Finish on Top: (Re:) Directions Theatre Offering Semi-Staged ‘Seesaw’ by Leonard Jacobs

Courtesy of my friend Tom Berger comes the following announcement. (What rock are you living under if you don't know Tom? Click here, peeps.)We're big fans of all things Berger-y and (re:) D…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Intiman Theatre Struggle: Backdrop to Theatre Facts 2009 by Leonard Jacobs

The story is several weeks old now, and the ritualistic ringing of the alarm has ebbed into a hum of mere worry. Yet I wanted to add some reactions and observations to the coverage of the fi…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Ovation URL to ‘Find Art in Everything.’ Will It Find Everything in Art? by Leonard Jacobs

Last night, here in New York, I attended an impressive public panel about the arts and censorship (to be discussed in another post), and one of the many tendrils of the conversation, especia…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

5 Questions I’ve Never Been Asked: Anton Chekhov by Leonard Jacobs

How do you solve a problem like Anton?Actually, you call call him Dr. Chekhov, or preferably not call him at all, since he died of tuberculosis back in 1904.Yet the theater keeps asking poor…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Top 10 ‘Spider-Man’ Quotes, a Rant, and More by Leonard Jacobs

With Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark postponing tonight's performance, and with my new think piece for the Huffington Post waiting for approval, I've pretty much had enough of wall-to-wall Spi…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Will Classical TV Challenge Ovation? And Where’s Their Theater Blog? by Leonard Jacobs

Is is possible that Ovation has a competitor in Classical TV? And what would be the pluses and minus for the performing arts if that were the case?Certainly to judge by the mere touting, huf…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Arts Advocacy Update 159: Local Grants Make New Jersey Sure by Leonard Jacobs

The content below is from Americans for the Arts' Arts Watch email blast of Jan. 5, 2011. (Subscribe to it here.) Expressions, opinions and/or comments in italics following each story highli…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Big Bucks to Boise: ATW’s National Theater Company Grants Announced by Leonard Jacobs

Courtesy of the fine publicity team at O&M Co. comes news of a potential earthquake in theater philanthropy.Indeed, as one the quoted quotables in the press release down below acknowledg…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Nonprofit Uniting Soldiers and Performers in Common Cause by Leonard Jacobs

What a distinctly noble idea:...

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

House GOP: Eliminate National Endowment for the Arts by Leonard Jacobs

Today's big, but not surprising news:The GOP majority in the House of Representative proposes to abolish the National Endowment for the Arts. Read the story in US News and World Report.Also …

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Intifada of the Culture Wars: On the Censorship of the National Portrait Gallery by Leonard Jacobs

You can't say you weren't warned.Explicitly and often during 2009 and 2010, I warned here at the CFR that the culture wars would return. And they are.On Feb. 7, 2009, I wrote a post called T…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Commenting On Commentary Commenting On Commentary (On Reporting and Reviews) by Leonard Jacobs

To say that we live in the age of the derivative is to be redundant: I don't think anyone really knows what constitutes original reporting anymore. True, if you're the first to report someth…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Equity’s Showcase Code Sucks? Come to a Party — and Join LIT by Leonard Jacobs

If you haven't joined the League of Independent Theater -- you're thinking about it, you've heard they're doing stuff but you're not totally sure what, you've hearing rumors, you're living u…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Toot, Toot, Tootie: NYS Arts Goes Splitsville, and What It Means by Leonard Jacobs

The letter below this commentary announces the legal dissolution of the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations, better known as NYS Arts. The announcement was the furthest thing from …

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

A Brown Paper Ticket to Ride? And Should You Care? by Leonard Jacobs

Not being a producer -- but having produced theater during a past life -- sometimes I like to read and then not comment on all the blog posts about event ticketing and pricing. From my lay v…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

As GOP Measures Drapes, Arts Action Fund IDs “Dirty Dozen” Senators by Leonard Jacobs

Happy Election Day. Sit down. Read this.We know that on the list of reasons why people vote for certain candidates, positions on the arts do not rank very high.If, however, you're one of the…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Bitching Over FringeNYC? Log on to FringeTALK, Sun., Jan. 9 by Leonard Jacobs

It all started four months ago. As some (or many or a few) of you know, I directed a production in the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival and it was a mixed experience by half. That…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

ART/NY, LIT, ITF Team on Tax-Break Plan for Pro-Arts Landlords by Leonard Jacobs

Six months after all 12 Manhattan community boards approved a resolution calling on New York City and New York State to legislate a property-tax abatement for landlords who rent to nonprofit…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Why Work in Theatre? A Blog Post for World Theatre Day by Leonard Jacobs

I'd like to give a big shout-out to all of the many folks behind World Theatre Day, which is celebrated every year on March 27. If you'd like to learn more about World Theatre Day, I encoura…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Kansas Gov. Abolishes Arts Commission; SC, TX Next on Chopping Block? by Leonard Jacobs

Well, it happened.According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, linking to a story in the Kansas City Star, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback abolished the Kansas Arts Commission by executive orde…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

The Women Who Inspired Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly by Leonard Jacobs

Look at those eyes. In their time, in their prime, they must have held all the power of incantatory spells. They were the eyes of a killer.They belonged to Beulah Annan, who was the inspirat…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Happy Wedding, Kelsey. Oy. by Leonard Jacobs

I will admit that I have watched The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. And I will admit that I grew to like those ladies, even if they didn't seem to like themselves roughly half of the time…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Entertation Index, Oct. 18-22: Cutting Cory Montieth by Leonard Jacobs

Each week, the CFR publishes a condensed, best-of-the-best version of The Brown Tweed Society's acclaimed Entertation Index.It compiles the best dish, gossip and celebrity news filtered via …

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

The Promise of ICSCS by Leonard Jacobs

Last Friday, I would venture a visual guess that 200, perhaps even 300 or more people attended the superb launch party for a new cultural policy think tank called the Institute for Culture i…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

For AOL’s City’s Best: Features on ‘Gatz,’ ‘Git Along Lil Doggie’ by Leonard Jacobs

Two new stories for AOL's recently launched City's Best.First one on Gatz, running at the Public Theater:Leave it to F. Scott Fitzgerald, who died in 1940, to knock the "Jersey Shore" crew .…

SOURCE: Clyde Fitch Report at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑