AmericanTheaterWeb Top News

LATE EVENING ADDITIONS

NBCNewYork

Rainbow Room Restaurant to Close
The legendary Rainbow Room is the latest victim of the current economic crisis – saying it will close its restaurant, the Rainbow Grill, a company official told NBCNewYork.

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EARLY EVENING ADDITIONS

Associated Press

John Travolta's 16-Year-Old Son Dies in Bahamas

New York Times ArtsBeat Blog

William Hurt Has a Few (Thousand) Words to Say About 'Damages'
William Hurt talks about the science of condensation, the Baal Shem Tov and, occasionally, about about working on "Damages."

Playbill

* Akron's Carousel Dinner Theatre to Close Jan. 4

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LATE AFTERNOON ADDITIONS

Dallas Morning News Arts Blog

Memorial for Douglas Balentine
An open-to-the-public memorial for Douglas Balentine, co-founder of Fort Worth's Hip Pocket Theatre (with Diane and Johnny Simons), will be held Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. at Arts Fifth Avenue.

SFist

Sublime Point/Counterpoint Protest
[I couldn't resist this - terrific photo]

Playbill

* Casting Announced for West Coast Premiere of Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
* Will Daniels, Davis, Harden and Gandolfini Star in Broadway's God of Carnage?

The Hub Review

Wishful Thinking, or: A Girl's Guide to Top 10 Lists

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EARLY AFTERNOON ADDITIONS

Playbill

* Passing Strange's Domingo to Play Joe's Pub in February

The Mirror up to Nature

Boston Theatre - January is Chekhov Month

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NOONTIME ADDITIONS

Village Voice Runnin' Scared Blog

Obama's 2009 Kennedy Center Honors: A Modest Proposal
...Since things are going to suck no matter what, we suggest the incoming Chief Executive concentrate on the bread-and-circuses front, and give us a 2009 Kennedy Centers fete that will keep people from even noticing the disastrous state of the country for several days. ....
Here is the program we would like to see next December: ...

Playbill

* PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, Dec. 27-Jan. 2: The Sequel
* Hilferty and Goodman to Discuss Women Designing for Theatre at NYPL Jan. 12
* "The Kvetching Continues": Hoffman Adds Joe's Pub Performance Jan. 12
* Marcovicci to Premiere Mercer Tribute Skylark in March

TheaterMania

* Hugh Jackman to Honor Baz Luhrmann at Australia Week Gala
* Cast Announced for Pure Confidence in Minneapolis, to Be Directed by Marion McClinton
* Horton Foote to Discuss To Kill a Mockingbird at Hartford Stage

lies like truth

A Spooonful of Sugar
Contrary to what you might think from the title of this entry, this isn't another post about Julie Andrews. The spooonful in the title refers to a fantastic, free online newsletter which introduces recipients to one emerging artist or band each week.

The Producer's Perspective

Should there be two Broadway Leagues or one?
The Broadway League, or the artist formally known as The League of American Theaters and Producers, includes two groups of people that many say should be segregated, Theater Owners and Producers.

London Theatre Guide

Lights dimmed for Pinter
In a mark of respect and remembrance for recently deceased playwright Harold Pinter, all Ambassador Theatre Group-owned theatres will dim their lights on Saturday night, 3 January.

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EARLY MORNING ADDITIONS

New York Magazine Vulture Blog

Hugh Jackman Too Busy to Star in Soderbergh Musical
Rejections to Cleo: Blaming "scheduling conflicts," Hugh Jackman has dropped out of discussions to star opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in Steven Soderbergh's Cleo. ....

The Stage UK

Pinter to be honoured before final performance of No Man's Land
The West End revival of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land will dim its lights in honour of the late playwright before the show's final performance at the Duke of York's Theatre tomorrow (Saturday).

Whatsonstage.com - Blogs

Michael Coveney: Bennett plays down the op, gags on Pinter
With Pinter passing and Alan Ayckbourn labouring with ill health, it’s a little unsettling to discover that Alan Bennett — who has had his own struggle with cancer — has undergone another serious operation to deal with a rare form of stomach aneurysm; this happened last April and he’s all clear now.

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New York Times

‘Spring Awakening’ Producers Join Broadway’s ‘Hair’ Revival
The Public Theater announced that the producing team behind “Spring Awakening” had agreed to serve together as the lead producers of the “Hair” revival.

New York Daily News

Check out Chekhov's 'Cherry'-picked cast
After the luscious version of "The Seagull" that wrapped last month on Broadway, the bar has been raised sky-high for future Anton Chekhov productions. "The Cherry Orchard," which runs Friday night through March 8 at BAM, sure has plenty going for it on paper.

Variety

Archival stage material goes online
The American Theater Wing has partnered with the legit helmers' union, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, to make archival audio and video material available online for streaming and download...

TheaterMania

Peter Filichia's Diary: Why We'll Never Beat Sports
The last week of December isn’t a big time for play openings, so I only saw The Connection. The Living Theatre brought back its big hit of 50 years ago, allowing us another pungent look at drug addicts waiting for their

* Ireland, Pasquale, Perabo, Sadoski to Star in Broadway's reasons to be pretty

Boston Globe

Stages: Rarely seen 'Duchess' arrives on the local scene

Chicago Sun-Times

Company tackles O'Neill's 'Emperor' with devices old, new

Works of Eugene O'Neill going global

San Francisco Chronicle

A Big Year For Theater
In 2009, the theatrical world will observe many milestones, including the 50th anniversary of "A Raisin in the Sun."

Contra Costa Times

Look ahead: 'August: Osage County' coming to S.F.
The dysfunctional family comedy-drama opens in August.

Seattle Times

Seattle Opera season: 3 by Verdi and a world premiere
...The world premiere is Hagen's "Amelia" (May 8-22). The libretto by poet Gardner McFall is taken from her book "The Pilot's Daughter," about the disappearance of her father, a military pilot, in the Vietnam War. The opera, directed by Stephen Wadsworth (who also is credited with the story), ...

The Stage UK - Blogs

Mark Shenton: We’ve got (another) little list or two…
In Britain we’re obsessed with hierarchy, honours and pecking orders. On New Year’s Eve, the Queen’s New Year’s Honours were issued, and of course the list was big on our Olympic heroes from last year’s Beijing events; but on...

Whatsonstage.com

V&A Opens new Theatre & Performance Galleries
Following last year's controversial closure of the Theatre Museum (See News::E8821168005120, 5 Jan 2007), the Victoria & Albert Museum has announced the opening of new dedicated theatre and performance galleries at its South Kensington home. The...

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