586 stories by "Howard Sherman"
I had not intended to write again about the conflict over a planned production of Rent in Trumbull, but the story continues to grow. In the interest of brevity, this post will merely draw yo…
In the immediate wake of announcing to the Trumbull High School Thespian Society that he was canceling the planned spring production of Rent, Principal Marc Guarino spent almost an hour talk…
Outside of the annual Tony Awards broadcast, theatre is not a subject frequently dealt with on national television. So the next six days might be one of the richest confluences of theatre-re…
Last weekend in Connecticut, Trumbull High School's Thespian Society presented their fall play. On Monday afternoon, instead of a scheduled informational session for those planning to auditi…
If Trip Gabriel, the New York Times reporter who wrote yesterday's story about the dire straits of the August Wilson Cultural Center in Pittsburgh, were steeped in Wilson's writing, he might…
When it comes to Shakespeare, not all plays are created equal. That's far from a surprise to anyone who pays attention; Hamlet certainly ranks far ahead of King John in the canon, and even C…
November 21, 2013 President Barack Obama 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington DCÂ 20500 Dear President Obama: There was an anniversary yesterday, and I'm willing to bet that you forgot all…
When I saw it for the first time last week, I was really struck by the poster for the West End debut of the musical Urinetown. Why? Because it didn't look like a theatre poster. It looked li…
It's not unusual for book releases to be coordinated with a related event taking place elsewhere in the media circus: the autobiography that appears just as a star's major film is coming out…
Position 1: a stage production that is recorded, filmed or actually broadcast live ceases to be theatre. It may be considered television or film, but it is a record of theatre, not the thing…
In early July, just before she began rehearsals for the Broadway production of Big Fish, I had the opportunity to interview Director-Choreographer Susan Stroman for the autumn issue of th…
Having learned of high schools terminating productions and firing teachers over everything from Legally Blonde to The Laramie Project, it hardly comes as a surprise that Edward Albee's Tony …
Oh, please. The headline is not a spoiler. More than 400 years after the play was written, "young doomed love" is the Romeo and Juliet brand, and I suspect that most anyone coming to see som…
The stories of troubled arts institutions abound these days: the closing of the New York City Opera, the end of Shakespeare Santa Cruz and Theater of the Stars, the year-long standoff at the…
With two Romeo and Juliet productions currently underway in New York and a new film version due out this coming Friday, it seems time to inaugurate "Pop Goes Shakespeare," which might just a…
If you've not yet heard the story, the basic facts are these. Earlier this week, members of the football team at the University of Mississippi (aka "Ole Miss") were required to attend a perf…
If yesterday's news that theatre attendance is down more precipitously than any of the arts caused you to spit out your coffee over breakfast, well that's probably because you haven't been p…
If you've been reading The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times this week, attempting to find out how the arts as a whole are doing, you would likely get a fairly consistent picture comi…
I have a confession to make: I am constitutionally unable to watch the acclaimed TV series Friday Night Lights. Now I realize this may be surprising to those who know and admire that program…
A very good friend of mine began a successful tenure as the p.r. director of the Long Wharf Theatre in 1986, one year after I'd taken up the comparable position at Hartford Stage. He …
For all the years I lived in Connecticut, I used to feel I was missing out, as I saw offers for advance screenings of films dropping into my inbox and plastered on various websites. But, ala…
This afternoon on Twitter, journalists were decrying the proliferation of the word "premiere" in theatres' marketing and press materials, especially in cases where the usage is parsing a poi…
There are many reasons to enthuse about The Public Theatre's inaugural "Public Works" production of The Tempest " the conception and direction of Lear de Bessonet, the original score by Todd…
Let's face it: railing against Broadway musicals adapted from movies is a useless exercise. As long as people keep buying tickets for them, and as long as enough of them turn out to be finan…
In about 48 hours, I begin a three-day theatergoing binge. But I have no idea what I'll be seeing. Intrigued? As part of their upcoming "Theatre Week" in September, I'll be seeing and writin…
