. Easiest place to find them are either of the two big theatre websites, Playbill and Theatermania, where the offers are usually identical. (Theatermania sometimes offers more non-Broadway discounts.) Both these services are free, requiring only free online registration. (The paid-membership Theatermania "Gold Club" is something different, which I'll get to.)
These are usually not super bargain discounts. For instance, right now you can get an orchestra seat to a hit like Memphis at "only" $90; but a struggling show like Next to Normal will offer a $60 "top." If you want to lowest price you'll go for the discounted mezzanine and balcony seats, which will usually be discounted below $50. But for that special night you actuallywant to treat yourself (and someone else) to a nice downstairs seat for a change, you can get better value by shelling out the $75 or so.
Caveats: Do read the small print. The discounts will usually be offered for limited dates--especially while the show previews and the producers await post-opening sales. If it's a hit, the discount code may expire. If it's not, then they'll extend. But even then, the offer may not be good for "peak" performances like weekends. Also: save yourself an added $15 or so per ticket in internet fees and walk the coupon over to the box office. Of course this requires actually going into Times Sq during daylight hours, but if you're buying more than one ticket, it's definitely worth it.
By the way, these are basically the same discount offers you'll get through other listservs, like the NY Times service, mass marketing emails, and snail-mail postcards.
You might find different offers on Goldstar, which serves multiple cities, and their NYC discounts sometimes include professional theatre, and sometimes even good theatre.
TKTS BOOTH
No, it's not just for tourists! You'll have to wait in line with many and risk being taken for one--but a small price to pay for a sometimes-significant discount.
There are now actually threeTKTS stations in the city, so you don't have to go to Times Square--and in fact you'll probably prefer not to go there since that's the most crowded--even though it does have the most accommodating hours. So if you live or work near South Street Seaport or Borough Hall in Brooklyn, give those a try.
Do familiarize yourself with all the TKTS rules and technicalities. Times Square, for instance, only sells day-of, but the other sites will do some day-before for weekend shows. Once upon a time TKTS only took cash, but now plastic is ok!
Downside to the Times Sq TKTS is, of course, the long wait and huge lines. Going right when they open on a non-matinee day (3:00 on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, or 2:00 on Tuesday) is probably your best bet for speedy service. And also don't forget the separate "Play" window; since most tourists are there for musicals, drama lovers can usually get a break. This is why I think the best case to use TKTS is for a Broadway play that isn't doing well--it'll almost definitely be offered and no one else will be asking for it.
The TKTS discounts are usually either 50% or 25%. Unfortunately, only the already top-price seats are sold here, so you'll usually pay more than $50 anyway. (Plus $4 service charge per ticket.) But, again, you're getting bigger value here more than cheap prices.
Of course, TKTS can be a waste of time if they're not offering the show you're looking for. They make it hard to know, since producers decide each day whether to offer their show based on current sales. The TKTS site does offer a look at the previous week's offerings to get a sense of what may be there. And now the "At the Booth" app updates you each day. (TKTS wasn't too happy about that for some reason. Guess he beat them to it.)
CLUBS
There a few organizations that charge you a fee in return for various random offers of cheap tickets to something. The most popular is TDF (who also runs the TKTS booths). But I have found the offerings pretty sporadic--at least theatrically. (You get other arts discounts, too).
TDF is fine for the casual playgoer. But for the more addicted, there's the "hotline" approach offered by Audience Extras and, now, TheaterMania Gold Club. These are great if you're willing to see anything, anything on any given night. Your membership basically gives you access to very cheap seats at whatever the club is offering that day. My view is it's fine if you're really ok with checking out a number of random, mostly downtown shows, just for exposure. (In other words, your first year in NYC.) My sense is you get a Broadway offer sometimes, during previews or for troubled shows. But don't count on it frequently, nor for shows actually doing well.
THE RUSH & STUDENT SCENE
Rush tickets (student and otherwise) are more common at the nonprofits than on Broadway. But not unheard of! Basically each producer decides that policy for their show and, naturally, it could change throughout the run, depending on how business is. Also popular are same day "lotteries" for a small number of seats. Standing room is mostly a tradition of the past, but hardly dead. But it only pops up today for big, big sold out hits.
Luckily Playbill maintains a handy and up to date list of all the Broadway rush/lottery/student offers. Bookmark it.
As for students, that's also decided on a show by show basis. But student discounts are increasingly offered on B'way, as an attempt to attract the college crowd and twentysomething adults. Lately, student ID policies have redefined "student" as 25 and under--probably due to armies of "adult education" folks trying to pass. Faculty ID's used to be just as good as a student ID, but no longer. So make sure your ID is clearly for students and, preferably, stamped with the current semester. (They don't always check the date, especially if you look plausibly college age.) The "25 and under" policy has also eclipsed student rush so much that a school ID is sometimes not necessary--just a drivers license.
THE BIG BUCKS
Finally, should your problem occasionally be not getting a low price but getting any ticket at all to a hot show, and you're willing to shell out a little more than full price, you can of course try Craigslist, but I now recommend StubHub--the new, perfectly legal, scalping site. Unlike Craigslist, Stubhub basically mediates and guarantees all transactions, so I consider it safer. It also attracts many sellers offering tix at many different prices, so there's usually some choice.
So there you have it. Broadway on a budget. Soon to come: non-Broadway on a budget, which is not as easy as it might sound...
I have often railed against the practice of giving complimentary performance tickets to lots of people who feel they deserve them. Too many arts organizations, especially those in foreign countries, make a habit of handing out large numbers of free tickets to donors, friends, government officials and virtually anyone who asks for them. Ironically, these 'comps' are typically offered to those who can afford to buy a ticket, rather than to bring those unable to pay into the theater....
[...]
However, while I am opposed to free tickets, I am a big fan of free performances. That might sound like a contradiction but it isn't. When an arts organization has a mission to provide access to the arts for everyone, they will frequently plan for one or more free performances in a season. These are mission driven events. They indicate that the organization wants to make sure that all parts of the community can participate.
"It was one of those wonderful overnight flops...You're at the party, everyone's having a wonderful time, telling you how much they've enjoyed it. Then you look around – it happens in a millisecond – and everybody's gone. And you think: 'Oh my God, it's a flop.'...[I]t doesn't happen any more. Everyone looks at the Times review on their Blackberry or their iPhone before they come to the party. Or they don't come."
-Nicholas Hytner, recalling his ill-fated Broadway outing with Sweet Smell of Success.
From a nice meaty profile of the Royal National Theatre AD in the Guardian.
-45Bleecker space shuttered! And right in the middle of The Deep Throat Sex Scandal! (Oh, darn.) Hopefully it's temporary. Bitter dispute between landlord and manager. Riedel has the dirt. And it's not necessarily the landlord who's at fault...
-Actors Equity has a new Exec Director. And she used to work for the Broadway producers' league! I guess that's a good thing?
-The Giving Spirit: the Shuberts dole out some cash and the Fox Foundation (by way of TCG, not Rupert Murdoch) gives actors some very cool subsidized residencies at regional theatres.
-One of the Lincoln Center spaces has bedbugs! (In the dressing rooms.) With sweet revenge they've infested none other than the David Koch Theatre. Perhaps there is a God...
"Ultimately, our goal is to bring live theatre back into popular culture by using popular communication tools that demystify our work and demonstrate that theatres are affordable and accessible to everyone."
Certainly beats newspapers!
Well, as long as we guard against pollyannaish assumptions of flocks of young folk getting into the New York nonprofit theatre scene just because it has a cool site... I'm encouraged by the game plan so far:
NYTN will be a social resource developed to cultivate new and existing audiences for the vibrant community of not-for-profit theatre organizations in New York City. The network, a multi-prong theatre hub, can be used as an information source, an event site, and a home for social networking, dedicated to deepening the engagement between artists and audiences in the theatre capital of the world.
[...]
NYTN is unique in that it puts both the larger theatre with a sizable advertising budget and the smallest theatre with no advertising budget on a level playing field. As the "MenuPages" of the theatre world, NYTN allows users to browse in multiple ways—satisfying every appetite. NYTN also allows fans and member theatres to deepen their relationship by interacting through open discussion boards that can be created by the theatre company or the fans. NYTN's social networking function allows users to see what their friends are sharing and liking and then makes recommendations to users based on their own preferences as well as their friends'. Additionally, users can view videos associated with the shows and purchase tickets to shows through the site.
To my mind, the benefit of practical uses of advertising and ticketselling (especially if on a truly "level playing field") will far outweigh such "social" functions as chats and friending. Disucssion boards? Who knows, maybe it can evolve into a downtown version of All That Chat. But otherwise, I believe the blogs have already created a lot of community discourse and sharing. But as a central aggregator and marketplace, this idea is downright overdue!
What do you think of the site itself? Let's take it apart here. Maybe they'll read your suggestions and feedback.
Four NYC-based nonprofit companies--okay, not quite the biggest ones--are finally offering a kind of joint/flexible subscription package. Reports Playbill:
The Civilians, The Talking Band, The Rude Mechs and The Exchange have aligned to allow theatregoers to purchase a season subscription package highlighting their respective seasons.
Ari Edelson, artistic director of The Exchange, conceived of the subscription pass that provides individuals with four show credits that can be used to attend works by each of the participating companies.
The credits can be used toward four tickets to one performance of a particular show, or for one ticket to each of the four productions. The Xpass also allows for other flexible combinations that permit users to share credits with one another. Each four-credit pass is $85. Individual tickets for all four shows would total $130. An iPhone application is also set to launch that will include additional program materials, behind-the-scenes information, multimedia and nearby restaurants.
All, actually, are worthy companies. And the Civilians are downright famous.
Baby steps, sure. But it's gotta start somewhere. And at $21.25 a ticket, not a bad start.
In case you missed last week's The Office--devoted to Andy's appearance in a Scranton community theatre's Sweeney Todd--here's a quickie overview:
Full episode here. Catnip for theatre lovers--a veritable laundry list of do's, dont's, and miscellaneous backstage lore.
Such as:
-Creed reviving the old critics' tradition of "phoning in" your review
-Michael auditioning with a one-man Law & Order episode
-an actor's cell phone going off on stage
-and why you should never bring either glass bottles and/or balloons into the house.
Critics Adam Feldman and Elizabeth Vincentelli have already made some good blogging hay out of an effort by the producers of the Broadway bio-play Lombardi to anticipate first-time playgoers with a unintentionally hilarious "FAQ" section of the show's site.
The FAQ's have now been taken down (after the ridicule, we assume), but luckily Adam and Elizabeth have preserved it for posterity. Among my favorite bits are...
"The usher will also give you a printed program. Be sure to arrive early enough to read it, so you have an idea of what to expect during the show."
(Like, when was the last time a Playbill did that?)
"Let the actors know that you appreciate the show: Laugh at the funny parts, applaud when you like something..."
(Great. Now we'll have even more clapping seals every time a set with trees is revealed.)
But the prize goes to...
"Purchasing a ticket is required for a live theatre performance..."
One wonders how these would-be patrons even found themselves on the interwebs!
It's finally here. With Helen Mirren as "Prospera." Here's the trailer...
Certainly "rich and strange" looking, eh? And some cool casting (especially Russel Brand and Djimon Hounsou.)
The "Prospera" idea is hardly Taymor's. I know Vanessa Redgrave did it at the Globe in London, and Blair Brown here at McCarter for director Emily Mann. Can anyone verify who was the first to think of it?
Times theatre-page webman Erik Piepenburg has put together a nice little educational primer (with documents!) on the controversy surrounding the original NY premiere of Shaw's Mrs Warren's Profession back in 1905, which was basically banned, as it had been in London a decade earlier when it first debuted.
When the American actor Arnold Daly tried to produce the play in New Haven in 1905, police shut down the production after one performance. By the time it reached the Garrick Theater on West 35th Street, interest was at a fever pitch. After opening night, New York City Police Commissioner William McAdoo canceled the remaining performances and arrested almost every person involved, calling the play “revolting, indecent and nauseating where it was not boring.”
Well, ok I know some folks would agree about the "boring" part being adequate grounds for arrest.
Still, Mrs Warren is perhaps my favorite Shaw play, and while I haven't seen the Roundabout's revival with Cherry Jones yet, I recommend just seeing it if you never have. It's early Shaw (so, he wrote it only in his 40s!) and a little more raw than the later plays. And its searing indictment of capitalist society's hypocrisy over criminalizing vice never gets old. Mrs. Warren's graphic and bitter defenses of what poverty makes people do (as she slips from her learned poshness into her natural gutteral cockney) will shock those who think Shaw is just all quips and teacups.
By the way, you'd think the play's subject of prostitution would be a selling point, right? Then, tell me, why is the word nowhere in the Roundabout ad campaign? Maybe we haven't come that far since the Comstock days after all...
The word, of course, never appears in the play, either--perhaps causing some audiences today to miss the point! But this isn't Shaw's choice, just another silly constriction imposed by the censors. Shaw does make great hay of this, though, in the final scene in one of my favorite meta-theatrical moments of all time.
Long story short, Mrs. Warren is a high-class, international Madam who has kept this secret from the polite society she travels in, and from her now-adult daughter, Vivie. Kitty has never known who her father is, and barely knew her mother, who sent Vivie off to fancy boarding schools and university with her "tainted" earnings. In the course of the play she learns who her mother is and, in this last scene, wants to explain this to some close friends. What ensues is a devilishly clever negotiation by Shaw of both the dramatic and political conflicts at stake in the play and the censored playhouse:
VIVIE. I am sure that if I had the courage I should spend the rest of my life in telling everybody--stamping and branding it into them until they all felt their part in its abomination as I feel mine. There is nothing I despise more than the wicked convention that protects these things by forbidding a woman to mention them. And yet I cant tell you. The two infamous words that describe what my mother is are ringing in my ears and struggling on my tongue; but I cant utter them: the shame of them is too horrible for me.
[She buries her face in her hands. The two men, astonished, stare at one another and then at her. She raises her head again desperately and snatches a sheet of paper and a pen].
Here: let me draft you a prospectus.
FRANK. Oh, she's mad. Do you hear, Viv? mad. Come! pull yourself together.
VIVIE. You shall see. [She writes]. "Paid up capital: not less than forty thousand pounds standing in the name of Sir George Crofts, Baronet, the chief shareholder. Premises at Brussels, Ostend, Vienna, and Budapest. Managing director: Mrs Warren"; and now dont let us forget her qualifications: the two words. [She writes the words and pushes the paper to them]. There! Oh no: dont read it: dont!
[She snatches it back and tears it to pieces; then seizes her head in her hands and hides her face on the table].
So in what seems to be just a private little scene between three close friends is hardly private at all. Vivie really is addressing the audience: I really wish I could tell you what this play is about but the stupid censors won't let me! The result is a quite puzzling moment dramatically...but a fascinating one politically. And one that will surely baffle Broadway audiences today without this context.
Now I must admit, I've never gotten around to researching what the "two words" are. I always assumed it was a phrase that meant a prostitute or madam. But do any Shavians or other Victorian scholars out there have an idea?
A free full text of the play here, by the way, if you want to save on the ticket.
-Banking on theatre as the best weapon against the climate-change deniers(!), the National Science Foundation is giving a ton of money to The Civilians to develop a global warming piece.
-The recession is not stopping Second Stage from going full speed ahead in opening a Broadway home.
-Directors at Work: Chris Jones looks at Bob Falls' ever-evolving style and David Rooney profiles an emerging Off Broadway hot property, Sam Gold.
-B'way Producers Globalize: The Nederlander Organization goes whole hog into China. Leonard Jacobs has at them.
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