When the news hit in the spring that theatres in New York were going to be shut down, I–like many of my fellow theatre-makers–was devastated. Our movement company, 10C, had been developing our third science-based piece throughout the fall and winter of 2019 and the quarantine felt like we drove 50 mph into a wall. …
Thousands of years of history can put a novo-virus in perspective.
Lue Morgan Douthit, longtime director of literary development at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), commissioned a translation of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens into contemporary modern English in the fall of 2015, beginning OSF’s Play On! project. With the Bard still continuously the most-produced playwright in America, one purpose of the project was to ask why …
“From the time I was about twelve, I never stopped acting. Acting is my business.” “If you’re going to play a character other than yourself, it’s better that you bring that character to the first rehearsal…You have to leave yourself at home… When I’m immersed in a scene, I leave Angela at home.” “I’d like …
“A great actor at the height of her powers.”
On February 12th, Ms. Lee was the subject of the League of Professional Theatre Women’s Oral History at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Robert Viagas conducted the interview. Baayork Lee has performed in over a dozen Broadway shows. For the original production of A Chorus Line, she created the role of Connie, while serving as …
The purpose of theatre is to wound our memory. — Paula Vogel Paula Vogel, Tony-nominated playwright for Indecent, was interviewed by Linda Winer, in an Oral History presented to League members and their guests at the NY Library for the …
This spring Remy Bumppo, the ensemble centered Chicago theater company with a penchant for complicated language and complex social issues mounted the U.S. premiere of UK playwright debbie tucker green’s ‘hang’ in a run from March 21 to April 29. Note, the playwright prefers the lower case both for her own name and the play’s title. … Continue reading
On May 7, two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera talked about her life and illustrious career as part of the League of Professional Theatre Women’s Oral History project at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Chita Rivera on winning 2018 Tony Award Lifetime Achievement: “If you hang around long enough something’s bound to … Continue reading
Accepting the third Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award, Adelheid Roosen addressed a full auditorium at CUNY Grad Center, Elebash Recital Hall, hosted by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center the 23th of October 2017 Welcome, feel at home and I hope your chair feels like a birds nest. First of all I want to thank the … Continue reading
“At the beginning of my career, a lot of people weren’t very gracious. They thought, ‘Okay. She’ll be around for a couple of months.’ Well, not so fast.” “I had to find a niche for myself. I had to find plays that push the envelope.” “I read Albee’s work in college. Never in my wildest … Continue reading
I started doing yoga with my cast 17 years ago. Everyone liked it so much I’ve continued. I do half an hour at the start of each rehearsal with everyone in the room — actors, stage managers and designers. It clears the mind and prepares us for the emotional work of the day. … Continue reading
On Tuesday I began packing my bags, which was unexpected since I had arrived in Houston, TX only a week earlier to begin rehearsals on the World Premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s Describe The Night. Hurricane Harvey had been raging since Saturday and on Tuesday we’d taken advantage of a brief break in the near constant … Continue reading
Television has been anticipating a woman president for years. In “Madam Secretary” Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni) rose to a vice-presidential candidate; in “The Veep,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s character succeeded to the presidency; on “Scandal,” a powerful Washington crisis-manager (Kerry Washington) is also the president’s confidante. The skits on the satirical “Saturday Night Live” played Hillary … Continue reading
I’m lying on my new acupuncturist’s table and she’s taking my pulse for the third time when she tells me, “You’re on the veranda.” How’s that? “You’re not sick, but you’re not well, either.” OH in so many ways, lady. The rejection letter that told me I scored very well with readers but not just … Continue reading
As Director of Labor Relations for the Broadway League, Producer Elizabeth McCann and I used to joke during negotiation sessions we would know we “made it” when the day came we would clinch a deal while in the ladies room! The male negotiators would always emerge from the men’s room proudly announcing they “sealed a … Continue reading
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock (beneath the root of a tree, at the bottom of the ocean), you know that sexual harassment in the workplace has been a topic in the news lately. What performers and other theatre professionals may tend to forget is that while they are artists, they are also “acting” … Continue reading
