AmericanTheaterWeb NewsClips

The Guardian

Play streamed live from London draws a crowd in Harrogate
National Theatre performance of Phedre, starring Helen Mirren, plays to cinema audiences around the country

In praise of ... live relays Editorial
"We open in Venice, we next play Verona, then on to Cremona," sing the travelling players in Kiss Me Kate, and today they could do all this and more without leaving Broadway. Last night the National Theatre's production of Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren ("not so much a victim of the...

Seven days on stage: Tom Tom Crew, Oklahoma!, Carrie's War and other shows
Tom Tom Crew's killer moves, bunnies gone wild at Glyndebourne and a rousing Oklahoma! in Chichester

Theatre review: Medea/Medea / Gate, London
"The theatre is a toilet," writes director Dylan Tighe in the programme for his multimedia assault on Medea, which does make you wonder why he is so keen to work in one. Just like the bleach that Helen Schoene's brooding, immigrant Medea whizzes up in a blender, Tighe's approach to ...

Obituary: Doris Barry
Doris Barry, who has died aged 96, was one of the four talented Marks sisters born to Jewish parents in north London - the others being Alicia (the ballerina Dame Alicia Markova), Vivienne and Bunny. Their father, Arthur, a mining engineer, always encouraged his children, coaching them to play short scenes from Shakespeare.

The Independent

Carlos Acosta: 'I hammer my body every day'
Carlos Acosta stretches out on the sofa and yawns. Not the most promising start to an interview, perhaps – or indeed the most flattering response from the man sometimes called the Cuban Sex Missile – but I can see why he's tired. He's been up with the lark, or at least with Carol Kirkwood from BBC Breakfast, talking about his new show at the London Coliseum, and then he's been ...

First Night: Phedre, Ritzy Cinema, Brixton
Dame Helen Mirren playing Phedre, the classical theatre's most ardent lover, pulsating with incestuous desire for her stepson, Hippolytus, played by the Mamma Mia! heart-throb Dominic Cooper, is the definition of a hot ticket. Naturally, the National Theatre production sold ...

London Theatre Guide

Lloyd leads Arcola Ghosts
Harry Lloyd, best known for playing Will Scarlett in the BBC Saturday family drama Robin Hood, is to lead the cast of the Arcola’s summer production of Ibsen’s Ghosts, which opens in July.

New York Times ArtsBeat Blog

Postcard From London: Problem Solving
I spent most of Wednesday at the National Theater watching people solve problems - or try to, anyway - with instructively different methods and results.

BackStage

Theaters Take a Nimble Approach to Economic Blues
At the Utah Shakespeare Festival, there's an "Early Bard" special to entice theatergoers into buying tickets in advance — the farther in the future, the bigger the discount.

Noth Goes North
Was able to check out opening night of Farragut North at the Geffen Playhouse last night--or, as we've taken to calling it, A Tale of Two Chrises. Since the show stars Chris "Mr. Big" Noth and Chris "Kiiirrrrk" Pine, this was a hot ticket and it did not disappoint. A political satire about the employees of a presidential candidate trying to avert ...

Hartford Courant Behind the Curtain Blog

* How Some Arts' Line Items Fare in Dems' Budget...
* Tourism Also Pounded in Budget Plan

New York Post Theater Blog

An overdose of Mamet
All signs point to 2009-10 being a Mamet season. To recap: starting September 9, the Atlantic will present a double bill of "Keep Your Pantheon" and "School," both new and both tagged as comedies.

Mayhem on Lafayette Street
Following up my preview of last night's "Our Hit Parade," I attended the show at Joe's Pub. Oh. My. God.

Time Out New York Upstaged Blog

MC Raúl Esparza in the house
Raúl Esparza's mixtape