The state of theater blogging is arguably a bit like the state of theater in general. It’s more persistent, and resilient, than the pessimists might proclaim. Chris Peterson this month marked the tenth anniversary of his OnStage Blog, for example, and Adam Szymkowicz is still posting at the blog he began in 2008, after more than 1,100 interviews with fellow playwrights. Sure, bloggers have…drifted. Shows close too. But just as many artists and advocates believe that theater has to be redefined to adapt to a more challenging landscape, so “theater blogging” has to expand to include substacks, zines, the occasional podcast, and, yes, even tiktok. Among the voices below is the latest from Marks and Vincentelli, a substack podcast from two critics who are more familiar elsewhere.
It’s not a stretch to say that the voices commenting on theater mirror the voices creating theater; we are all, as Jan Simpson notes below, “searching for a new identity in this post-pandemic era.”
In HowlRound, Barbara Fuchs pens a post “Learning from the Pandemic to Build a Resilient US Theatre” which includes this photograph – a reminder of how far we have come, even if it doesn’t feel far enough.
On Broadway Journal, Philip Boroff continues his steady series of scoops; he was the first to report that Illinoise would transfer to Broadway, and that Jeremy O. Harris was tapped to program the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Most recently, he details Broadway’s stalled recovery from the pandemic: “Broadway recorded 2023-24 attendance of 12.3 million, which was little changed from the previous season and down 17 percent from 2018-19, the last full season before the industry shutdown.”
He also continues covering the efforts to unionize Off-Broadway. The most recent to do so successfully is Little Shop of Horrors. “Production workers off-Broadway are seeking better pay and, in the case of freelancers, the chance to earn benefits. They’ve recently unionized with IATSE at the commercial musical Titanique and the non-profit Atlantic Theater. Management at the Vineyard Theatre voluntarily recognized IATSE.The Public Theater and the union recently reached an agreement for workers to vote in an election conducted by the American Arbitration Association, a person familiar with the situation said. It will be held over the next month.”
In Broadway and Me, Jan Simpson remarks on awards season and about the musicals that have received some award and nomination love, pointing out that “more award-winning playwrights than ever are writing the books for musicals” Simpson, who knows from awards — she chaired the Pulitzer Drama jury this year – believes that the acknowledgement of these new voices reflect the evolving state of Broadway, “which is searching for a new identity in this post-pandemic era.”
Given how many theater awards there already are, it is against my better judgment that here I relay the news announced by Kate Reinking on her Theater Is Life tiktok of the first-ever The Creators’ Choice Awards: “Over 30 theatre and theatre adjacent content creators from across the internet got together to nominate our top picks from the 2023-2024 Broadway season.” JK’s Theatre Scene offers one too.
Breaking the Binary Theatre’s 2024 Cloud Nine Zine offers bios and then brief descriptions with links of some 20 commissioned works by transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit+ theater makers.
In his blog, producer Ken Davenport makes the case that Broadway shows should start offering a money-back guarantee.“…I’d argue that it is MORE necessary on Broadway than in any other industry! A Broadway show isn’t a Starbucks where you can take a taste of your friend’s frappuccino before you buy one….Our audience is going into this expensive purchase mostly blind…”
Chris Peterson marks the tenth anniversary of his founding of OnStage Blog, an occasion for some well-deserved boasting and a summary of its accomplishments: “We’ve put a spotlight on misconduct and unethical behavior happening on Broadway and in community theatres. We’ve raised awareness of issues that marginalized communities are facing within the entertainment industry. We’ve showcased small college theatre programs that deserve more attention for the quality of their programs. And we’ve helped shape how shows will be cast the way they were written, ensuring BIPOC performers will never get shut out again.”
Peterson’s latest post notes an idea for an unusual Broadway show about fitness guru Richard Simmons,reproducing a Facebook post in which Simmons recounts a pitch from an unnamed friend about “an interactive Broadway show about my life. The seats on the ground floor will be removed so people can work out to some of the musical numbers in the show.” As Petersen observes: “The concept would seem to follow his 1990s Sweatin’ to the Oldies video workout series which showed Simmons lead a workout to music from decades past.”
On The Wicked Stage, Rob Weinert-Kendt mulls over A Little Night Music, reprinting both an interview with Catherine Zeta Jones, and a review of the revival in which she performed. ” I’m not sure any Stephen Sondheim show is really underrated anymore—there are passionate partisans for every one, from Anyone Can Whistle to Road Show—but I would still nominate A Little Night Music for the category of under-appreciated (despite containing his one breakout hit song). I’d say this under-estimation might be due in part to the fact that it’s not easy to get right—at least, I’ve never seen a production that fully satisfied as much as the cast albums I’ve heard do.”
Books
Adam Szymkowicz promotes his new book “Letters to a Young Playwright: Practical and Impractical Advice on the Art of Playwriting,” coming out in August, by reprinting the publisher’s blurb (“…Szymkowicz dispenses hard-earned, unsentimental, and entertaining advice to early-career dramatists. Modeled on Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, it covers topics like writer’s block, self-promotion, and the pluses and minuses of pivoting to Hollywood”
In The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre, Scott Miller posts the complete introduction to his new book about the musical Anything Goes
In their latest post on their substack podcast, Marks and Vincentelli, Peter Marks (late of the Washington Post) and Elizabeth Vincentelli (usually of the New York Times) interview Judy Kuhn. “We were psyched to talk to one of our favorite artists, Judy Kuhn, about her performance in the Michael Friedman and Daniel Goldstein musical “Unknown Soldier” at Arena Stage, and about some of her earlier turns — you probably remember her as the mother in “Fun Home,” Fosca in the 2013 revival of “Passion,” Cosette then Fantine in different productions of “Les Misérables,” Florence in “Chess.” The list is long and impressive. Next up is the Encores! production of “Titanic” on June 11-23.”
On his substack Transitions, Joey Sims reviews a series of Off-Broadway plays “in the moody month of May”: Stargazers, Redemption Story, Agreement, The Keep Going Songs, and links to his extensive reviews and interviews elsewhere.
