WELCOME to the #TheatreClique Round Up — my (mostly) weekly newsletter dedicated to clicking on some of the most interesting, intriguing & noteworthy writing about drama, theatre & performance (at least, so says me)…
This Week's #TheatreClique-ing:
For this week’s opener, I lift this lovely song from the upcoming musical Paradise Square, readying for a Chicago run later this fall and with ambitions for a Broadway opening in Spring 2022…
And here is some what’s been clicking since my last newsletter…
NYTimes’ Michael Paulson goes deep into the story of Broadway’s re-opening • WashingtonPost’s Sarah L. Kaufman details the physically and mentally “exhausting, exhilarating reality” confronted by dancers readying themselves for Broadway’s re-opening • a company member’s postive Covid test compels the touring production of Hamilton to cancel a performance in Atlanta • a group of small venue operators sue to block enforcement of NYC’s proof-of-vaccination order • critic Harry Duke sounds the alarm: “entitled assholes will be the death of theatre” at NorthBay Stage and Screen • and Theatrely’s Juan A. Ramirez pieces together reports of the “fight in the balcony” at the re-opening night of Chicago on Broadway…
theatre designer Kelly Lin Hayes issues The Zoom Bible — a guide to designing accessible remote, digital and zoom theatre • the producers of Broadway’s Jagged Little Pill issue an “impact and action” statement in response to issues of transparency and accountability raised around the character of Jo • Deadline’s Greg Evans gathers the context and the multiple statements issued and Christian Lewis threads an informed summary critique of the situation • Hyperallergic’s Daniel Larkin asks whether an Shakespeare in the Park with an all-Black cast actually honors Black lives and amplifies Black voices • and Stephen Cole reminds of how the Tony Awards started…
Lisa Wolpe remembers the life and work of actor/teacher/advocate Fran Bennett (1937-2021) • Nathan Pugh offers a detailed review of the commemorative concert staging of Come from Away at the Lincoln Memorial for Theatrely • NBCNews reports on the “meme correspondent” hired to cover this year’s MetGala • NYTimes’ Gia Kourlas on an initiative to evince the choreographic legacy of Gwen Verdon • performance scholar Tavia Nyong’o is appointed Curator of Public Programming for the Park Avenue Armory • NYTimes remembers the notable and influential experimental playwright Jean-Claude Van Itallie (1936-2021) • and at DanceTeacher, Ryan Rockmore profiles path-breaking flamenco teacher Eva Encinias…
Definition Checks:
In which I offer resources in response to informational questions raised in last (or in anticipation of this) week's meeting of my Fall 2021 course “Movements for Diversity in American Theater”...
Q1: what are the Tony Awards? what’s different about the 2020 Tony Awards?
Q2: what is “theatre etiquette”? why do folks get so heated over “theatre etiquette”?
Adventures in (Mostly Remote) Theatre-going:
Wherein I highlight some of my personal priority destinations for the upcoming week.
Stupid Kids — premieres 8pm, 9/22 & streams through 9/26 • starry staging of the pathbreaking 1991 play by John C. Russell (1963-1994) presented by Broadway’s Best Shows • FREE (donations to the Actors’ Fund encouraged; registration required).
The Woman’s Party — streams On-Demand through 9/23 • the final days for ClubbedThumb’s extraordinary production of playwright Rinne Groff’s revisitation of the complex story of the introduction of the first Equal Rights Amendment in 1923, in three episodes • FREE (registration required).
The Garry Marshall Theatre 2021 Virtual New Works Festival — livestream readings 9/24-26, also available on-demand through 10/7 • “new works that are uniquely theatrical, authentically voiced, and have a strong point of view” featuring new plays by noteworthy writers like Diana Burbano, Nick Malakhow and Caridad Svich, among others • FREE.
Profe Herrera’s Semi-Scholastic Bookmobile is still sending out (free) books…
DEFINITION CHECK: what’s a scholastic book fair? what’s a bookmobile?
For more on why I want to give YOU a free book — click HERE (or on the image above) to be routed to the bookmobile-page…
Until next time, dear #TheatreClique, please share this newsletter with those friends, colleagues and students who might appreciate the opportunity to encounter the many voices gathered in each week’s edition. Errors and oversights published in the newsletter will be corrected in the archival versions. And, in the meantime, keep clicking those links — good writing needs good readers and our theatre clicks count!