Broadway Update - May 16, 2021: Post-Quarantine 2021-22 Season

With COVID infections dropping and vaccinations reaching higher levels, the New York theater is poised to reopen after a year and a half of lockdown. Both Governor Cuomo and Mayor DeBlasio have touted that the city will be open for business this summer, and Broadway has followed suit. It started with a trickle of press releases but now the floodgates have opened with multiple shows announcing their return starting on Sept. 14.

Looking Forward To A New Year: Online Play Festivals Usher In an Optimistic 2021

While the impact of such innovations as headshot acting, long-distance repartee and crowd-sourced musicals remains to be seen, theater historians have been chronicling the progress of necessity-bred inventions sparked in response to the lingering closures of playhouses and isolation of its inhabitants. Among these is the adoption of technology borrowed from radio, film and television—know-how rendering productions once viewed in Chicago storefronts accessible to audiences in faraway cities, states and even countries.

Marilyn Monroe's Handkerchief Leads La Commedie Italienne to Off-Again, On-Again Existence

After La Comedie Italianne closed its program of plays and commedia classes, in 2018, Producer and Artistic Director Attilio Magiulli began auctioning off its stock of costumes, scenery, and historical-decorative items. One of the latter—a handkerchief reputed to belong to Marilyn Monroe—brought new life to the theater where it was displayed. But by the end of 2020, corona virus lockdowns have threatened its health once again.

Broadway Update - Nov. 20, 2020: Broadway in Limbo

The lights on Broadway will remain dim for even longer due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Last month, the Broadway League announced that all 41 of its member theaters will be shuttered until May 30, 2021. This is the latest in a series of extended closures since the stages closed on March 13.

A Fall Season After All: Streaming and Zooming in the Shutdown of 2020

A miracle didn't arrive to chase away the fear and the gloom, but history has demonstrated that art will always find a way. As the weather cools and days shorten, theaters mired down in despair during the spring of this annus horribilis have shaken off their shellshock and rallied to the challenge of respite for audiences grimly and bravely making the best of a spartan holiday season. Most of these online shows run under two hours with choose-your-own-admission ticket prices.

Tar Beaches And Asphalt Parks: Outdoor Theatergoing During the Shutdown

Some blamed the ambience: cozy low-ceilinged, windowless rooms, accessed by narrow entrances and closely-spaced seats suddenly perceived as microbe-congested cells. Others faulted the intended market—hadn't we been repeatedly warned that elderly people were especially vulnerable to respiratory infections? Or were playgoers of all ages simply wary of making plans, after months of disappointment at one cancellation notice after another?

Smartphones to the Rescue?

Smartphone Theater can best be described as online stage reading or digital theater,” said Todd Felderstein. Felderstein, a veteran stage, film and TV director, conceived of this project some months ago and has been hosting weekly presentations via the Zoom platform. Working out of his office in the midst of the pandemic, he appears on camera to introduce each play and to read stage directions. He has picked the plays, but they have been directed by others, who are also responsible for casting and rehearsing the actors.

Interview with Adam Chambers, Artistic Director of Loft Ensemble

WM: Will Loft Ensemble be able to survive the pandemic?  Are you taking any special steps to help keep your company alive?

Chicago Theaters Online During COVID

With shows cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19, many theaters are streaming their productions or posting archived recordings of past performances. Here is a current list of those streaming options.

Albany Park Theater Project: Has video clips and full-length productions on Vimeo at vimeo.com/albanyparktheater

New York Drama Critics Circle Awards 2020

Heroes of the Fourth Turning and A Strange Loop, two Off-Broadway productions presented by Playwrights Horizons, were voted Best Play and Best Musical respectively by the New York Drama Critic Circle. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the organization of New York-based theater critics met for the first time on the Zoom platform on April 15 and considered productions which opened before March 12, when all Broadway theaters were closed. (Off-Broadway soon followed.)

Stayin' Alive: Intimate Theater in L.A.

For some time now, the VS. Theatre Company has been a solid member of the L.A. intimate-theater community, mounting an impressive body of work over the years. A non-profit organization, it primarily produces world, west coast, and L.A. premieres by leading American playwrights.

The company’s stated mission is to:
 -- “develop and/or produce original works and rarely performed plays from major playwrights”
–-“explore the human potential for triumph and tragedy”

Broadway Update: NYC Theater's Future Unknown

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the New York theater world as well as all aspects of American and world society. On March 12, all Broadway theaters were ordered closed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Smaller Off-Broadway theaters soon followed as well as cabarets, nightclubs, cinemas, and all other performance venues. The original re-opening date announced by the Broadway League was April 13, but that appears to be obsolete.

Broadway Update: Coronavirus Devastates Broadway

 The COVID-19 or coronavirus outbreak has silenced Broadway and will likely have a devastating impact long after it has passed. To prevent the spread of this highly contagious disease, all theaters in New York City, and many across the country, are closed and two new productions have announced they will not be playing when the stages re-open. Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen and the revival of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? have officially been cancelled.

Chicago Spring Theater Preview 2020

The equinox is only two weeks away, but it's still wet and snowy—not the kind that gives us an excuse to snuggle down by the fire with a hot drink, but the sloppy shivery kind that creeps down collars and up sleeves. Rather than surrender to meteorological malaise while waiting impatiently for the days to get longer and the crocuses to bloom, people may have to don thermals one more time and go to a show.

Plays to see quick before they close:

(all running to March 15, 2020)

Chicago Winter Theater Preview 2020

One advantage to 2019's abbreviated lead-up to the holidays is the number of shows that decided not to close when the mirror-ball dropped but instead extended into 2020.

People can still catch Black Ensemble's The Other Cinderella through Jan. 19 (blackensembletheater.org), Firebrand's Always …Patsy Cline through Jan. 5 (firebrandtheatre.org) and Theo Ubique's Working (theo-u.com).through Jan. 16. If theatergoers can wait a week or two, though, they can enjoy some bona fide classics and revivals often referenced but rarely seen nowadays.

Florida Studio Theater Launches Year-Long "Suffragist Project"

Florida Studio Theater has launched a joint effort with over 55 Sarasota-Manatee County community organizations to commemorate the United States’s constitutional granting to women of the right to vote. In a December 2nd, 2019, meeting in FST’s Keating Theatre, originally the downtown 1915 Women’s Club of Sarasota, Project Director Kate Alexander unveiled a full event calendar leading to August 2020’s 100th anniversary.

Suffragist Project Chair Judge Charles E. Williams introduced the Project Forums.  He pointed out that even black men received  voting rights before women.

Herbert Simpson: The Talented, Talkative Critic

For even those who knew Herbert Simpson only in passing, likely what they remember was his voice – usually deep and sonorous, a bit scratchy, but brimming with passion.

They remember his voice because Simpson, the critic and educator who died Sunday, November 24, 2019, never passed on a chance to hold forth at great length with erudite insights about virtually anything remotely connected to the performing arts, said friends and relatives who gently joked about Simpson’s loquaciousness.

ATCA at Sardi's 2019

For several years there has been an annual New York meeting of American Theater Critics Association. It grew in richness and intensity under the dual leadership of the late dean of Broadway, Ira Bilowit, and cabaret godmother of soul, Sherry Eaker.

One could feel the difference this time with new leadership from New York-based ATCA president, Martha Steketee, Connecticut critic, Frank Rizzo, and former operations manager from San Francisco, Robert Sokol.

ATCA NY Conference 2019

MCC Theater, a new complex at 511 West 52nd Street, generously hosted meetings and panels for the recent New York conference of the American Theater Critics Association. Some delegates returned for evening performances of the Theresa Rebeck comedy Seared (which was hilarious at the Williamstown Theater Festival) and the new musical The Wrong Man by Ross Golan.

Our driver misunderstood the address we gave him and through heavy traffic took us to 57th street.

Chicago Fall Theater Preview 2019

Our city has become a worldwide destination for premiering plays (if Mark Larson's new book on the history of showbiz in Chicago is correct), but there's still room for second-look and better-late-than-never theatergoing experiences in a season crammed with possibilities.

BONA FIDE CLASSICS:

Sustaining Regional Black Theater

The Sarasota, Florida based critic, Jay Handelman, organized a conference for the American Theater Critics Association (ATCA). Some thirty members and guests assembled in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for the biennial National Black Theater Festival which was held from July 29 through August 3, 2019.

From Wednesday through Saturday, with matinee and evening performances, we attended an average of eight shows from the 30 productions staged in and around the city.

Taking a Rehearsal Break with Mark St. Germain

There is a long-standing relationship between the playwright Mark St. Germain and Barrington Stage Company. The smaller of its two stages is named for him. 

My first exposure to his work was Freud’s Last Session in 2009. It was reviewed for my website, bershirefinearts.com, by our contributor, the late Larry Murray. A pullout quote from that review was “A work of genius.” The play went on to have global productions. 

Saving Precious Daylight: Summer Theater in Chicago 2019

The days are growing longer and the midyear solstice is only a few weeks away. It must be time for Shakespeare-under-the-stars and pre-show picnics on the green, but as we regard all this wide-awake time we are saving, why not make a day of it? The city and environs offer plenty of opportunities for soaking up fresh air and Vitamin D in addition to iambic verse. ( In light of recent summer climate conditions, however, pack a sweater and umbrella, just in case ).

—Oak Park Festival Theater, June 15-July 21, at Austin Gardens at 157 Forest Ave.

Spring Theater in Chicago 2019

The groundhog lied to us! Winter in Chicago is not yet over, boots and parkas still litter the foyers, and the New Year has been delayed until the equinox—so start your countdowns now in anticipation of these spring plays:

< B>—Not For Sale: UrbanTheater remounts Guadalis del Carmen's commentary on the gentrification of Humboldt Park and the possibility of peaceful solutions to conflicts engendered thereby. Currently playing in English (to April 7 at the Batey Urbano, 2620 W. Division St.

Lolita Returns, Set to Music

There are two strong reasons to welcome a revival of the musical Lolita, My Love, which is being staged at the York Theater at Saint Peter’s from February 23 through March 3, 2019 as part of its “Musicals in Mufti” series.

First, it’s a reexamination of a story about the sexual relationship of a teenage girl with a middle-aged man now that many powerful men are being busted for their conduct with subservient or underage women. Second, it’s a chance to hear a virtually-unknown score by one of the great songwriters in the history of Broadway, Alan Jay Lerner.

Up Close and Personal

The myth of actors losing sight of the boundaries between their own personalities and those of their characters is exactly that—a fiction born of sensational fancy. Reflexive behavior forged over centuries of evolution is not always consciously governed, however, leading to special training for theater artists whose duties include creating low-risk illusions of corporal combat.

So how did so many other types of behavior likewise come to require referees?

Bringing King Kong to Broadway

In 1933, a mega great ape, clutching a terrified but smitten Fay Wray as Ann Darrow, scaled the Empire State Building, then the world’s tallest building. The camp/classic film “King Kong” has endured in hearts and minds. There were full-scale Hollywood remakes in 1976 and 2005 as well as numerous spinoffs in every form of graphics, fine arts, and media.

ATCA at Sardis: Theater Critics Lunch with Broadway Stars

For the past five years American Theater Critics Association (ATCA) has organized a New York Conference. That was initiated by the contacts and charisma of co-chairs, the late Ira Bilowit, and cabaret entrepreneur, Sherry Eaker. A highlight of the conference is the annual Sardi’s luncheon with Broadway stars.

As MC, with elegant ebullience, Eaker announced that word of mouth has encouraged celebrities to participate in the meet and greet with critics. She even revealed being lobbied by press agents on behalf of their clients.

Focus on Diversity: The American Theater Critics Association's 2018 New York Meeting

With the erosion of print media there has been a dramatic impact on arts coverage. For hard-pressed surviving newspapers, even in major markets, there have been cutbacks and elimination of categories including classical music and dance. Film and even theater are now often covered through wire services. Too many former, full-time theater critics are freelancers mostly for unpaid internet sites.

On the plus side there has been an enormous growth of on line resources. That includes young bloggers with no editorial oversight or mentoring.

Entertaining the guests: Thanksgiving Activities, Chicago Theater Style

Suburban and rural households are seldom dismayed at the prospect of family gatherings. For city dwellers in small apartments, however, multiple-generation reunions often lead to claustrophobic stress. Downtown events are typically swarming with hotel visitors and oversized automobiles, so why not minimize the long waits and the scrimmages by entertaining guests—parents, in-laws, siblings, nieces and nephews—away from the tourist districts?

Non-holiday plays:

Too Ghoul for School

The weeks surrounding Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, solstice and New Year's are often collectively dubbed the "holiday season" in our multicultural society, but you're not likely to hear the three days set aside to recognize the transition from October to November—individually, Halloween (or "Hallow's Eve"), Day of the Dead and All Souls' Day—grouped under the name "Death Day season" in the near future.

Theater's pagan Greek origins predispose it to celebrations reminding us that the darkness is only temporary.

Same-Sex Romance in a New Nation

The legacy of self-taught artist Mary Ann Willson is founded on a portfolio of watercolors executed in tints fashioned from brick dust, berry juices and vegetable dyes—materials plentiful in the rural regions of Greene County, New York, during the early 19th century—as well as two letters from a patron asking after her and a "Miss Brundage," with whom she shared a log cabin on a farm, and a lifetime companionship. Romantic legends are built on just such archeological enigmas.

Fall 2018 Chicago Theater Preview

"Yo, what's up, white people?" chirps a character in the first minutes of Qui Nguyen's Vietgone [running at Writers Theater through Sept. 23, 2018], reminding us that our world is occupied by a diversity of races, cultures and genders. Not only do the world premiere plays in Chicago's fall season reflect this, but they also number too many to list here.

These are a few to start you off, but keep your eyes peeled if you want to see the rest before the crowd:

Grace Under Pressure: Ernest Hemingway in Pamplona

No matter how impressive their canon, glamorous their lifestyle or enduring their legacy, there is nothing more unexciting to watch than a writer working, unless it's a writer not working. This incontrovertible fact makes for the irony in playwright Jim McGrath opting to depict Ernest Hemingway during a bout of the descriptive paralysis known colloquially as Writer's Block.

Higher Ground: Pride in The View UpStairs

A port city whose coastal elevation mandates cemetery repositories above the ground surface is almost guaranteed to have a rich necrology, but the legacy of the 1973 UpStairs Lounge holocaust remained buried until 2016, when the torching of a gay club in Orlando, Florida, spurred two playwrights to initiate investigation into the long-forgotten atrocity.

The Shaw Festival 2017

Grab your passport and head for the border. This is not a political statement. Whether the Shaw Festival, now celebrating its 55th year in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, seriously challenges its nearby (two-hour drive) rival the Stratford Festival as the finest, or should I say my favorite, resident theatre company in North America remains a moot point after a fair number of visits over the years.

My last visit to the Shaw Festival was in 2009.

Summer Promises: Theater in and Around Chicago

One might not believe it from the climate-change weather people are getting now, but summer is on its way and, with it, outdoor warm-weather picnic-welcome entertainment and no-brain indoor spectacles. (Note: Asterisks indicate productions with no admission charge.)

Under suburban stars

Fasten Seat Belts: Jessica Sherr Returns in Bette Davis Solo Show

The editor who asked for a feature story showcasing the cast's "pre-eminent dragsters" may have been forgiven guessing Bette Davis ain't For Sissies to be a cross-dressing camp comedy instead of a solo show written, directed, and performed by the multitalented Jessica Sherr. Ironically, this error illustrates perfectly the misconceptions regarding the career of the Hollywood icon who vowed to make her legacy that of an actress, rather than a star.

Chicago Spring Theater Preview 2018: Premieres Reflect Global Awareness

Playwrights and the theaters who showcase them are finally catching up with the times. Audiences looking to shake off the inertia of winter boredom will find a diversity of world premiere narratives on display in Chicago.

Lettie
Victory Gardens Theater at the Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.
The struggle of an ex-convict to forge a new life as a welder in her home town, as recounted by an author named Boo Killebrew, is enough to command our attention, even without rising star Carolyn Neff's proletariat charisma. (April 6-May 6; VictoryGardens.org)

Looking for a Fight: Art as disruption in "Seven Fights"

"Have you ever punched anyone in the face?" an actor—coincidentally, the biggest on the stage—asks the audience at the start of the show, A Story Told in Seven Fights, his query quickly followed by, "Have you ever wanted to punch somebody in the face?"

This is not a frivolous question, since one of the three stories promised in the title is that of Gilded Age Swiss playboy Arthur Cravan.

Pages