AmericanTheaterWeb Top News

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New York Times ArtsBeat Blog

‘Hair’ Revival Gets Theater, Opening Dates

Chicago Tribune Theater Loop Blog

The biggest show in Chicago needed no opening act
Tuesday night belonged to Grant Park. And to the tens of thousands of Chicago supporters of Barack Obama. And to a moment so singularly historic, Chicagoans couldn’t quite believe that the pictures being beamed around the world came from their...

Obama and Second City: The money shots
They're right here. Official White House comedy troupe? First satirists? A spot on the inaugural line-up. We'll have to see. But this we know. Tina Fey is no longer Second City's only highly placed friend.

Associated Press

Michael Crichton, Author, Dies at 66
He wrote the blockbuster science-fiction novels “Jurassic Park,” “The Andromeda Strain” and “State of Fear.”

Back Stage

Having 'Something' to Say
When the curtain rises on one of monologuist Mike Daisey's pieces, he's doing it for the first time. He does not rehearse or have a script. Still, he knows his purpose.

Playbill

* Cast Set for Hartford's Brand:New Festival of Plays
* Bikel's New Song-Filled Aleichem Bio, Laughter Through Tears, to Play DC and FL
* Hair to Play the Hirschfeld Beginning February 2009
* "Madtv" Star Parker Will Be Broadway's Elphaba in 2009
* TKTS Downtown Brooklyn Location Adds Saturday Hours, Replacing Monday

TheaterMania

* Shakespeare Festival/LA to Honor Baz Luhrmann
* Van Hansis to Star in Les Freres Corbusier's Dance Dance Revolution
* Hair to Begin Performances at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre February 13
* Horton Foote to Participate in Pre-Performance Talk for Dividing the Estate

The Guardian Performing Arts Blog

Carrie Dunn: West End girl: Singing through the credit crunch
Musicals seem to be embodying the bleak mood of the nation, but Oliver! is on its way to cheer you up

London Theatre Guide

The Big Interview: Denis Lawson
On stage for the first time in years in one of London’s most uplifting shows, actor Denis Lawson is enjoying the lighter side of life, finds Caroline Bishop.

West End captured in half century of images
A new exhibition collecting 50 years of images from theatrical photographer Reg Wilson opened at the Playhouse theatre yesterday. Titled Capturing The Moment, the display includes some of the most iconic West End images of the 20th century.

Rat Pack plays Palladium
Frank, Sammy and Dean will be back in London this Christmas spreading their own style of festive cheer as Christmas With The Rat Pack – Live From Las Vegas comes to the London Palladium for six performances on 14, 21 and 28 December.

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LATE MORNING ADDITIONS
[next update today not until 4:30pm EST]

AmericanTheaterWeb

Review - Glimpses of the Moon - Musical Take on Wharton Fails to Soar

CD/Book Review - Celebrating Wicked's Fifth Anniversary on Disc and in Print

Playbill

* HB Studio and HB Playwrights Foundation to Honor Stiller and Meara Nov. 10
* Diva-lution of Molly Pope, Directed by Rimalower, Sets Beechman Dates
* Wicked Tour Welcomes New Elphaba, Donna Vivino, Nov. 5

TheaterMania

* Spring Awakening Event to Be Held at 92nd St Y/Tribeca on November 10
* Galloway, Poe, et al. Set for Irondale's London Cries
* Full Cast, Creative Team Set for L.A.'s The Life

The Artful Manager

Policy to come?
Given the regime change enacted in last night's election results, it might be a good time to reread (or read for the first time) the Obama campaign's arts policy document, which is reprinted in full below. You can also grab a PDF version here.

The Clyde Fitch Report

Want to Weigh In on Equity Showcase Reform?

Whatsonstage.com

* Mandy Patinkin Brings Live Songbook to West End
* Oliver's AlternateAussie Nancy, More Music

Latest Gossip: Gossip: Kendal Grabs Drag & Fag to Play Gray???

Whatsonstage.com - Blogs

Michael Coveney: Standard snubs Vanessa and Elena
The annual awards season has kicked off with the announcement of the Evening Standard’s long list and as usual the omissions are at least as interesting as those nominated.

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THE DAY'S FIRST TOP STORIES

New York Times

Broadway’s Rough Road Ahead
Musicals and plays are trying to hang on until the holidays bring an influx of visitors to New York. A handful of others have been struggling to fill seats.

Sleepwalking His Way From Comedy Club to Theater
With “Sleepwalk With Me,” which opens at the Bleecker Street on Tuesday, the comedian Mike Birbiglia hopes to expand his audience.

Arts, Briefly: Footnotes
“Look Homeward, Angel,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Ketti Frings adapted from the Thomas Wolfe novel, is coming to Broadway for the first time since its original production in 1957. .... Liza Minnelli’s coming show at the Palace Theater in New York, “Liza’s at the Palace ...,”

New York Post

Campaign for 'Weekend'
Revival of '68 Vidal play could fill pollitical void

Village Voice La Daily Musto Blog

Yma Sumac YouTube Treasure!

Associated Press

B'way's 'Tale of Two Cities' Set to Close Nov. 16
It's the worst of times for ''A Tale of Two Cities.''.

amNY

Will Avenue Q Close Now?
Rumors currently indicate that AVENUE Q is likely to be the next in the long line of musicals closing on Broadway due to the recession. And while this seems understandable, let's think about something else entirely. One of the final lines in the musical's ingenious finale, "For Now," goes: "George Bush is only for now!"

The Critical Condition

Why “Hairspray” Epitomizes Tonight’s Election for Me
Change. At this point, it’s an obvious buzzword, but it’s an incredibly appropriate one. When my parents were children in the south, they drank from different water fountains than black children. Things have changed.

New York Daily News The Cultural Tourist

Fred Astaire
Arthur Schopenhauer seldom appears in the same sentence as Fred Astaire, but it is a mark of the wit of Joseph Epstein's new book about Astaire that he makes a quote from the 19th century German philosopher seem a useful way of understanding the man that many -- including such authorities as Balanchine and Baryshnikov -- consider the 20th century's greatest dancer.

Washington Post

Broadway Vet Lends Her Voice To the Songs of Up-and-Comers
Rebecca Luker will set aside for a couple of days the Edwardian ensembles she wears as Mrs. Banks in the Broadway production of "Mary Poppins" so she can come to Washington to perform new songs by her favorite up-and-coming theater composers.

Time Out Chicago Blog

Second City alum has laundry list of demands for our next president

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Kristin Chenoweth to appear with the SLSO

Contra Costa Times

Theatre Rhinoceros unveils '100 Years of Queer Theatre"

Orange County Register The Arts Blog

The plight of music critics
In the latest issue of Symphony, the magazine of the League of American Orchestras, Rebecca Winzenried writes an exceptionally well researched article on the current state (and non-state) of newspaper music criticism in this country. Yours truly was consulted and is briefly quoted in the article. Here’s the link to a pdf.

San Jose Mercury News Karen D'Souza AEI Blog

Broadway’s radiance dimmed by dark economy

The Guardian

'I'm ambitious, dedicated and vain'
Actor Diahann Carroll on Dynasty, racism and her four husbands

The Guardian Peforming Arts Blog

Mark Shenton: Who says cross-dressing's a drag?
'So what if I love each sparkle and each bangle? Why not see things from a different angle?'

The Stage UK Blogs

Mark Shenton: Votes for change…. and an awards ceremony that rings them in, too….
America went to sleep last night knowing that they had decisively voted for change - and I awoke at 5am to find out the momentous news for myself. My friends in New York, of course, had been hoping for...

Daily Telegraph

My love-hate affair with 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'
Director Stephan Elliott tells Will Lawrence about bringing the 'Queen of the Desert' to the West End stage.

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