Monday, April 13, 2009

Mondays are Dark #1

I finally have a title for these posts where I simply gather articles of interest. I figure our dark days are the days we have to catch up on miscellenea. And even if that's not so, I'm tired of typing "Theatre News" or "News Round-up" or "Theatre Buzz" or whatever over-used descriptive comes to mind.

The results of our Carbonell Poll : 78% thought it was the best show ever. The other 3 respondents liked it, but consider it a starting point. Thank you to the fourteen people who participated. :-D

Speaking of the sidebar, be sure to check out some of the other blogs there; Conundrum is trying to build up its organization, and Alliance is trying to spread the word that they're back on The Scene.

I've also reorganized again: I've added Professional Organizations at the suggestion of a friend, and by popular demand I've added a contact feature so I'll stop getting random complaints that they "searched the site" but "couldn't find your email." (It's actually in the very first post - see the archives).

I've removed "5 Min to Curtain" and "Palm Beach Drama Guild." They haven't updated in two months, and the sidebar is already pretty full. I'm looking at some new formats for the blog to make things easier to find. Don't worry, I won't change things until I get it right!


Caldwell Theatre


The Caldwell Theatre got some coverage this weekend. First, Hap Erstein interviews Michael Hall for Palm Beach ArtsPaper. Hall is about to step down after 34 years as Artistic Director at the theater he created. They talk about his decision to retire, what is plans for the future hold, his favorite moments at the theatre, and even they touch on the lawsuit over his staging of Love! Valour! Compassion!


Meanwhile, over on uVu, Channel 2's video blog, there's footage of Caldwell's current offering, Something's Afoot.

Hey - they've allowed embedding! So here's the video, but do check out uVu. (BTW, to get your video on uVu, just send it to them- they want to put up your video. Really!)








Next Generation

Groundlings gives us a younger perspective of a handful of local theatres and their productions:
Also love the Dramaworks theatre- basically only 50 seats but very cozy and smells appropriately like theatre (very important!).
Hm. When was the last time anyone did Roar of the Greasepaint?


Playwrights, playwrights, playwrights!

Christine Dolen's been busy at the Miami Herald: Friday, she interviewed Marco Ramirez;
Now studying playwriting at New York's Juilliard School, Ramirez has seen his life this spring turn into an exciting blur of plane trips, openings, awards and what-will-happen-next suspense. Friday night, Miami's Mad Cat Theatre company opens BroadSword, a full-length Ramirez play about the reuniting members of a New Jersey heavy metal band.
But Dolen also has an article in Sunday's edition about Louisville's Humana Festival:
Three short plays, including 3:59 am: a drag race for two actors by Miamian Marco Ramirez, also got a showcase, as did a collection of brief pieces about rites of passage written by Deborah Zoe Laufer, Deborah Stein, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, Lydia R. Diamond, Kristoffer Diaz and Tony Award-winning Urinetown author Greg Kotis.

I'm not going to post every playwright she talks about: go read the article. She's also got a short video of a "hip-hop" theater piece, and links to reviews of the plays in the festival.


Fiddler
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/07/81/45/image_8545817.jpg
The Palm Beach Post blares out an error: Original Star to Perform in 'Fiddler'. Of course, the original star of Fiddler on the Roof was Zero Mostel, and he's quite dead. Topol played the role in the 1967 London production - three years AFTER Mostel originated the role. Topol also starred in the movie version.

To be fair to Kevin, his article is completely accurate - it's only the headline that's wrong. Topol is certainly an original, and certainly a star, but he's not the original star of Fiddler on the Roof.

Jan Sjostrom of the Palm Beach Daily News has a much more extensive article about Fiddler.

Oh, and they're talking about it because it's opening this week at the Kravis Center.


In Memoriam

Babara Gault, a driving force behind the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, died on April 3, 2009. Her obituary appears in the Palm Beach Post.



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