AmericanTheaterWeb Top News

LATE AFTERNOON ADDITIONS

New York Times ArtsBeat

LaBute's Broadway Debut at the Lyceum
"reasons to be pretty" is scheduled to begin previews at the Lyceum Theater on March 6 and open on April 2.

Los Angeles Times Culture Monster Blog

Monster Mash: Breaking news and headlines
-- Mark Lester, who starred in the 1968 musical "Oliver," wins libel damages from London's Daily Mail.
-- Broadway-bound musical version of the Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me If You Can" set to premiere in Seattle next summer.

Chicago Tribune Theater Loop Blog

'Jersey Boys' discounts in Chicago

Playbill

* "Theater Talk" to Ponder the Fate of Drama Critics

TheaterMania

* Sean Penn Wins LA, NY Film Critics Circle Awards
The Stage UK

SOLT teams up with Ticketmaster to sell advance tickets
The Society of London Theatre's tkts booth in London's Leicester Square, which sells half-price theatre seats on the day of performance, is to begin selling advance tickets for a range of arts, entertainment and sports events and attractions.

See all of the late afternoon clippings

EARLY AFTERNOON ADDITIONS

Associated Press

The New York Pops Gets New Music Director
Conductor Steven Reineke (RYE'-nuh-kee) has been named music director of The New York Pops, the nation's largest independent pops orchestra specializing in popular music.

New York Observer - The Daily Transom

Saucy, Charming Zoe Kazan Unfazed by Sticky Nude Scene With Leo; ‘Good Job,’ He Told Her

New York Magazine Vulture Blog

The Reader Director Stephen Daldry on Sex Scenes, Rudin vs. Weinstein, and Kavalier & Clay

Mamet Kills Buffalo

Dallas Morning News

Broadway Blues
If anyone is planning a Broadway trip over the holidays, this is truly a chance to catch 'em before they close. According to a story that ran in the The Daily Telegraph today, 15 Broadway shows are about to be shuttered...

Playbill

* Cohen's The Punishing Blow, with Duerr, to Play Manhattan JCC
* James and the Giant Peach, the Musical, Being Developed

TheaterMania

* Chenoweth, Greene to Be Featured on Pushing Daisies CD
* Copeland, Gomez, Hoyle, et al. Set for Marsh 2009 Winter-Spring Season

The Gothamist

Day Without A Gay Promises Less Fabulous Hump Day

Daily Telegraph

Economic downturn hits Broadway: a history of flops
As America's economic woes hit Broadway hard, with 15 shows to close in the next six weeks, Henry Samuel provides a list of theatrical flops.

The Doctor Who fans were there to see David Tennant, not Prince Hamlet
The audience's reaction to the RSC's Hamlet without its Prince, Doctor Who star David Tennant, proves that this was indeed a piece of celebrity casting

Whatsonstage.com

Tennant Out of Hamlet Until Xmas, Has Back Surgery
In an announcement that will disappoint scores of Doctor Who - not to mention theatre - fans, the Royal Shakespeare Company has confirm...

See all of the early afternoon clippings

---

LATE MORNING ADDITIONS

Playbill

* Rush Joins Starry Cast of Blithe Spirit Revival
* Varèse Sarabande to Release "Pushing Daisies" CD with Chenoweth and Greene

Back Stage

It Was a Very Good Year
The year draws closer to an end for our Take Five actors in New York City, and in November they reflect on 2008 and look to the future in 2009.

The Gothamist

Even the Daily Show is Depressed About Print's Demise

New York Observer The Daily Transom

Morning Memo: More Gossip Girl Romance; Jeremy Piven's Identity Crisis; Cipriani Scion Hides Out

Parabasis

Close Read: State Arts Policy: Trends and Future Prospects

Scrappy Jack's World-Wide Theatricals and Dime Museum

another bunker overrun
The Ohio Theater, a place I'd rank as New York's premiere 99 seat house, is in deep trouble.

See all of the late morning clippings

---

EARLY MORNING ADDITIONS

The Guardian Performing Arts Blog

Michael Billington: Hamlet's sitting Tennant breaks the myth of the understudy
Let's bury the idea that understudies are hapless juniors thrown into the spotlight. Edward Bennett fully owned the lead role last night

Chris Wilkinson: Noises off: Should critics direct?
This week, theatre bloggers have been busy discussing critics who work on both sides of the stage. And playing August: Osage County – the computer game …

The Stage UK - Blogs

Mark Shenton: The readiness is all….
David Tennant’s entire run in Hamlet , both in Stratford-upon-Avon and now on its transfer to the West End’s Novello Theatre, was famously sold out ahead of the first night in either place; there were even reports of desperate...

London Theatre Guide

The Big Interview: Maria Friedman
With solo show Rearranged, Maria Friedman is on a mission to make her audiences feel as deeply as she does about the music she sings, finds Caroline Bishop

See all of the early morning clippings

AmericanTheaterWeb

Digest - Lucas' 'Prayer for My Enemy' Has N.Y. Premiere - read the reviews
* Review - The Effects of War, Rage, Love, Dysfunction

Review - 'Beasley's Christmas Party' - Small Town Intrigue and Yuletide Warmth

New York Times

Marketing Broadway: Selling Hope for a Song
Some theater veterans are hoping that as portfolios go down, the appetite for entertainment will go up.

New York Post

Riedel: When 'ex' marks the spot
Playwright divorced from promoting 'Buffalo'

Village Voice

Hammerstein's Complete Lyrics Tells the Story of One Man's Struggle by Michael Feingold

Downtown's Ohio Theatre Likely to Close by Alexis Soloski

Variety

New Line in tune with 'Rock of Ages'
Chris D'Arienzo to write and direct adaptation

'Rehab' won't check out yet
'Forbidden' installment extends run

Michael Higgins dies at 88
Veteran actor was original star of 'Equus'

Playbill

* Spring Awakening Celebrates Second Broadway Anniversary Dec. 10

TheaterMania

Second to Nun
Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis talk about starring in the film version of Doubt.

Peter Filichia's Diary: Gifts for Yours -- and You
It’s around that time of year where we start singing, “Twelve days to Christmas, twelve days to Christmas — plenty of time to do your Christmas shopping.” Yeah, sure. If you’ve got those I-don’t-know-what-to-get blues, may I offer a few suggestions?

Associated Press

'WALL-E' Wins L.A. Critics Best-Picture Honor

Los Angeles Times Culture Monster Blog

Cultural infrastucture bailouts?

Bloomberg.com

Silicon Valley Theater Collapses, Blames Co-Producer for Failed `Tarzan'
Silicon Valley’s largest performing- arts organization is preparing to file for bankruptcy this week and blames a theater in Atlanta, 2,442 miles east, for its collapse.

Superfluities Redux

August: Pacman County
I must admit I was intrigued by Ben Ellis' mention on 8 December of an August: Osage County game on the National Theatre UK's microsite for the production. This is, perhaps, another way that the Internet can be used to get those younger "tushies" in seats

Washington Post

Backstage: Arena Stage Replaces 'Sweet Bird of Youth' With 'Looped,' Starring Valerie Harper as Tallulah Bankhead

The Oregonian

Camas opera singer and teacher Ellen Faull dies at 90
Sarah Brightman had driving directions to her house. So did Dawn Upshaw and a handful of other superstar singers.

Chicago Tribune Theater Loop Blog

Thanks to Blagojevich, Second City goes back into rewrites

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Kushner appearance postponed until January

The Guardian

Birtwistle freezes Orpheus in new work
Doyen of British music theatre, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, is to premiere a new work based on the Orpheus myth next year

Cracked cabaret: 1927's Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Take a peek at theatre company 1927's acclaimed stage show, which weaves together a series of vignettes inspired by fairy tales and silent cinema

Also, in today's clippings...Complete coverage of Edward Bennett's last-minute appearance in 'Hamlet' - subbing for injured David Tennant

See all of the day's clippings