AmericanTheaterWeb Top News

LATE AFTERNOON ADDITIONS

New York Times ArtsBeat Blog

Parks Named Public Theater's First Master Writer
Suzan-Lori Parks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of "Topdog/Underdog" and "365 Days/365 Plays," has been awarded the master writer chair at the Public Theater, the first time the distinction has been offered, the theater announced Monday. The residency, which Ms. Parks assumes on Nov. 1, is a salaried three-year position that "affords writers the flexibility and [...]

Los Angeles Times Culture Monster Blog

Center Theatre Group gets NEA playwriting grant

Playbill

* Tony & The Soprano, with Music by [title of show] Contributor, Returns to Ithaca
* Equus to Offer Student Rush Tix Beginning Oct. 28
* Broadway Grosses: Oct. 20-26

TheaterMania

* Dorsen, Norman, Wilson, et al. Set for Carnegie Hall's Ask Your Mama!
* Chita Rivera to Return to Feinstein's at the Loews Regency in November
* Ivo Van Hove's Opening Night to Play BAM in December

the nytheatre i

Looking Ahead to 2009
I've become pretty much obsessed with the election; I'm trying to be proactive and use that obsession to think clearly about what will happen after the election. Specifically, what kind of job am I going to have here at nytheatre.com in 2009? What is the New York theatre scene going to look like?

The Playgoer

Soderbegh in the Park!
The Public's latest plan for spicing up the Delacorte next summer?

The Wicked Stage

Milton Katselas, 1933-2008
One of the best and most controversial acting coaches of our time apparently died last week. Oddly, I can find no news source that reports it...except Wikipedia.

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EARLY AFTERNOON ADDITIONS

New York Times ArtsBeat Blog

N.E.A. Cites 7 New Plays for Grants
The National Endowment for the Arts announced its selections for its N.E.A. New Play Development Program.

Back Stage

Back Stage Q&A: Anna Deavere Smith
Back Stage sits down with actor-writer Anna Deavere Smith, a multiple OBIE and Drama Desk Award winner who may be best known for her multi-character, one-person shows.

Playbill

* German Production of Emilia Galotti Visits Stratford Festival Nov. 6-9
* Dramatists Guild Will Honor Stein, Letts, Miranda, Lucas and More Nov. 18
* Off-Broadway Run of Irena's Vow, with Feldshuh, Is Sold Out
* Stamford Theatre Works Closes After Two Decades
* Schneider, Padgett, Schulz, Allan, Blum and More Will Join Hicks in Grease Tour

TheaterMania

* E. Faye Butler to Star in CENTERSTAGE's Caroline, or Change
* Soho Rep Extends Blasted Until December 21
* First Vote Announces Additional Participants

Parabasis

More on Blasted
Aaron Leichter has two pieces up about Blasted, the first is a blog post over here responding to my questions about its value and here is his review of the play for Metromix.

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MID-MORNING ADDITIONS

AmericanTheaterWeb

Digest - Love Child opens off-B'way - read the reviews

Updated Digests: Speed-the-Plow * All My Sons * Kindness * The Fourposter * Rock of Ages

Call for Original Scripts for 'The Smart Woman Project'

An Angry White Guy in Chicago

The Question of Gender and Playwriting

The Clyde Fitch Report

Harpo's Son Joins Campaign to Create Marx Brothers Place on East 93rd Street

Parabasis

Dear Future Theatre Historians
I just want it entered somewhere on the record, for you future theatre historians, that it will be definitely worth looking into the serious influence that Paula Vogel has had on early 21st century American Theatre. ...

Playbill

* Musical Mondays Series Will Continue in November with Schwartz; Kazan Concert Canceled
* MCC Moves LaBute's Break of Noon to Fall 2009; Busch's Third Story Will Open in January

TheaterMania

* Bouchard, Fisher, Guinan, Willis, et al. Among Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Nominees
* Benanti, Blonsky, Hoffman, Parrish, Rapp, et al. Set for Broadway Loves Joe's Pub

Broadway.com

Video: Chatting and dancing with legendary Broadway diva Liza Minnelli

The Guardian Performing Arts Blog

Lyn Gardner: Theatre for adults is child's play
A rash of shows about and starring children speak with devastating ferocity to the adults in the audience

Patrick Myles: hWhere areour Burtons and O'Tooles?
The great actors of the postwar generation make our Jude Laws and David Tennants look anaemic. Is there anyone who can follow in their footsteps?

Whatsonstage.com

Claire Price On ... Getting Revenge at the Chocolate FactoryActress Claire Price’s many classical theatre credits – at the RSC, National, Sheffield Crucible and elsewhere – include The Tempest, Don Ca...

Whatsonstage.com - Off-West End & Fringe

Greenwich Theatre Relaunch Musical Futures
The Greenwich Theatre are set to relaunch their annual festival of new music theatre. The theatre has been running the festival for eight years and several of the works previously...

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THE MORNING'S FIRST TOP STORIES

AmericanTheaterWeb

Review - Love Child - The Theater as a Family Affair

New York Times

Arts, Briefly: Neil Labute Play Is Postponed
Since 2002, Neil LaBute has written a new play each season for MCC Theater, where he is the resident playwright. But LaBute fans looking forward to the January premiere of “The Break of Noon” will have to wait a bit: MCC has moved it to September 2009...

Arts, Briefly: New Songbook Season

Associated Press

'High School Musical' Commences at No. 1 With $42M
The crazed killer Jigsaw has been done in by a bunch of singing and dancing teens.

Variety

New plays draw NEA coin
Org to dole out funds to seven theaters

TheaterMania

Laura's Back in Town!
Legally Blonde's Laura Bell Bundy returns from her new Nashville home for first-time gigs at Carnegie Hall and Feinstein's at the Loews Regency.

Peter Filichia's Diary: Tovarich --
This week, I’m looking forward to catching up with Tovarich at Musicals Tonight (www.musicalstonight.org). I’m very interested in seeing this show that I’ve seen before – and have not seen before.

Washington Post

Shakespeare Free for All Will Move Indoors
Ladies and gentlemen, Shakespeare has left the park.

Boston Herald

Sondheim evening makes fans’ hearts sing
We’re big Stephen Sondheim buffs here in Boston. This past year alone, “Assassins,” “A...

Sarasota Herald Tribune

Handelman: Sondheim's career sings

Chicago Tribune Theater Loop Blog

As her friend Jennifer Hudson's world shatters, Felicia Fields tries to go on with the show

Theatre in Chicago

Timeline Theatre Presents Chicago Premiere Of 'A House With No Walls'

Denver Post

Q&A with "I Am My Own Wife" playwright Doug Wright

Los Angeles Times

Broadway lacks room for today's situation
One of the last places you'd turn for biting social observations on our current recessionary reality...

The Guardian

Mark Ravenhill: Whenever I hear writers reading their own work, I fake a migraine and flee to my room
The skill of the playwright is that they can hear dialogue in their head and write it down. When they come to speak it aloud, they rarely do their own work justice

Max Hastings: It makes us all feel better to see a good man doing something wholly benign
Alan Bennett's gift of his papers to the Bodleian bucks a trend among British writers and sets an example to us all

Whatsonstage.com

Blethyn, Conley & Kenwright Win 2008 TMA Awards
The Royal Exchange, Manchester won three prizes today (Sunday 26 October 2008) in the 2008 TMA Theatre Awards in a ceremony held at Lon...

Whatsonstage.com - Blogs

Michael Coveney: Billington directs Pinter, sort of
No disrespect to Michael Billington, a critic I relish and a true friend, but I simply don’t understand why students at LAMDA, one of the country’s top five drama schools, would want to be directed by him in their “showcase” final year performance.

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