State arts service organisations: effective, engaged but endangered by Arts Review

Last week the NSW government’s arts funding arm, Create NSW, removed or significantly reduced funding to arts service organisations including Writing NSW, Playwriting Australia, the Nation…

Woodford Folk Festival cancels 2020 Festival by Arts Review

The 35th annual Woodford Folk Festival has been cancelled, with organisers confirming the popular cultural event will not go ahead this year. In a statement posted on social media late Frida…

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (89) by Robert Shuman

The entire physical and spiritual nature of the actor must be concentrated on what is going on in the soul of the person he (or she) plays. (MLIA)

Forgotten Plays: No 12 – Votes for Women (1907) by Elizabeth Robins by Michael Billington

Our series ends with a passionate play about gender politics and women’s rights that still rings true When Elizabeth Robins’s play was first produced in 1907, it was billed as “A Drama…

John Rwoth-Omack Bears The Torch Of African Theatre In The Diaspora by Ian Kiyingi Muddu

John Rwoth-Omack is a Ugandan-born theatre artist, bred and based in the UK. A lover of African stories, he directed Bad Blood Blues for Sheffield Theatres, probing such disturbing questi…

Film Review: ‘Pretending I’m a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story’ by Kurt Gardner

Skateboarders and video game enthusiasts alike will be drawn in by this enjoyably nostalgic doc.

Can white arts leaders become anti-racist “accomplices”? by Ramona Harper

Recently, during an interview with Nicole Brewer, founder of Anti-Racist Theatre, I learned about the Arts Administrators of Color Network’s Accomplices Leadership Institute (ALI). As a me…

Farewell & Thanks: Eric Bartlett, Cello by New York Philharmonic

As Boston’s Art Museums Reopen, There’s A Sense Of Hope by Artsjournal2

During the height of the first wave of the coronavirus, it seemed this day would never come. Now, “it’s odd how the surreal can become de rigueur. At the Gardner I barely noticed the mas…

Buckingham Palace’s Private Art Collection Is Going On Display For The First (And Perhaps Only) Time Ever by Artsjournal2

Talk about your unprecedented times. Buckingham Palace needs a plumbing update, so the paintings, including Vermeer’s The Music Lesson and two Rembrandts, have to find a temporary home, an…

In The 2016 ‘Much Ado’ On PBS, Shakespeare Conveys How Much Black Lives Matter by Artsjournal2

This is a good time for some required quarantine viewing, no? And it’s always a good time to check out how good directors, dramaturgs, and designers (not to mention actors) can turn Shakes…

The Superheroes We Have, The Superheroes We Need by Artsjournal2

Thinking about what we’ve had – Batman, Superman – well, it’s time for a change. “A new guard of superheroism doesn’t simply mean diversity. It makes room for the possibility tha…

The Terrible Plight Of Music And Theatre Event Staff by Artsjournal2

Lighting designers, sound engineers, tour managers, caterers, bus drivers, and more – all laid off more or less permanently, nebulously, until a vaccine. Their unions and associations are …

Members Are Furious At SAG-AFTRA’s Plan To Change, And Limit, Health Coverage by Artsjournal2

Seriously, SAG-AFTRA? During a global pandemic that has a lot of members out of work? Well, trustees say, “By 2024, the Health Plan is projected to run out of reserves. We must prevent thi…

How A Writer Pays, And Then Loses, Attention by Artsjournal2

Novelist Helen Garner terrified her friends for years with what they called her pitiless writer’s eye – detached, curious, and omnivorous. But as she ages, she’s found it’s harder an…

What Power Lies In A Name by Artsjournal2

In northern Australia, indigenous people are reclaiming land and landmark names. “These changes are about time, mate, but we always kept the names when we worked on country anyway – they…

Madonna Birthday Video by Call Me Adam

Sally Jacobs obituary by Michael Coveney

Brilliant stage designer hailed for her work with the RSC and the Royal Opera HouseIn a career ranging from Peter Brook’s greatest productions at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Marat/S…

Cameron Mackintosh makes about 200 UK theatre staff redundant by Mark Brown Arts Correspondent

Les Misérables producer latest to announce job losses as industry struggles to weather Covid-19 Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Sir Cameron Mackintosh, the…

Howell Binkley (1956-2020) by Barry Gordin

The Theater Community mourns a beloved colleague, Howell Binkley, the Tony Award winning lighting designer of Hamilton and Jersey Boys. August 16, 2020: One of Broadway’s most promi…

Theatre Review: ‘Tears of the Soul,’ streaming from Globe Online by Mary Ann Johnson

In 2018, Angela Wilson’s play about the Memphis sanitation workers strike in 1968 first debuted as part of the Angelwing Project in Anne Arundel County, MD. Angela Wilson is a founder and …

Concert Review: ‘Ballroom Dancing at Home’ with Joe Enroughty and his Mellotones, streaming on Facebook by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok

Bandleader Joe Enroughty is known for leading two swing bands in the Virginia region. As suggested by the band’s name, his fourteen-piece Royal Virginians perform and promote the sweet-swi…

This Week on Broadway for August 16, 2020: The Best (and worst) Titles of Shows by James Marino

Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about Best (and worst) Titles of Shows. This Week on Broadway has been coming to you every week since 2009. It is the longest runni…

Theatre Review: ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream,’ City of Fairfax Theatre Company by Mary Ann Johnson

There is good news and bad news. The good news is that the City Fairfax Theatre Company is putting on a live show. The bad news is that is was rained out last night, so I didn’t get to see…

Column: With ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ live musical theater roars back to life in London, a moment to be cherished by Chris Jones

The opening notes of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical sounded, the actors' masks fell away and an unspeakable moving show began at Regents Park Open Air Theatre in London, the fi…

Author Andre Alexis on the importance of ‘play’ in pandemic-set audio drama by Adina Bresge - The Canadian Press

The award-winning Canadian author says his new audio drama started as a game between him and his partner’s daughter.

Howell Binkley Dies: Two-Time Tony Winner For ‘Hamilton’ And ‘Jersey Boys’ Was 64 by Bruce Haring

Howell Binkley, considered one of Broadway’s premier lighting designers, died Friday, Aug. 14 in North Carolina, his wife, Joyce, told the Winston-Salem Journal.. He was 64 and had lung ca…

NSO @ Home LIVE • August 16 • Heather LeDoux Green, Adam Green & Isabel Aronin by The Kennedy Center

Julia Garner’s Newfound Netflix Fame And Lockdown Angst by Artsjournal2

A casting director’s dismissive “You should try indie movies, honey” changed Garner’s career, and life. – The Hollywood Reporter

The Traditional Ice Cream Truck Song Has Racist Roots, So Good Humor Asked A Musician To Create A New Song by Artsjournal2

But will New Yorkers accept the new song? Musician RZA: “I can assure you that this one is made with love.” – Gothamist

Think School Testing Is A Mess In The US? Take A Look At How The UK Shafted Students In The Pandemic by Artsjournal2

This is not to excuse the United States’ patchwork of school tests, the weirdness (and inequity) of the ACT or SAT, but … wow. “The coronavirus pandemic means exams were canceled and r…

As We All Know Now, Time Both Is And Isn’t Real by Artsjournal2

OK, let’s get metaphysical: “‘The true present is a dimensionless speck,’ Alan Burdick writes in his book Why Time Flies. ‘The specious present, in contrast, is ‘the short durat…

Writing With Radical Ordinariness by Artsjournal2

Emphasis on that radical, please, when you’re talking about author Carol Shields. – The New York Times

The Pain And Dedication Of Being A Reality Show Camera Operator by Artsjournal2

The camera operators’ job applications asked them to list their skills at things like mountain biking, river rafting, and hiking. Those aren’t on the skillsheets for a lot of camera oper…

The Many Hatreds Of Horror Master H.P. Lovecraft by Artsjournal2

Lovecraft was clearly racist and clearly an anti-Semite – and guess what? He also thought the Irish were inferior. “Such prejudices weren’t simply background colour. They are front and…

Will Britain’s First Live Show To Return Actually Make It Back To The Stage? by Artsjournal2

Actors rehearsing for the musical Sleepless get test results within 45 minutes on an app. One of the actors says, “It does actually feel amazing to just be hearing people sing again. It’…

Billy Goldenberg, Composer For Stage, Screen, And TV, 84 by Artsjournal2

You may not know you know his work, but you definitely do. A partial description: “Emmy-winning composer who worked with Barbra Streisand and Elvis Presley, scored Steven Spielberg’s ear…

Linda Manz, Who Starred In Terence Malick’s ‘Days Of Heaven’ At Only 15, Has Died At 58 by Artsjournal2

Manz also featured in Dennis Hopper’s Out of the Blue. – Variety

To Find A Book That Charts Our Own Distressed Times, Try Doris Lessing by Artsjournal2

The Golden Notebook, published almost 60 years ago now, gets to the heart of almost everything (depressingly, still) going on right now. “Lessing — like Anna — is unafraid to dirty her…

Harris Theater appoints current executive as new president and CEO by Chris Jones

Lori Dimun will be the new leader of Chicago's Harris Theater. She was formerly the theater's chief operating officer.

Shows, suds, cider and a soaking: the Edinburgh fringe from my bathtub by Kate Wyver

The festival may be cancelled but our writer is determined to recreate the experience at home. So she pours a cider, steps into her bath – and logs on to the fringe’s freakiest shows The…

09/07-28 Gregory Toroian’s LIVE Piano/Bass/Drums Workshop by Sue Matsuki

I am excited to announce that I will be continuing the Piano/Bass/Dr Workshop-(PBD), LIVE in my studio, starting the week of September 7.  We resumed in July, continued in August, and all i…

Glenn Strange: The Cowboy Who Played Frankenstein by Trav S.D.

And now a tribute to a giant of a man, whose stance was so great it straddled two genres: Glenn Strange (1899-1973). Classic horror fans know him as the man who was tapped to replace Boris K…

Exit Laughing: RIP Reni Santoni by Trav S.D.

Actor Reni Santoni (b. 1938) passed away a couple of weeks ago. I had long planned a post on him and kept kicking the can down the road. I didn’t eulogize him on August 1 (the day he pass…

Bobby Steggert, Actor Turned Therapist Q & A: Advice for Suffering Theater Artists by New York Theater

Two years ago, Bobby Steggert, a Tony-nominated actor with extensive credits on and Off Broadway (Ragtime, Big Fish, Yank! etc) , surprised the theater community by announcing that he had sw…

Looking Back | ABT Company Classes on Zoom by American Ballet Theatre

Listen to a Special Fan-Requested Episode of Elaine Paige on Sunday by Broadway.com

Broadway curtains may still be closed, but Elaine Paige on Sunday isn't! Olivier-winning actress Elaine Paige is giving Broadway.com listeners a chance to hear her popular BBC Radio 2 show…

‘My favourite part of working in casting is meeting fresh, exciting talent’: Sydney Aldridge on the casting process for The Show Must Go Online by Debbie Gilpin

I’ve really admired the work of Sydney Aldridge throughout the course of The Show Must Go Online, so who better to talk to about casting and her experiences with this innovative Zoom theat…

Godspell single performed by Jodie Steele released for charity. by Douglas Mayo

By Douglas Mayo With the Godspell 50th Anniversary Online Concert almost upon us, Jodie Steele has released a single of Beautiful City from the show for charity. This post Godspell single pe…

Review: Comics Solving Problems, Steve Allen and Erich McElroy by Sarah Pumphrey

On a Tuesday night during a heatwave (have you heard? It’s very hot) no one is in the mood for anything too mentally challenging. It is therefore a welcome relief to be able to sit back an…

Blindness review – Juliet Stevenson rages between your ears by Susannah Clapp

Donmar Warehouse, LondonThere is no escape for a socially distanced audience all wearing headphones from Simon Stephens’s powerfully menacing adaptation of José Saramago Every now and the…

First Love review – park bench Beckett is witty and wonderful by Catherine Love

Rowntree Park, York This tangled monologue – delivered to a socially spaced audience with emphatic charm by Chris Hannon – is a diverting way to bring open-air theatre back to life First…

The Last Five Years to play socially distanced encore run at Southwark Playhouse by Douglas Mayo

By Douglas Mayo Jason Robert Brown's iconic musical The Last Five Years is to play a socially distanced encore season at Southwark Playhouse this October. This post The Last Five Years to pl…

Congress Adjourns With No Help For Live Music Venues (Or Anyone At All) by Artsjournal2

That likely condemns a lot of venues to closure. “‘It’s shocking that they don’t just stay until they figure it out,’ says Audrey Fix Schaefer of the National Independent Venue …

‘Fun, family-friendly & warm-hearted’: ALICE: A VIRTUAL THEME PARK – Creation Theatre (Online review) by Louise Penn

Alice: A Virtual Theme Park is ultimately a show of charm and occasional barbed wit, which is fun for both families or adults. You don’t have to switch your video on and join in, but it is…

What Cabaret Means to Ann Hampton Callaway by Sue Matsuki

When we asked Ann Hampton Callaway “What does Cabaret mean to you?” she, being the songwriter that she is, expressed her feelings in song…this song.  

What Cabaret Means to Dawn Derow by Sue Matsuki

What Cabaret Means to Richard Skipper by Sue Matsuki

What Cabaret Means to Jeff Harnar by Sue Matsuki

What Cabaret Means to Aaron Lee Battle by Sue Matsuki

What Cabaret Means to Karen Mason by Sue Matsuki

What Cabaret Means to Andrea Marcovicci by Sue Matsuki

What Cabaret Means to Natalie Douglas by Sue Matsuki

INTERVIEW: Ruthie Henshall talks Godspell, touring and lockdown by Douglas Mayo

By Douglas Mayo Ruthie Henshall is appearing in the 50th Anniversary online concert of Godspell the musical this month. We talked about the show, her tour and lockdown. This post INTERVIEW: …

The Constellation Prize podcast is a poignant exploration of the soul

These deeply unusual interviews wrangle with art and life and include recordings from poet Franz Wright

Do You Know What Years These 19 Iconic Musicals Debuted on Broadway? by Playbill Staff

Test your theatre knowledge.

Stars in the House Streams Moments in the Woods Gala, Featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Todrick Hall, Mandy Gonzalez, More by Andrew Gans

The evening, directed by Michael Kushner, benefits the Hancock–French Woods Arts Alliance.

Catch Les Misérables Movie Musical on Netflix Beginning August 16 by Playbill Staff

The 2012 film features Oscar winner Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Samantha Barks, and more.