The Playgoer: Happy September

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Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Happy September

With Labor Day so late this year, I'm not sure I'm fully ready to stop the blog-cation, but I thought I might "ramp up" a bit till Tuesday, with the assistance of my fantastic guest bloggers, who may overlap with me for a few days here.

Plus, it's September and I said I'd be back, so here I am.

So just to start things off, I'll share with you some of the more interesting reading that's come my way in recent weeks:

-Michael Feingold's must-read piece in the Voice on why critics should be glad they're no longer Tony voters. (I kinda agree.)

-Of course, everyone's reaction to the big Disney takeover of Marvel Comics has been: how will this affect Spider Man the Musical! Well, as Variety's Gordon Cox explains, it probably won't. Which is too bad for the show, which could use a bailout these days. Then again, if anyone can convince Disney to get involved, it would be Spidey director Julie "Lion King" Taymor.

-It's been great reading all the Season Preview-ing here on the site from around the country, so let me add one of the more surprising regional announcements out there: Moises Kaufman directing Into the Woods at Kansas City Rep? Believe it.

-If you ever wondered (or mocked) why certain unions, like the musicians and the stagehands, insist on certain minimum numbers of employment regardless of a particular show's requirements...well take a look at what's happening to the acting pool in Seattle, where "this season the [Seattle] Rep will offer locals only 20 roles (compared to 40 last season), and some shorter gigs for play readings." Indeed there's nothing more sobering for a theatre lover than to sit in on budget planning meeting (as I have) where the number of actors to be employed are decided in advance--and then the plays chosen. And once all the professional companies in your region programming only solo shows and 2- or 3-handers, watch out.

-Finally, not that we are all not better off with Henry Louis Gates-Gate behind us, but I couldn't resist entering into the record the Boston Globe's delightful one-page, three-act Shakespearean spoof of the whole tragicomedy.

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