THOUGHTS ON THEATER AND PANDEMIC by Melody Brooks
Thousands of years of history can put a novo-virus in perspective.
Latest Entries
hang By Leigh Buchanan Bienen
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
Chita Rivera’s Key to Success
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
League Recognizes Adelheid Roosen for her contribution to the International Stage with the Prestigious Gilder/Coigney Award
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
Daryl Roth on Becoming a Producer
“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
The Director and the Target: Emily Mann in Rehearsal
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
“Describe the Night” in Houston while Hurricane Harvey Raged – a first hand account of directing under pressure by Giovanna Sardelli
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
The Year of Indefatigable Women by Glenda Frank
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
Responding to Our Times: On the Veranda by Catherine Castellani
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
Responding to Our Times: Making It by Harriet Slaughter
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
What Theatre Artists and Administrators Should Know About Sexual Harassment by Cheryl Davis
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
