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newyorktheater · 5 years

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As the theater awards season enters the home stretch – what’s left: Drama Desk Awards, Theatre World Awards, the Tonys – the question arises once again:How does one determine, or even define, excellence in theater?

“I’ve become increasingly convinced that as a field we do not have a cohesive definition of excellence,” Chad Bauman, the managing director of Milwaukee Repertory Theater, wrote last year in American Theatre.

So he asked his colleagues across the country, and got some 50 responses – but the question he asked was about excellence in a theater as a whole (regional theaters in particular), not about individual shows. So the answers about excellence in individual shows didn’t get much more specific than “artistic quality.” All did agree that courage counts – such as not being afraid to play with form.

Five years ago, in an article titled Divining Artistic Excellence , theater artist and historian Lynne Connor pointed out that, while the concept of excellence can refer to something semi-tangible such as “the sophistication of a play’s dramatic arc,” more often people conflate excellence with taste, “something far less tangible and thus far less quantifiable.” And what determines taste? “Personal taste in everything from beer to Shakespeare comes about through a combination of biology, past experience, cultural norms, and individual predilections.”

She concludes: “We need to find productive ways to invite audiences of all tastes (and all economic and ethnic backgrounds) to join in the conversation about (the struggle over) meaning and value.”

Week in New York Theater Awards

Obie Awards

The 64th Annual Obie Awards, celebrating Off and Off-Off-Broadway Theater, was a New York Theatre Workshop lovefest, with Obies going to NYTW playwrights Heidi Schreck, Madeleine George, Marcus Gardley, and lighting designer Isabella Byrd, as well as a lifetime achievement Obie to NYTW’s artistic director James Nicola. It was also a tribute to the many women working in the theater in New York. But Obies like to spread the wealth, literally — Four theaters received grants.

Full list

Terrence McNally was made an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at New York University’s Commencement. NYU Prof (and playwright) Kristoffer Diaz read the citation:” Terrence McNally, one of theatre’s greatest contemporary playwrights, you have created over the past half-century an eclectic and prolific body of work—literally scores of plays, musicals, opera libretti, and scripts for film and television. Your razor wit and complexities of character largely explain how you created theatre that functions as family, launched the careers of great actors, and helped audiences cope with the AIDS crisis that engulfed them. You placed your unique stamp on American drama by probing the urgent need for connection that resonates at the core of human experience. From an expansive mind and generous spirit, you have created masterful and enduring art and in the process have celebrated and uplifted humankind.”

The latest is a revival of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, which opens May 30th at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theater.

Madeline Michel from Monticello High School in Charlottesville, VA was the winner of the 2019 Excellence in Theatre Education Award from the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon

After the white supremacist rally in their city, Michel’s students wrote and performed original theater to address racial inequality, helping to elevated the conversation for a wounded community.

Some 2019 Outer Critics Circle Award winners accept their awards at a celebratory luncheon at Sardi’s

elia Keenan-Bolger, featured actress in a play, To Kill a Mockingbird

Amber Gray, featured actress in a musical, Hadestown

Andre De Shields, featured actor in a musical, Hadestown

Benjamin Walker, featured actor in a play, All My Sons

Bryan Cranston, lead actor in a play, Network

Stephanie J. Block, lead actress in a musical, The Cher Show

Santino Fontana, lead actor in a musical, Tootsie

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The Week in New York Theater Reviews and Previews

Brian d’Arcy James (Quinn Carney) and Holley Fain (Caitlin Carney

The Ferryman on Broadway with American cast

The Ferryman, a feast of Irish storytelling in a breathtaking mix of genres, opened on Broadway seven months ago, and since then it’s gotten nine Tony nominations, best play awards from the New York Drama Critics Circle, the Outer Critics Circle, AND the Drama League…and an almost entirely new cast, the original British and Irish actors replaced by Americans. Even Laura Donnelly has been replaced. She is the Belfast-born actress whose uncle’s disappearance, and the subsequent discovery years later of his murdered corpse, inspired playwright Jez Butterworth to write the play in the first place. Donnelly’s character Caitin Carney is now being portrayed by Holley Fain, an actress born in Kansas.

…Does this matter? It might in one way to those of us who saw the original cast. But to those theatergoers who have not yet had the pleasure of experiencing The Ferryman (which they have only until July 7th to do), the play is still a rich, sweeping entertainment — epic, tragic….and cinematic.

Lunch Bunch at Clubbed Thumb

n the first play of Clubbed Thumb’s 24thannual Summerworks festival at the Wild Project – the first summer theater festival of the season — the cast faces us a la A Chorus Line, except instead of singing “I hope I get it,”they recite “Veggie enchiladas with Clementine” and “Rice, steamed kale, spiced tofu.”

It’s only after several such culinary recitations that we’re told these people are members of a lunch group, each member having agreed to make lunch for everybody else once a week. It takes a little longer to figure out that they are lawyers in a public defender’s office, that it’s a taxing job – “Greg’s resilient,” says Tuttle (Keilly McQuail), “He never cries in the coat closet” – and that obsessing on food is what helps keep them going.

Loveville High

Two things distinguish Loveville High, a new musical that takes place on prom night in a high school in Loveville, Ohio. First: The cast of 13 is comprised of some of the most talented young theater stars in New York, several of them also currently performing on Broadway — Ali Stroker (Tony nominee for Oklahoma!), Kathryn Allison (Aladdin), Andrew Durand (Ink), Gizel Jiménez (Wicked), and Ryann Redmond (Frozen) — and they sing the hell out of the lively, often witty songs by David Zellnik (Yank!) and Eric Svejcar (Disney’s Peter Pan Jr.) How is it possible to be in two shows at the same time? That’s the second aspect of this musical that’s unusual: It has no choreographer, no set designer…no stage. It’s a podcast.

Úna Clancy and Maryann Plunkett

Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy

Sean O’Casey was 43 years old and had worked his whole life as a laborer, when he finally had a play accepted in 1922 by the founders of Dublin’s famed Abbey Theater, the dramatist Lady Gregory and the poet W.B. Yeats. That play, The Shadow of A Gunman, was set during the 1920 Irish War of Independence, and is the first play of what came to be called O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy, a chronicle of Ireland’s violent struggle for independence from the British, set from 1916 to 1922.

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the Irish Rep is mounting all three plays in repertory,

The Week in New York Theater News

Goodbye, Avenue Q

Marisa Tomei will play Serafina Delle Rose in the third Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ 1951 play “The Rose Tattoo,” opening October 15, 2019 on Broadway at Roundabout’s American Airlines Theater. .

Mary-Louise Parker as Bella Baird in “The Sound Inside” at Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Mary-Louise Parker will star in the Broadway premiere of “The Sound Inside”, written by Adam Rapp (Red Light Winter), directed by David Cromer Opens October 17, 2019 at Studio 54 Play debuted last year at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. “A tenured professor. A talented student. A troubling favor.”

Cast announced for @Alanis ‘s @jaggedmusical, opening at Broadway’s Broadhurst Dec 5: Elizabeth Stanley, @PattenLauren, @DerekKlena, Kathryn Gallagher, @SeanAllanKrill, & @celia_gooding

“The Healys appear to be a picture-perfect suburban family — but looks can be deceiving.” pic.twitter.com/0izIBUOWd7

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) May 23, 2019

.@RattlestickNY has a busy and exciting June, starting with #AlumniJam June 3, in which 5 playwrights offer sneak previews of their new plays — clockwise from top left @OhYeaDiana ,Jesse Eisenberg, @HalleyFeiffer , Ren Santiago, @SamuelDHunterhttps://t.co/jHtc8ihYKn pic.twitter.com/gF1RElEOyC

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) May 21, 2019

Immersive powerhouse Third Rail Projects will stage “Midsummer A Banquet,” culinary version of Shakespeare’s comedy w/ a tasting menu July 15- Sept 8, a co-production with Food of Love Productions at Cafe Fae in Union Square

Third season of #NextDooratNYTW will offer 10 plays from The Penal Colony by @miranda__haymon, adapted from Kafka short story, July 2019 to “Raisins Not Virgins” by @sharbarizohra in June 2020 Also @michiMigdalia @missmillythomas @andybragen more!https://t.co/KomdhI7hAK pic.twitter.com/XPoTLOWaMc

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) May 20, 2019

The real Lunt and Fontanne

After Fosse Verdon, What’s Next?

EXTRAS NEEDED! Do u live in Washington Heights? Do u want to be in a movie?! How about a movie MUSICAL?!!!! We are doing an open call for Extras for our #InTheHeights shooting very very soon! Check out attached flyers 4details on how to submit. @Lin_Manuel @quiarahudes pic.twitter.com/j7oFk9wYIw

— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) May 25, 2019

.@LPTWomen‘s 7th Annual Women Stage the World March, June 11th, Times Square The march is “designed to educate the public about the role women play in creating theatre and the gender barriers they face as men continue to outnumber women by 4 to 1.” https://t.co/56VVv938kO pic.twitter.com/wQzOEmkAHh

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) May 23, 2019

Nik Wallenda and Lijanda Wallenda, seventh generation daredevils, will walk 25 stories above street level between 1 Times Square & 2 Times Square. Time Square is not for the faint-hearted, as anybody who’s tried to navigated around the Elmos and tourists can tell you

I’m so excited to announce that I’m returning to the highwire with my sister Lijana for a never before attempted walk across New York City’s iconic Times Square! Join me LIVE Sunday, June 23 on ABC. #HighwireLIVE pic.twitter.com/yVi9hqVHB2

— Nik Wallenda (@NikWallenda) May 23, 2019

Billboard above the Empire Diner in Chelsea:

A Mount Rushmore of avant-garde art. But isn’t that a contradiction?

Excellence in Theater…or Taste? Marisa Tomei, Mary-Louise Parker Back on Broadway. Third Rail’s New Immersive Shakespeare! #Stageworthy News of the Week As the theater awards season enters the home stretch – what’s left: Drama Desk Awards, Theatre World Awards, the Tonys – the question arises once again:How does one determine, or even define, excellence in theater?

#Cast of Jagged Musical #Marisa Tomei in The Rose Tattoo on Broadway #Mary-Louise Park in The Sound Inside on Broadway #open call for In the heights movie #the Wallendas in Times Square #Third Rail Project&039;s Midsummer a Banquet #Tina Fey presents Outer Critics Circle award to Bryan Cranston

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newyorktheater · 5 years

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Úna Clancy and Maryann Plunkett

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the Irish Rep is mounting all three plays in repertory, as I explain in my article for TDF Stages, where I interview Charlotte Moore, the Rep’s co-founder and artistic director. Although she calls O’Casey “the defining Irish playwright of the 20th century,” and these his most important plays, they are rarely done together.

Below, photographs by Carol Rosegg from the three productions, and pictures from the exhibition about O’Casey’s life and work on the second floor of the Irish Repertory Theatre. The plays are in the order in which they are set rather than in the order in which they were written. All three plays in the trilogy are set in the tenements of Dublin, focusing on its impoverished residents, who wind up directly affected (always to their detriment) by the cataclysmic events of the era.

Although each play has a strong plot, much of their appeal in the rich and rhythmic language, and in the vivid characters who speak it — barflies and blusterers, sensible women and passionate men, cynics and idealists.

The Plough and the Stars

Written in 1926

Set during the Easter Rising of 1916

Pregnant Nora Clitheroe (Clare O’Malley) tries to stop her husband Jack (Adam Petherbridge) from joining the fighting, which only succeeds in angering him. He takes up arms as Commandant of the Irish Citizen Army, and disappears, while she and her neighbors, a quarrelsome lot, wind up devastated by the urban warfare.

Clare O’Malley and Adam Petherbridge

Adam Petherbridge and Clare O’Malley

Robert Langdon Lloyd and Michael Mellamphy

John Keating, Adam Petherbridge and Clare O’Malley

Michael Mellamphy, Sarah Street, Harry Smith and Robert Langdon Lloyd

Úna Clancy and Maryann Plunkett

Harry Smith and Rory Duffy

The Shadow of A Gunman

Written in 1922

Set during the 1920 Irish War of Independence

Donal Davoren (James Russell), an aspiring poet, becomes roommates with Seumas Shiedds (Michael Mellamphy.) His neighbors suspect him of being an Irish Republican Army assassin, which is at first flattering to him, especially since it attracts the attention of pretty neighbor Minnie Powell (Meg Hennessy.) by his neighbors. But the outside world soon intrudes to endanger both him and those he holds dearest.

The Shadow of a Gunman Meg Hennessy and James Russell

James Russell and Michael Mellamphy

Ed Malone, Robert Langdon Lloyd, Una Clancy, James Russell, and Meg Hennessy

Terry Donnelly as Mrs. Grigson

Ee Malone as Tommy Owens

James Russell and Michael Mellamphy

Juno and the Paycock

Written in 1924

Set during the Irish Civil War in 1922

A struggling family includes the hard-working Juno (Maryann Plunkett) and her hard-drinking husband “Captain” Jack Boyle (Ciaran O’Reilly), as well as their son Johnny (Ed Malone) who fears the Irish Republican Army will execute him as punishment for his informing on his friend and neighbor Robbie, who was subsequently murdered. A handsome schoolteacher Charles Bntham (James Russell) arrives with news that a distant relative has left them an inheritance. This seems answer to their trouble, to Charles a new love interest for the Boyle daughter Mary (Sarah Street), who feels guilty for dumping her boyfriend Jerry (Harry Smith) who feels more strongly for her than she does for him.. But the promised salvation helps lead to the family’s destruction.

Ciarán O’Reilly and Maryann Plunkett

John Keating and Robert Langdon Lloyd

Maryann Plunkett and Ciarán O’Reilly

Terry Donnelly, Ed Malone, Ciarán O’Reilly, Maryann Plunkett, and John Keating

Harry Smith and Sarah Street

Ed Malone, Sarah Street, James Russell, Maryann Plunkett, and Ciarán O’Reilly

Sarah Street, Ed Malone, and Maryann Plunkett

Meg Hennessy, Úna Clancy, Maryann Plunkett, and Michael Mellamphy

Irish Rep Mounts Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy Sean O'Casey was 43 years old and had worked his whole life as a laborer, when he finally had a play accepted in 1922 by the founders of Dublin's famed Abbey Theater, the dramatist Lady Gregory and the poet W.B.

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