I've been wondering for a while whether StageGrade ruins my theatergoing experiences. When I saw War Horse, for instance, I had just read every review and was thus familiar with what purport…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 01:55PMThe author of Stick Fly talks about race, class and cussing.
SOURCE: Time Out New York at 10:48AMKendrick Brown and Estella Henderson in the Houston's Ensemble Theatre production of Stick Fly (photo by Nathan Lindstrom for the Houston Chronicle)I've seen Lydia Diamond around TCG over th…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 11:58PMAnthony Lane's pans can be a joy to read, though I think they leave him open to the common charge of shallowness and snark. I much prefer his raves and appreciations, because they require hi…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:47AM"Physical presence, the sound of a voice, gestures, the way people sit or walk can be more telling than writing. It is easier to tell a lie in writing because one can hide behind prose. Gest…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:27AMQuickly as I can:I'm as relieved as anyone about this news, though I've always thought Diamond Dogs would make a good musical.This is worth a whole post but for now I just have to say that I…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 01:02PMMy review of the new Godspell is up at America, the Catholic weekly:If you couple the atmosphere of communal expectation this 40-year-old show stirs in its fans with the fact that the show i…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:07AMThe December issue of American Theatre is out today, with two great main features: One is by David Barbour, editor in chief of Lighting & Sound America (and one of favorite critics over at S…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 02:11PMIt has arrived. Have a great Turkey Day, dear readers!
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 02:35PMIn “Maple and Vine,” the playwright Jordan Harrison and the director Anne Kauffman create a society within ’50s society.
SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:46PMSam Robards as Jung, Harris Yulin as Freud in the Taper production of The Talking CureSounds like Christopher Hampton's script for A Dangerous Method is an improvement over the original play…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 02:37PMNew Yorker illustration by Pascal BlanchetI was one of the few critics who unreservedly loved Jordan Harrison's last play at Playwrights Horizons, Doris to Darlene, a Cautionary Valentine. B…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 12:15PMAt American Theatre, we often write about artists and plays before they reach the wider consciousness, or at least the stage of a major media town. When I was researching Tracy Letts last ye…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 09:26AM(Pictured: Holland Taylor. Photo by: Linda Matlow) Ann, Holland Taylor’s one-woman show about late Texas governor Ann Richards, opened recently at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre. Amer…
SOURCE: Theatre Communications Group at 05:11PMIn my inbox this morning, this news stuck out:Steppenwolf Theatre said Wednesday that the actress Julianna Margulies will be the guest of honor of its annual Women in the Arts fundraising lu…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:16AMBuried under another deadline avalanche, so here are some stray links:Dominique Morisseau challenges the default whiteness of character breakdowns.One of the first reviews of Sondheim's lyri…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 12:59PMOn musical theater writing, from my February feature on multifacted playwright Laura Eason:I once got this incredibly sweet email from Charles Strouse; he saw an adaptation of mine at 59E59 …
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 11:29AMI'm not a big Sarah Silverman fan, but this is good stuff. It's clear she'll make a great Joanne in Company one day.
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:29AMThere goes the neighborhood. (Seriously: Welcome, Chloe.)Playwrights blog their process: Matthew Freeman and George Hunka.Don Shirley drops some serious Gil Cates knowledge, from nude Quills…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 11:25PMMaybe I over-research as a reporter, but I almost always end up with a lot, lot more material than I can put into any given story. Case in point, my preview piece on the L.A. run of Bring It…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:14AMI didn't know Gil Cates personally—I think I must have met him at least once during my time on the L.A. theater scene, and one of Back Stage West's best Garland awards shows (hosted by Chr…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 11:32AMA subject of David Cote's critics' roundup in American Theatre speaks up.Phantom Limb's next project sounds even better than 69°S.One of my most-hit posts, obviously because of the title, i…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:52AMSchoenberg + Teletubbies = early Halloween fear candy. (via Daniel Capo on Vimeo.)
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 08:57AMDid you miss his readings-and-chat evening with Young Jean Lee, Tarell Alvin McCraney, and David Adjmi? Good news, it's all here.
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 01:47PMThe above was our half-joking working title at American Theatre for this great new feature by David Cote, which surveys 12 of the nation's most influential theater critics about the state of…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:46AMPlaygoer throws down the gauntlet to the Oxfordians, gets a reading list.Matthew Freeman gets precisely one response to a bleg for critics people like.Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker are almost…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:20AM"If a reviewer should deem a production a failure, so be it. But at least start from the presumption of purpose; discuss the ideas. And this has been the revelation for me, as a relative lud…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 07:41AM"I’m always looking for sounds that are pleasing at the time. The sound of a helicopter is really annoying until you’re drowning, and it’s there to rescue you. Then it sounds like musi…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:04AMIan David Moss has a blockbuster post today proposing that arts funding advocates stop shouting and e-blasting, and instead start doing business the way every other major industry lobby does…
SOURCE: The Wicked Stage at 10:17AM