WELCOME to the #TheatreClique Round Up — my occasional 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 Hollywood Reporter roundtable that gathered powerhouses Quinta Brunson, Bridgett Everett, Selena Gomez, Tracee Ellis Ross, Amy Schumer, and Molly Shannon for a remarkably unflinching conversation that was both generous and generative, incisive and inspiring…
And here is some what’s been clicking since my last newsletter…
Princeton’s Department of African American Studies engages the question “What Is Juneteenth?” in which writer/scholar/commentator/department-chair Dr. Eddie Glaude notes that “Juneteenth makes explicit the meaning and consequence of delayed freedom” • also in recognition of Juneteenth, Apple profiles how illustrator, comic creator, and scholar (and my college pal) Ajuan Mance’s recent project — The Ancestors’ Juneteenth — brings “the past into the present through portraits of historical Black figures”…
at Routes, writer/performer Perri Gaffney turns a critical eye to the 2022 Tony nominations as a measure of how “African-Americans are the canaries both onstage and in the audience, gauging the signs for Broadway’s future” • playwright Paula Vogel threads her reply to the question “what do you do with an unused acceptance speech?” • NYTimes’ Alexis Soloski profiles one of the most reliably breathtaking stage actors of our time Dierdre O’Connell amidstthe reverberations of her first Tony win • a team of NYTimes writers — Michael Paulson, Jolie Ruben & Matt Stevens — offers fascinating portraits of some 2022 Tony Nominees, featuring stunning photographs by Jingyu Lin • BroadwayBuzz’s Caitlin Moynihan talks to actor Gabby Beans about her path from pre-med to Broadway and how “neuroscience and acting are just two sides of the same coin” • and, meanwhile, the Antonyo Awards announces that they will return this Fall, with the 2021-2022 nomination ceremony scheduled for June 20…
at Unsettled Territory, writer/scholar Imani Perry reflects on the achievements of Michael R. Jackson’s A Strange Loop and how it “renewed [her] sense of why Black criticism is important” • CNN’s Scottie Andrew talks to director Stephen Brackett about A Strange Loop’s path to Broadway (and Tony) success • at Vulture, writer/critic Diep Tran charts A Strange Loop’s twenty year journey to Broadway acclaim • and at NPR’s Code Switch, writer/critic Nathan Pugh considers how “A Strange Loop fits into Black theater legacies”…
at the Hartford Courant, noted theatre historian Joseph Roach offers an erudite defense of Long Wharf Theatre’s new model [as] rooted in tradition • at Austin360, culture writer Michael Barnes reviews Austin Theatre’s recent production of Mack & Mabel as an example of how “a big Broadway show can be molded into a micro-musical”• DenverPost’s John Wenzel reports on why Denver’s Su Teatro is one of most important theaters in the United States • San Diego Union-Tribune’s Pam Kragen reports on San Diego Repertory’s decision to suspend operations after 46 years • and LATimes’ Ashley Lee reports on Theatre Producers of Color — the “radically transparent program training theater producers of color”…
at TDF, writer/critic Juan Michael Porter II instigates a lively conversation with theatremaker (and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright) James Ijames • at Andscape, writer/critic Soraya Macdonald assesses how Broadway’s MJ balances its account of Michael Jackson’s musical genius while danc[ing] around some of the “ugly facts” of his biography • NYTimes’ Jesse Green goes deep into the longstanding tolerance for despotic behavior in the theatre…
at Self-Styled Siren, film writer Farran Smith Nehme offers a glimpse into the complex story of Jed Harris, the once-legendary but now nearly forgotten theatre producer • at DailyBeast, independent journalist Mollie Hersh documents “the agony and the ecstasy of the SNL standby line” • IndieWire’s Eric Kohn revisits the perennial questions stirred by the “delicate navigation that even the most acclaimed playwrights must undertake inside the larger Hollywood machine” • and PrimeTimer’s Mark Blankenship tells the story of “how Dear Diary, a proto-Sex and the City, became the most successful failed pilot of all time.” (Just imagine— had it succeeded SATC might not have happened at all and star Bebe Neuwirth might not have been available for the Broadway transfer of Encores!’s revival staging of Company.) But speculative history aside — the Dear Diary pilot is definitely worth a watch...
...and — lest I forget — this week in Fornésiana: brings some reviews documenting the recent production of Fefu and Her Friends staged by South Florida’s Thinking Cap Theatre which, in different ways, assess the bold production strategy adopted by director Nicole Stodard that, as detailed by critic Ilana Jael in South Florida Theater Magazine, “allowed the audiences to choose their path” among the four simultaneous scenes that comprise the play’s second act. (For more on this production, see also reviews offered by Bill Hirschman in Florida Theater On Stage and Aaron Krause at Berkshire Fine Arts.) And to hear Nicole Stodard in conversation with noted Fornés scholar Gwendolyn Alker about the ThinkingCap production (and Fefu more generally) click the link below…
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 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!