There was certainly news this week in New York theater — mostly of shows closing, but also announcements of forthcoming shows, such as Cyndi Lauper’s debut as a Broadway composer; new productions of works by Cole Porter, Frank McCourt, etc. — but the beginning of summer has produced some contemplative theater tweets, addressing such questions as:
Has theater saved your life — or at least cheered you at a miserable time of your life?
Why is there often such a disparity between what critics like and what the general public likes?
Is there such a thing as a theater addiction, and can you experience withdrawal?
The answer to that last one: “I have it and I’m proud,” says theater producer Jeff Martinez of Los Angeles. Forrest Hinton of Birmingham says he’s had it “my whole life. The world’s best drug.” Tate Geborkoff of Chicago says “I have to go at least once a week or I get pretty moody.”
There is no need to be moody even during the summer, especially when offered the tale of Stephen Sondheim and the T-shirt (see Tuesday below).
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Monday, June 21, 2010
Faisal Shahzad pleaded guilty to conspiracy charge in Times Square bombing plot.
Promises, Promises’ new Broadway cast album starring Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes is in stores today
First there was Ethel Merman, then Patti LuPone. Now Sutton Foster will star in Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes,” presented by the Roundabout Theater Company in February 2011.
Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes) died on July 19 a year ago. On July 22 of this year, McCourt’s “The Irish and How They Got That Way” will open at the Irish Repertory Theater
The big hit of last year’s NY Fringe fest – Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party – will play on Theater Row from July 27 to September 5.
Al Pacino denies that there is Anti-Semitism in Merchant of Venice “Shylock is an outcry against prejudice.” Also: “Times change”
On Web video,captions are coming slowly –
The Hearing Loss Association of America says 36 million Americans have hearing loss. Captions benefit others too, such as people learning English. It’s time websites step up and theaters too — not just occasional open caption nights, but the handheld caption devices now available in England.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Next Fall will be closing at the Helen Hayes Theater July 4th, after 26 previews and 132 regular performances.
Bill Heck, who was great as Horace in “The Orphans’ Home Cycle”) will play the gay Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt in the revival of Angels in America at the Signature Theater Company, the first revival in New York of the award-winning play since it opened on Broadway. It is scheduled for September 14 to December 19.
Yes there was a “Tony bump” — an increase in sales after the Tony Awards broadcast — for many Broadway shows, mostly those already doing well.
“Fences,” says the New York Times, is “now charging a relatively huge amount, $425, for top premium tickets.” Relatively?! Relative to what? There are higher ticket prices for a play than $425?
Stephen Sondheim And The Tale of The T-Shirt
Alex Jensen visited New York from his home in Atlanta and saw “Sondheim on Sondheim” with four friends he met on Twitter, a group of theater lovers from around the country who started calling themselves the Fab Five. To mark the occasion, he created five T-shirts, one for each of them, with Sondheim’s face and the words “Art Isn’t Easy.” Most of the others thought it “tacky” to wear the shirt to the performance, but Alex did so happily. At the stage door after the show, he was spotted by one of the cast members, Leslie Kritzer (@lesliekritzer), one thing led to another, and Alex made a T-shirt for each member of the cast AND Stephen Sondheim and director James Lapine.
On seeing the show for the third time, as Alex puts it, “my shirt made its cameo during ‘Comedy Tonight.’” A man whose fashion experience was limited to watching Project Runway was now, you could argue, a Broadway costume designer.
“Vannesa williams told me I should come out with a whole line of theater-inspired shirts like this.” Oh, did I tell you that Alex was invited backstage after the show?
This month, Alex packed up his shirts and other clothing, and moved to New York City.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Cyndi Lauper is composing Kinky Boots, a Broadway-bound musical with Harvey Fierstein, based on a 2005 film about a drag queen creating fetish-wear for a shoe company.
On the Fourth of July, Grammy-winner Dan Zanes et all will give a free concert of “Broadway classics” in Battery Park.
Gary Coleman’s death and “Avenue Q”. AIDS crisis and “La Cage aux Folles”. 9/11 and Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins.” The effect of breaking news on Broadway shows
Original cast recording of Gypsy selected as one of this year’s 25 “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” recordings for the National Recording Registry.
Gregory Jbara on working with all the new Billys upon his return as Billy Elliot’s Dad: “I hate them all.They’re evil.” (He’s kidding.)
QUESTIONING CRITICS, # 1: Why is there this a disparity between what critics like and what the general public likes? (e.g. Wicked, Mary Poppins, The Adams Family)
Nathaniel Rogers (@nathanielr, writer, cinephile, blogger): Lack of arts education and critical thinking skills
Scott Rosenblum (@sdrosenb, theater producer): Sometimes I think it’s laziness. Some people rely solely on word-of-mouth or ads and don’t really want to read reviews or search online.
Mike Smith Rivera (@apocalypseclown, clown, actor): I suspect for them, it’s like picking a zoo.
Liz Woolf (@lizwoolf): Can’t we just be happy that people are coming and enjoying live theater without insulting their intelligence?
Sue Kisenwether (@spaltor, theater lover, Yankees fan, ticket seller): Critics analyze productions. The public goes to the theater not to think, but to have an emotional experience.
Jonathan Mandell (@newyorktheater, me): You don’t think most theater critics became what they are out of a love for the theater? Can’t one feel AND think?
Sue Kisenwether: I think most critics STARTED because of a love for the theater, but become jaded over the years.
And eventually it becomes more about analyzing the book/score/lighting than actually experiencing the show.
You’d hope they would feel and think, and could balance both in a review, but I find that to be rare.
Silly/campy/fun gets a bad rap. But angst/despair/fear is seen as legit
Sarah-Jane Stratford (@stratfordsj, novelist, playwright): I disagree. ‘title of show’, ‘Rock of Ages’ are silly and got great reviews, as did many more.
Sue Kisenwether: Reviews seem to matter less and less to the casual theatergoer, and those “pure fun” shows are doing well.
Joseph Lee Edward (@JLeeEdward, actor and singer): I think the critics are important to developing good theatre. I think many have forgotten how to be constructive.
Anthony Smith (@AshtonHMinty, theater student) Criticism is necessary for “high art” theater and irrelevant for the rest. Sue Kisenwether: But who says what is “high art” and what isn’t?
Jonathan Mandell: Um, critics?
Anthony Smith: Hence the scarequotes around high art. These days, “high art” is purely a visceral reaction to something opaque-seeming.
Future posts: Are critics evil or just stupid, or neither? The critics respond.
Jackie Hoffman (Hairspray, Xanadu, The Addams Family) as The Old Lady Gaga in her own version of “Alejandro”:
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wilson Jermaine Heredia, the original Angel of “Rent,” is in Tales from the Tunnel — true stories of the NYC subway — in July at the 45 Bleecker Street Theater
Theatergoing as Life-Saving
Has theater saved your life — or at least cheered you at a miserable time in your life?
Josh Lamon (@joshlamon, actor in revival of “Hair”): “Rent” made it okay for me to come out. I was still a kid, but it let me know I wasn’t alone and that I was beautiful.
“Caroline, or Change” was probably the most influential piece of theater I ever saw. Helped me through some dark moments.
And “Hair” taught me so much about love, acceptance, beauty, patience and believing in a better world.
Liz Richards (@misslizrichards, stage manager): Can you listen to “Hairspray” and stay in a bad mood? I think not.
Linda Buchwald (@pataphysicalsci, blogger and Stage Grade editor): Avenue Q made me laugh and feel less alone when I graduated with a BA in English and couldn’t get a job.
Tyler Martins (@mrtylermartins, theater fan): “Next to Normal”helped me cope with depression and anxiety that was prevalent in my family. There is always a light at the end.
Mallory Elizabeth (@FlipFloppinLuv, Scrabble and theater fan): The family values in “In The Heights” helped me greatly after my father passed.
Kelly Cameron (@broadwaybabyto, theater journalist, Broadway World): I saw “Rent” for first time right after my Mom passed away, definitely helped me through a very difficult time
Heather Kopf (@heyheyheatherk, “city girl wannabe”): When I need a good cry, I turn to “Last Five Years” or “Grey Gardens,” both great emotional pieces.
Jonathan Mandell: And this cheers you up?
Heather Kopf: There’s nothing like a good cry! Cause you can only go up from there
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Liev Schreiber and director Gregory Mosher (View From The Bridge) may reunite on Broadway for That Championship Season
Le Cirque head Daniel Lamarre: “it will take some time to understand what happened with ‘Banana Shpeel’ in NY.”
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Broadway show closings.Today: Red, Sondheim on Sondheim, Hair.
Later closings
Another show closing today, Off-Broadway, is Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Public Theater. But those who haven’t seen it is likely to get a chance elsewhere.
U2 manager: Spider-man: Turn Off The Dark planned for mid-Nov opening. Reliable? Article also says must run 8,000 years to break even.
“Billy Elliot” scouts out Billys two years in advance, sends them to “Billy Camp” for one year. The best go to Broadway for about a year — only a year because 12-year-olds are known to grow.
Christine (@yankeegirl51680, fan) I saw Hair’s final performance. Took my mom 
Wish I could have seen Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson one final time too. The encore of Aquarius was amazing! The energy during the entire show was amazing!! They really performed tonight and the audience cheered after every song.
Jacqui (@JDB6880, fan): James Rado sitting in front of us at the final
Broadway performance of Hair? Awesome…”How dare they try to end this beauty.”….Hair was INCREDIBLE. Tears, laughs, and tons of love.My eyes are puffy and burn, my throat is sore, my nose is stuffy and my heart hurts. But I feel so filled with love.
The Week in New York Theater Tweets is published every Monday, a selection of edited and enhanced tweets from the account of Jonathan Mandell. Follow New York Theater.
Jonathan Mandell
Jonathan Mandell, who tweets as New York Theater, is a native New Yorker and third-generation journalist with diverse experience on newspapers, magazines and websites.He has ...
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