The Playgoer: What's Going on at the Signature? (and the Times, and with August Wilson?)

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Saturday, June 25, 2005

What's Going on at the Signature? (and the Times, and with August Wilson?)

Hey, did you read that piece in the Times Thursday about the Signature's new August Wilson season? Well, guess what? It was wrong. See Playbill.com for the real story, which is that it's been delayed a whole year (not just half a year). So the Signature's mission of celebrating one master playwright a season will become just "highlights" from their faves.

(The other focus of the article, Signature's attempt at a $15-a-ticket season is notable, something Playgoer will follow up on.)

Unremarked upon, though, re: Wilson is... what about Radio Golf? As I understood it, the "climax" of the Signature season was to be the big NYC premiere (Off-Broadway, of course) of this, Wilson's "final" installment in his epic 20th-century cycle. Yes, it got tepid reviews in its Yale Rep premiere. But that bad??? The play certainly continues to live: this summer it travels to LA (at the announced at Baltimore's Center Stage for March, 2006. Hmm, just when it was originally supposed to open at the Signature. Has Wilson decided to hold out for another shot at Broadway? (Despite his perseverence there, it is less and less welcoming.)

Theatre journalists, get your sleuthing caps on. (And wake up, Grey Lady!)

Hat tip, Contrapositive

1 comment:

Contrapositive said...

No problem.

It's worth noting that this is the second time this month The Times has missed the boat in its theater reporting: As this blog pointed out a couple weeks back, there was an early June profile of the Manhattan Theater Club that never got around to mentioning that the MTC was cancelling one of its 2005-6 Broadway productions.

Not a huge deal, but it certainly seems like something worth mentioning in a profile of the company...