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 soon-to-be holiday classic: artist/animator Warren Wright’s restaging of the iconic “Turkey Lurkey Time” number from Promises Promises in his signature “dollmation” style. (See this 2020 BroadwayWorld article for more about Wright’s journey into dollmation and see the reference video here.) So kick up those seasonal heels for TURKEY LURKEY TIME!!!
And here is some what’s been clicking since my last newsletter…
EDITOR’S NOTE: whenever possible, whenever I link to pieces posted behind a paywall, I do so using the “gift” function that certain publications now afford subscribers. So clicking out to articles in the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal should neither present hassle nor burn through your monthly allotment of free views. Here’s hoping more outlets — hello LATimes! — adopt similar technologies soon...
Deadline’s David Robb explains why entertainment unions “unions and guilds are calling on Congress to pass the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act (PATPA)” • NorthwesternNow’s Stephanie Kulke profiles artist/educator KO — previously known professionally as ‘Karen Olivo’ — about their decision to “step out of the Broadway spotlight and into the classroom” • Variety’s Emily Longeretta reports on actor Neal Bledsoe’s highly public decision to “step away from Great American Family network” as a result of their anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and policies • and SFChronicle’s Lily Janiak profiles Center Repertory Company’s cast- and crew-wide effort to ensure that one ensemble could perform in A Christmas Carol one last time…
NYTimes critic-at-large Jason Zinoman considers a constellation of recent examples of Jewish artists exploring the challenge of antisemitism at a moment when its recent resurgence feels both notable and distinct • NYTimes reporters J. David Goodman and Ruth Graham team up to examine why drag shows have become such a flashpoint for conservative outrage and violence • at DocumentJournal, arts writer Miss Rosen talks to nightlife legent Linda Simpson, DJ Dany Johnson, and photographer Andé Whyland about the “genesis of East Village drag” • and Reductress’ Damien Kronfield profiles a man who things drag queens are groomers…
in the wake of KPOP’s unexpectedly premature closing, composer/sound-designer Howard Ho threads an open letter to Jesse Green • TheVerge’s Monica Chin digs into why KPOP’s efforts to court extremely online fans of artists like BTS and Blackpink didn’t succeed • at Playbill, composer Helen Park offers her first-person reflection “on a Broadway run cut short” • LATimes’ Ashley Lee gets the KPOP team’s perspective on why their musical closed • NBC News’ Kimmy Yam asks whether Broadway gave KPOP a fair shot • on a similar tack, Deadline’s Greg Evans talks to Ain’t No Mo’ producer Lee Daniels & playwright Jordan E. Cooper about why the play that “should have been a Broadway hit” wasn’t • BroadwayNews’ Ruthie Fierberg talks to Ain’t No Mo’ director Stevie Walker-Webb about “saving his show” • and on the eve of the premature (IMHO) closing of A Strange Loop, OutMagazine’s Saskia Maxwell Keller highlights the latest video from Michael Korte — featuring Bob The Drag Queen, Kornbread, Elyn, Anania Williams and (my favorite Usher) Kyle Freeman singing a medley of songs from the show — describing it as “a dose of Black, queer joy”…
at OUP Blog, scholar/writer Ryan Donovan traces Funny Girl’s surprising and layered history around body size/type and casting controversy • LATimes columnist Gustavo Arellano digs deep into the peculiar Hollywood trend of featuring Latine/x actors in high-concept, genre and fantasy fare, while neglecting their “real life” stories • at Glamour, entertainment journalist Caitlin Brody talks to actor Audra McDonald about her career, her process and her work in Ohio State Murders • Vogue’s Marley Marius talks to actor/director Maria Friedman about bringing Sondheim’s most beloved conundrum of a musical to the stage in 2022 • at Into, freelance writer Eshe Ukweli profiles the pathbreaking trans performer/advocate Sis • at LatinoRebels, writer/musician Marlena Fitzpatrick talks to composer Jaime Lozano about his work to celebrate the lives of women in Mexico in his latest musical Desparecidas at the NYTimes, scholar/columnist John McWhorter reflects on the "trend toward scarily high volumes" in the sound designs for Broadway musicals • and at TheBroadwayBlog, freelance theater journalist Joey Sims talks to actor Eric Yang PU’17 about being a “full-time coder by day, off-Broadway lead by night”…
Listen Up!:
Wherein I highlight recent theatrically-inclined podcasts and playlists…
Perhaps because absolutely no one needs it (aside perhaps from me), I recently decided to relaunch my on-and-off-again podcast, StinkyLuluSays.
The podcast started as an awkward experiment in 2016 but quickly put it aside until 2020 when I rebooted it as part of a pandemic-motivated pedagogical pivot that lasted for more than a year (and three cycles and somewhere around 30 episodes). And now, for reasons I only vaguely understand myself, I’ve decided to reactivate it yet again, this time — in a return to the podcast’s original conceit — as an emphatically informal audio diary capturing some of my ruminative thoughts about the shows I see.
We’re now two weeks (and two episodes) in, with TEN shows commented upon, and I suspect I’ll keep it going through at least the early summer. Now let’s see if anyone cares to listen…
And Lest I Forget — This Week in Seasonal Kitsch…
it’s that special time of year… when it comes time again… to exchange THE CHRISTMAS CANDLE… happy happy merry merry etcetera etcetera… xo.b
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!