Other Writing
Los Angeles Times: “TEDx conference seeks bright ideas for Broadway”
January 29th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink
"What is the best that Broadway can be?” was the central question of the second TEDx Broadway conference, which continued to explore the query that fueled last year’s inaugural conference.
Presented, perhaps ironically, at off-Broadway’s New World Stages in Manhattan on Monday, the six-hour array of speakers struck similar notes: A better Broadway can be achieved through access for, engagement with and connection to the audience.
The conference mixed seasoned producers like Daryl Roth Continue reading...
Theatermania: “In Defense Of Theatrical Broliferation”
December 14th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
This is the note from Kimberly Kaye at Theatermania that preceded my op-ed: When TheaterMania launched its Bros on Broadway series in October 2012, theatre pundit and arts administrator Howard Sherman reached out to Creative Director Kimberly Kaye via Twitter to say he would be "monitoring" the feature and internet responses to it . After the debut of the TheaterMania's fourth "Bro" this week, Sherman reconnected, stating he would like to "weigh-in" on the reviews and the controversy around Continue reading...
Wall Street Journal: “St. Ann’s Warehouse Breaks In New Space With ‘Mies Julie’”
November 12th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
“Is that fog or haze?”
St. Ann’s Warehouse artistic director Susan Feldman asked that question to set and lighting designer Patrick Curtis, less than 72 hours before the first performance in the company’s new venue at 29 Jay Street in Brooklyn. It seemed like a mundane question with a major deadline approaching, but it was evidence of how smoothly everything was going elsewhere.
Her smoke-based question pertained to a special effect for the space’s opening production, “Mies Continue reading...
American Theatre: “Drawing on Shakespeare”
November 1st, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
“Urk!” “Huff huff.” “Sshing!” “Fwoosh.” “Fwooom!” “Twackk!”
William Shakespeare is credited with inventing countless words and phrases that the stuff of our everyday speech is made on. But I daresay that the words which appear above—if words they be—are not of the Bard’s making. Yet I just read them in Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. That is, in the graphic novels of those plays from Capstone Press, where they’re employed like the “pows” and “bams” of TV’s Continue reading...
HowlRound: “What’s Wrong With Canadian Plays?”
July 1st, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
I wrote this essay for HowlRound, the online journal of the Theatre Commons, now based at Emerson College. It was posted there on June 30, 2012, unwittingly for all concerned only a day before the national celebration of Canada Day by our northern neighbors. The piece provoked a great deal of comment, and while you can read my original thoughts here, you would benefit from many views other than my own, which can be found in the comments section of the original post.
Quick, name five modern Continue reading...
The Stage: “When The Circus Came To Broadway”
June 28th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
Hearing that the circus is coming to town usually evokes idyllic reveries of a parade of animals trouping down Main Street, the Big Top going up, the smell of sawdust and cotton candy. But when the circus in question is the multinational behemoth Cirque du Soleil, and they ditch the Big Top to stand in the reflected glare of Broadway’s lights, the effect on the Great White Way is somewhat chilling.
Cirque’s Zarkana made its debut last summer at Radio City Music Hall, just one avenue away from Continue reading...
The Stage: “It’s Time U.S. Theatre Reflected Its Society”
May 13th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
Gender and racial diversity in the arts has been a topic of discussion for as long as I can remember. But the ongoing inequities in the American theatre have been simmering for a long time. Intermittent signs of progress – Garry Hynes and Julie Taymor winning Tonys in 1997, dual firsts for women; the rich cycle of plays by August Wilson that brought a black voice to Broadway and stages across the country; the current Broadway season which featured two new plays by black female writers – are received Continue reading...
Guardian Culture Pros: “A Word From Your U.S. Sponsor”
April 24th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
While on a tear through London theatre in March 2012, I was invited by Nancy Groves, editor of Guardian Culture Professionals, to begin contributing pieces to the wealth of resources created and curated by that online community resource, operated under under the aegis of London’s Guardian newspaper. Since I am no expert in the British arts management scene, my focus for this (and subsequent pieces) is in where our practices may differ. First up was the issue of corporate sponsorship, at a time Continue reading...
The Stage: “A View Of The Oliviers From Across The Pond”
April 19th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink
Having had a hand in The Tony Awards from 2004 through 2011, awards show-watching has been more than a pastime for me. But I’m a latecomer to The Olivier Awards. Two years ago I sat at home, watching the livestream in a window on my laptop. Last year, I finally accepted my annual invitation from the Society of London Theatres to attend in person. Earlier today, I spent four hours in the Jazz at Lincoln Center facility, where the livefeed of the Oliviers was shown on a large screen in Rose Hall, Continue reading...
