CAST OF SONDHEIM'S 'ASSASSINS' SET TO REUNITE by Robert Shuman

(Johnny Oleksinski's article appeared in the New York Post, 3/5; via Pam Green; Photo: The off-Broadway musical "Assassins," which opened in 1991, was controversial for its choice to make pr…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 4:05pm on March 6, 2021☆⚑

SAVING BIRDLAND"AND JAZZ HISTORY by Robert Shuman

(Adam Gopnick's article appeared in the New Yorker, 3/ 4. Photo: The legendary New York City music venue has been crushed by the pandemic.Photograph by Brent N. Clarke / Getty. ) One truth o…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:20am on March 5, 2021☆⚑

THE BIRTH OF 'RENT,' ITS CREATOR'S DEATH AND THE 25 YEARS SINCE by Robert Shuman

(Eric Grode's article appeared in The New York Times, 2/25; via Pam Green; Photo: Jonathan Larson, left, who wrote the music, lyrics and book of "Rent," with the play's director, Michael Gre…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 6:26pm on March 4, 2021☆⚑

TRU (THEATER RESOURCEES UNLIMITED) ANNOUNCES MARCH COMMUNITY GATHERINGS VIA ZOOM by Robert Shuman

(via Michelle Tabnick.) Theater Resources Unlimited announces upcoming TRU Community Gatherings via Zoom    Thinking in Zoom (2): Producers and Technologists Friday, March 5, 2021 a…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 3:04pm on March 3, 2021☆⚑

LIV ULLMANN LIFE LESSONS: NEVER TURN AWAY, NEVER KILL SOMEBODY'S DREAM by Robert Shuman

(Tim Gray's interview appeared in Variety, 3/1.) Liv Ullmann has been an international star since 1966's Ingmar Bergman's arthouse hit "Persona"; indeed, she is best-known for her coll…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 10:15am on March 3, 2021☆⚑

IRELAND: CORK THEATRE-MAKERS WAITING IN THE WINGS TO STEP INTO THE NEW NORMAL by Robert Shuman

(Mary Leland's article appeared in the Irish Times, 3/1; Photo: Gare St Lazare's adaptation of Samuel Beckett's How It Is. Photograph: Clare Keogh. ) Theatre scene that thrived before pandem…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 4:38pm on March 2, 2021☆⚑

AUSTRALIA: WHAT VISIONS HAVE I SEEN! ADELAIDE FESTIVAL BURSTS WITH SPECTACLE by Robert Shuman

(Steve Dow's article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, 3/1; A Midsummer Night's Dream Adelaide Festival 2021: Photo: CREDIT:TONY LEWIS.) ARTS FESTIVAL Adelaide Festival opening weekend …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 1:50pm on March 1, 2021☆⚑

LET'S PLAY 'BEAT THE BARD' (35) by Robert Shuman

Can you beat the Bard? Questions by Joyce E. Henry, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 4:03pm on February 28, 2021☆⚑

SHAKESPEARE TROUPE TO GO WITHOUT AN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR by Robert Shuman

(Michael Paulson's article appeared in The New York Times, 2/19; via Pam Green. Photo: John Harrell and Jessika D. Williams in the American Shakespeare Center production of "Othello," which …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 9:01am on February 27, 2021☆⚑

RONALD PICKUP: A THEATRICAL GREAT FROM A GOLDEN GENERATION by Robert Shuman

(Michael Billington's article appeared in the Guardian, 2/26; Photo: Self-deprecating … Ronald Pickup in 1972. Photograph: Evening Standard/Getty Images.) The actor, who has died age…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 6:33pm on February 26, 2021☆⚑

BROADWAY'S DARK YEAR by Robert Shuman

(Judith Miller's article appeared in City Journal, 2/22.) Live theater has been devastated by the pandemic, and its return remains uncertain. No industry in New York City has been hit as har…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 8:48am on February 26, 2021☆⚑

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (112) by Robert Shuman

The words and wisdom of Constantin Stanislavski: My system cannot be explained in an hour or in a day even. It must be systematically and practically studied for years. It does good only whe…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 3:16pm on February 25, 2021☆⚑

***** 'TYPICAL' REVIEW " RICHARD BLACKWOOD IS MESMERISING IN POETIC TRAGEDY by Robert Shuman

(Arifa Akbar's article appeared in the Guardian, 2/25. Photo:  Richard Blackwood in Ryan Calais Cameron's Typical. Photograph: Franklyn Rodgers. ) Available online This superb play dra…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 9:11am on February 25, 2021☆⚑

JAPAN: 'YABUHARA KENGYO' SHOWS AUDIENCES THAT JUSTICE ISN'T ALWAYS BLIND by Robert Shuman

(Nobuko Tanaka's article appeared in the Japan Times, 2/18; Photo: Playing the bad guy: Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke IV plays Suginoichi, a blind musician who kills and cheats to get ahead…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 3:57pm on February 24, 2021☆⚑

LET'S PLAY 'BEAT THE BARD' (34) by Robert Shuman

Can you beat the Bard? Questions by Joyce E. Henry, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 10:07am on February 24, 2021☆⚑

AN EARLY CHEKHOV SHORT STORY TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME by Robert Shuman

(Chekhov's story appeared in Russia Beyond, 2/23/2021.) Anton Chekhov. WOLF BAITING  Translated by Dan Biktashev It is said that we live in the nineteenth century. Do not be fooled, reade…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 2:35pm on February 23, 2021☆⚑

'AFTER THE REHEARSAL': BERGMAN'S BRILLIANT SPOTLIGHT ON MAKING AND WATCHING THEATRE by Robert Shuman

(Chris Wiegand's artciel appeared in the Guardian, 2/23;  Lena Olin and Erland Josephson with the Hedda Gabler sofa in After the Rehearsal. Photograph: Everett Collection/Alamy.) Ingma…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 9:31am on February 23, 2021☆⚑

SAMUEL BECKETT'S 'HAPPY DAYS' IS TURNING 60. ITS IMAGE OF A TRAPPED WOMAN IS AS POTENT AS EVER by Robert Shuman

(Claire Thomas's article appeared in the Guardian, 2/22.) I first saw Samuel Beckett's Happy Days at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne in 2009. I remember the barren stage and the entombed …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 3:39pm on February 22, 2021☆⚑

ON CONTACT: THE POWER OF CLASSICS by Robert Shuman

(from RT, 2/21.) On the show this week, Chris Hedges discusses with Emily Allen-Hornblower and Marquis McCray the power of the classics, such as Sophocles' play Philoctetes, to elucida…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 5:40pm on February 21, 2021☆⚑

ATTEND THE TALE OF 'ANYONE CAN WHISTLE,' THEN AND NOW by Robert Shuman

(Jesse Green's article appeared in The New York Times, 2/19; via Pam Green; Photo:  From left, Maria Friedman, John Owen Edwards, John Yap and Stephen Sondheim working on the recording of…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 12:06pm on February 21, 2021☆⚑

JEAN-CLAUDE CARRIÈRE, 89, DIES; PROLIFIC WRITER OF SCREENPLAYS AND MORE by Robert Shuman

(Neil Genzlinger's article appeared in The New York Times, 2/11; Photo: Jean-Claude Carrière in 1999. He had more than 150 film and television writing credits and also wrote books and plays…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 2:11pm on February 20, 2021☆⚑

NEW DAWN:  THEATRE AFFIRMATIONS by Robert Shuman

I take the time needed to express my creativity"and it is always  in demand.   Inspiration and invention lead me, and my ship comes in now.   I can easily solve any problem and corr…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 10:42am on February 20, 2021☆⚑

FRANCE: CULTURE VS COVID: A FINAL CURTAIN CALL FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS? INTERVIEWS WITH BASIL TWIST AND MARION SIEFERT by Robert Shuman

(Olivia Salazar-Winspear's interviews appeared 2/19 on France24.) As part of France24's week-long series about how the arts are dealing with Covid-19, we take a look at the impact of the hea…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 3:16pm on February 19, 2021☆⚑

FACED WITH THE COLD, SMU MUSIC PROFESSOR SLEPT WITH HIS 330-YEAR-OLD VIOLIN TO PROTECT IT by Robert Shuman

(Tim Diovanni's article appeared in the Dallas Morning News, 2/19; SMU professor Aaron Boyd poses with his violin on Thursday.(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer; via the Drudge Report.) Wi…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 12:01pm on February 19, 2021☆⚑

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (111) by Robert Shuman

The words and wisdom of Constantin Stanislavski: Much which seemed natural to me was in reality born of old theatrical frumpery. The most terrible thing of all is when self-conceit deceives …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 5:29pm on February 18, 2021☆⚑