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, which arrives a few hours late (and a little light in the linkage), I lift this video from dancer/choreographer/popstar/dragqueen James Whiteside; I included it in one of my class lectures a few weeks back and it’s been kicking in my mind’s eye/ear ever since…
And here is some what’s been clicking since my last newsletter…
at AmericanTheatre, critic/journalist Kelundra Smith asesseses the “familiar questions about risk and representation” raised the noteworthy presence of Black writers, directors and other artists on Broadway this fall • at the SFChronicle, Lily Janiak reports on how “theater workers aren’t just changing jobs during the pandemic — they’re leaving the field” • NYTimes reports on how the storied Cherry Lane Theatre is back up for sale (so if you happen to have $13million on hand…) • Vulture’s Jackson McHenry reports on the revival of NYC’s MetroTransitAthority’s classic ‘The Only Sure Way to Make It to Broadway’ ad campaign • futureStage Research Group at metaLAB at Harvard posts a “A Manifesto for the Future Stage: Performance Is a Human Right” at AmericanTheatre • and also at AmericanTheatre, artist/scholar Rosie Brownlow-Calkin reports on the results of her survey querying theatre administrators about the challenges of developing revenue streams for digital theatre…
in HarpersBazaar, the inimitable Imani Perry considers Passing as “a film about race from Black gaze” • NBCNews’ Brahmjot Kaur reports on a Harvard production of Legally Blonde featuring an all-Asian cast • TheatreMania’s David Gordon interviews LaChanze about “lead[ing] Trouble in Mind to Broadway” • at the NYTimes, Iman Stevenson profiles the long, distinguished career of actor Aunjanue Ellis • Stanford Report’s Robin Wander details playwright Betty Shamieh’s recent collaboration with scholar/artist Samer el-Saber and the staff, faculty and students in Stanford’s Department of Theater and Performance Studies • at Catapult, Jaime Green wonders “what if we taught writing the way we teach acting?” • at Hyperallergic, scholar Rebecca Zorach details the reasons behind the backlash to the new docent program at the Art Institute of Chicago • and at Brown Alumni Monthly, Sophie Driscoll and Louise Sloan report on how Lisa Loeb’s Together Apart initiative gathered more than 100 Brown alumni to create ten mini-musicals to capture the multi-faceted experience of 2020…
Adventures in (Remote) Theatre-going:
Wherein I highlight some of my personal priority destinations for the upcoming week.
How to Raise a Freeman — streaming via McCarter Theatre • Bard at the Gate’s presentation of Zakiyyah Alexander’s dark comedy about staying alive while Black in America • $12 / streaming access available until further notice.
Wholeness Is No Trifling Matter — Saturday (11/20) at 12-130pm ET — The CRAFT Insitute presents Nissy Aya’s Wholeness is No Trifling Matter: Creating New Worlds Through Community Care & Play - a workshop/discussion dedicated to “explor[ing] community care in theory and in practice” • FREE with registration.
Profe Herrera’s Semi-Scholastic Bookmobile will remain open through the end of this month…
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!