Tag Archive | broadway
In Defense of Commercial Theatre
I confess: I love commercial theatre. The fancy sets, the lavish costumes, the indomitable divas, I can’t get enough. Death of a Salesman? Love it. Wicked? I’ve seen it eight times. Angels in America? It’s like my Bible. So why do I feel like a traitor? Why do I feel like I’m betraying the artform […]
“No Brits. No Chekhov translations. No classics.”
“No Brits. No Chekhov translations. No classics,” that was the line spoken by Carole Rothman as she unveiled next years season for Second Stage. As the Artistic Director of Second Stage, Ms. Rothman is now also in charge of programming a nonprofit, Broadway house, as the company just acquired the Helen Mills Theatre. Although the Mills is […]
Thoughts on Rob Askins’ Play Hand to God, From a Fellow Byproduct of America’s Bible Belt
Recently, I got to see SpeakEasy’s production of HAND TO GOD by Rob Askins. I had been looking forward to seeing the show for months! It’s one of the most “in advance” tickets I’ve bought in some time. I wasn’t excited for the show because of it’s recent hype and popularity, but more so because the playwright […]
Copyright and Theatre
Recently the creators of Jersey Boys (a popular show that has been running on Broadway since 2005 and the West End since 2008) have been found guilty of copyright infringement. A federal court in Nevada ruled that approximately 10% of the show can be linked back to text from an autobiography written by Tommy […]
The Curious Incident of the Commodification of the Alternative
While I was in London this past semester, I spent an evening in the West End watching Simon Stephens’ stage adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. The play centers around Christopher, a young boy on the Autism Spectrum, as he solves the mystery of who killed his neighbor’s dog. Visually […]
This Is (in fact) Our Youth (of today)
In inspiration through a guest workshop with Bill Marx today, I look at this drama criticism article of “This Is Our Youth” directed by Anna Shapiro with star name Michael Cera in the role of Warren. This article posted on the Village Voice website utilized two voices of criticism “One Veteran, One Youth”. I understand […]
Mission: Accomplished (Maybe?)
Since arriving back at school, I have been focused (nay, determined) on trying to find time to mosey on down to the American Repertory Theatre to see their production of “Finding Neverland”, the new musical full of Broadway stars that has already announced it is heading to the Great White Way this season. Despite the fact […]
From Broadway to Hollywood to Sochi
Daniel Ezralow in Sochi Daniel Ezralow certainly has some amazing accomplishments under his belt. As a renowned choreographer, he has taken on incredible projects. For the theatre, he has choreographed The Green Bird in 2000, Cats in Italy in 2009 for Compagnia della Rancia and is the choreographer for the new musical adaptation of the […]
Are We Not Entertained?
Summer movie blockbuster season might be my favorite time of for movies in that my brain can have a rest from the cerebral work from Oscar season, which we currently are entering. That said, now that it is time for Oscar-bait, movies that are considered the most artistic, its a bit disjointed to hear about […]
What and How?
The first time I went to New York I was 16. I remember being so excited – as I was very recently getting into theatre – and viewed Broadway as the be-all, end-all of theatre: the best of the best. Before I left though, I was baffled at the amount of friends and family I […]
Tabloid Theatre! The Dramaturgical Question in Celebrity Casting
Oh, what a tangled web we weave in a conservatory program like the Boston University School of Theatre. Theatremaking is often personal. The process of honing that craft is, in my experience, always personal. We work from what we know, adapting our raw material—depending on one’s approach images, memories, imaginative prompts, etc.—to suit the task at hand. No […]
Toxic or Stronger for Broadway?
Tomorrow night, Broadway’s Foxwood Theater will depart from its current show of Spiderman: Turn off the Dark and premier, for a single night, SPEARS: The Gospel According to Britney. I would like to take a moment for this idea to percolate into the consciousness. The musical tells the story of Jesus Christ from birth to […]
Why Do We Clap?
This last weekend, I had the privilege of seeing the first preview performance of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot with Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen. First and foremost, the play was wonderful. The entire company put forth such thoughtful and inspiring work. It almost felt like the Theatrical Powers That Be kissed my […]
Does Size Matter? (Yeah, probably?)
This quarter, the School of Theatre is producing an all-female Romeo and Juliet (playing October 23rd-27th in Jewels 1!). I’m lucky enough to be a part of it, and as we close up our 4th week of rehearsal, I’m starting to feel a much stronger ownership of the play and our approach to it. The […]
Broaaaaadwaaaay
I was reading an article this week (and by “an article” I mean Buzzfeed) about Hollywood actors taking the stage in New York. Like any semi-pretentious, semi-entitled college theatre student, I rolled my eyes as I clicked the link. Great. Another 2010 Tony Awards waiting to happen. Hollywood invades Broadway. The tagline for the article […]
Artistry, History, or Gimmick?
This fall, Broadway will be graced with a bit of tradition. The London Globe productions of Shakespeare’s Richard the 3rd and Twelfth Night; or What you Will are coming to New York for a strict sixteen-week engagement. Both shows will begin previews October 15th and besides featuring renowned actor and former Globe artistic director, Mark […]
Broadway & the American Audience
I adore theatre as much as the next School of Theatre student; however, attending theatre school has made me really bitter because it has made me incredibly aware of how shallow the American audience can be. I think this resentful attitude took shape when I started the final project for my Dramatic Literature (1950-1990) class. […]
sexism UNPACKED
When I’m not doing things in theatre or literature, my fallback is tech. I do do theatre tech and love stage lights and sound, but I specifically enjoy following the consumer tech space to escape from the bubble of theatre in which I live. Those worlds converged last week in Samsung’s unveiling of its upcoming […]
Drama Lit Blog 2.0: BU School of Theatre 