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’d been planning to lift this NPR Tiny Desk concert featuring the current cast of Broadway’s company even before the news of Stephen Sondheim’s passing this week at the age of 91. And within hours, even on a holiday weekend, much worthwhile theatre-clickery began: in the NYTimes, Michael Paulson posts Sondheim’s final interview and Elisabeth Vincentinelli reports on the “impromptu wakes” that filled NYC piano bars upon the news of Sondheim’s death• vivid remembrances pour forth from the likes of John DeVore, TheAtlantic’s Amy Weiss-Meyer, LATimes’ Charles McNulty, NewYorker’s Michael Schulman, WashingtonPost’s Peter Marks, NYTimes’ Bruce Weber, NPR’s Bob Mondello, among many I’ve certainly missed and the many more that are sure to be forthcoming… but IF YOU CLICK ON NO OTHER LINK IN THIS NEWSLETTER, CLICK THIS: at Slate, Isaac Butler offers a truly luminous reflection on Sondheim’s legacy as a musical dramatist…
But for now, some Company…
And here is some what else hass been clicking since my last newsletter…
Washington Post’s Peter Marks considers the ways a number of notable NYC productions seem to be reckoning with “a nation dangerously divided against itself” • Politico’s Kyle Cheney reports on the federal charges faced by a “Broadway actor and Michael Jackson impersonator starring as Judas in a traveling production of Jesus Christ Superstar” as a result of their participation in the January 6 siege on the US Capitol • Ohio students and community members speak out about the Hillsboro school board’s recent cancellation of a local production of She Kills Monsters • and in Eastern New Mexico News, columnist Betty Williamson offers a truly remarkable glimpse into the process of season selection at Eastern New Mexico University…
Backstage’s Diep Tran profiles the growing surge of theatre workers demanding an end to grueling working conditions • NYTimes’ Adam Nagourney considers how city workers working from home might might impact arts programming and wonders “whether weeknight audiences are a thing of the past” • NYU’s Wagner Review issues report “Addressing Gender Inequity in Theatrical Design” • and in the New York Daily News, performance historian Sarah Miller-Davenport issues a call to “democratize the arts in New York City”…
the NYTimes remembers the incomparable — and extraordinarily influential — “playwright of the Black Arts Movement” Ed Bullins (1935-2021) • in Dramatics Magazine, Ken Cerniglia addresses the perennial mystery of “what a dramaturg does” • for AmericanTheatre, Isaac Butler interviews two leading teachers — Pamela Kareman and Tom Oppenheim — about the place of Stanislavski in 21st century actor training • via TikTok, flop-aficionado Dan Kuhlman takes his followers with him on his first trip to the New York Public Library’s Billy Rose Theatre Division • at Theatrely, Juan A. Ramirez offers what just might be the perfect review of Diana: The Musical • actor/singer/dancer Jewelle Blackman — aka “that contralto Fate”— reflects on “returning to Hell and re-opening Hadestown” for Toronto’s Intermission Magazine • and Fortune documents the “pandemic stories” of some Broadway professionals…
...and — lest I forget — this week in Fornésiana: brings confirmation that Gwendolyn Alker and Alice Reagan, in collaboration with designer Donald Eastman and some intrepid Princeton students, have returned to the stage María Irene Fornés' Evelyn Brown: A Diary, one of maestra’s great “long thought to be lost” works...
As an aside, as an invitation, and as this Pandemic Semester #4 careens to its screeching halt, I find that I’m contemplating the #TheatreClique newsletter’s future, both in the immediate and in the long term.
Some context… For the first time in nearly two years, I will not be teaching a course that uses the newsletter as a weekly resource. And it might also be worth noting that, while I do take some pleasure in compiling the newsletter, I have always approached the exercise primarily as one of para-pedagogical service. The metrics have either plateau’d or have started a slight decline, depending on how you look at them. So — at this juncture in the academic calendar — I find myself wondering whether or not the newsletter needs to continue, especially without its para-curricular function or justification. To be clear: I’ve made no decisions but, in addition to being tired, I’m honestly uncertain about whether the newsletter is a needed act of service (because if it’s not, I should really just stop).
As I wrangle this very minor existential crisis, it occurs to me that I might benefit from hearing from any of y’all who might have thoughts about the newsletter — its structure, its content, its relevance or value within your lives. So if you’ve the inclination please consider engaging this brief survey…
AND IT’S LAST CALL! Profe Herrera’s Semi-Scholastic Bookmobile really does want to send YOU a (free) book…
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!