PRESS RELEASE: THE BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, whose alumni include Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Frozen) and Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal), is accepting applications through the end of day on Friday, August 4, for its first-year composer and lyricist class.
‘EVAN HANSEN’ SOARS, MIDLER-FREE ‘DOLLY’ PLUNGES AMID JULY 4 BOX OFFICE MUDDLE
It was a tough seven days on Broadway — except for Dear Evan Hansen and a few perennial tourist draws.
With July 4 falling on a Tuesday and many locals away, Hello, Dolly!, A Bronx Tale, War Paint and Beautiful all had their worst sales of the year, according to data from the Broadway League.
Groundhog Day and Waitress, now starring Betsy Wolfe, were near their post-opening lows, and Indecent, which was scheduled to close June 25 and instead extended to August 6, was at just over a third of its gross potential, at $334,000.Continue Reading
QUESTIONS & DELIBERATIONS IN ‘REBECCA’ TRIAL
Rebecca Broadway LP vs. Marc Thibodeau went to the jury Tuesday afternoon after two weeks of testimony. The five women and one man had a range of information requests out of the gate in order to decide the civil suit, which was filed in 2013 after Rebecca the Musical collapsed amid a cash shortfall.
‘REBECCA’ PARTNERSHIP SEEKS $11 MILLION PLUS PUNITIVE DAMAGES IN PRESS AGENT ‘BETRAYAL’
At 2:30 pm, Marc Thibodeau was a courageous truth teller. By 4 pm he was a destructive liar.
Closing statements at the Rebecca civil trial this afternoon painted opposing pictures of its former press agent and the musical he represented — and according to its producers, sabotaged.
THE STRAIGHT PLAY CHALLENGE: CAPITALIZE ON TONY NOMINATIONS
The Tony Award for best musical is commercially valuable, but what about nominations for plays? The next few weeks will test how much theatergoers care, with three of the four best play nominees box office under-performers.
‘NATASHA,’ ‘DOLLY’ & ‘DOLL’S HOUSE 2’ LEAD TONY NOMINATIONS
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Hello, Dolly! and A Doll’s House, Part 2 got the most Tony Award nominations this morning in their respective categories.
Natasha competes against Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away and Groundhog Day the Musical in the all-important new musical category. Among the high-profile snubs, the new musicals A Bronx Tale, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Amelie got no nominations. Also bageled was the hit musical revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, although star Glenn Close, who won for the role in 1995, was out of contention.
PATTI LUPONE, PHILLIPA SOO & JAKE GYLLENHAAL DELIVER IN BROADWAY’S BIGGEST WEEK SINCE EARLY JANUARY: BOX OFFICE
Starry musicals got off to a strong start in what was the industry’s best seven days since the first week of the year. Sales were $27.7 million, up 16 percent from the week before and up 17 percent from the same week last season, according to data from the Broadway League.
War Paint, with Christine Ebersole and Patti LuPone as cosmetics icons Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, grossed $800,000 in seven previews. It’s by the same creative team as 2006’s Grey Gardens. And former Hamilton lead Phillipa Soo apparently proved a draw in Amélie. The adaptation of the 2001 movie did $377,000 in four previews. Average tickets to both exceeded $100.
EVENT: ‘BIG RIVER’ REVIEW BROUHAHA SPURS TALKFEST
Amid the commotion over the New York Times review of the Encores! revival of Big River revolving around context and criticism, the nonprofit Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) presents a free discussion on Monday, March 6, that includes Laura Collins-Hughes, who wrote the review. The following is a press release:Continue Reading
BEHIND THE TIMES: TOP PLAYWRIGHTS URGE PAPER TO REPLACE ISHERWOOD WITH WOMAN OF COLOR
EXCLUSIVE: With a search underway to fill one of the highest-profile jobs in theater criticism, influential playwrights are pressing for diversity.
Photo: Angela Jimenez
They’re among more than 800 in and outside of theater who signed a petition requesting the New York Times hire either a woman of color or a transgender person of color to replace Charles Isherwood, the second-string reviewer who was fired earlier this month. “For as long as I’ve been reading the Times, it’s been white men,” Winter Miller, the playwright who started the petition, said about its full-time theater reviewers. “Trump’s cabinet has more diversity.”
CRITIC ISHERWOOD EXITS TIMES; PAPER SEEKS REPLACEMENT
UPDATED THROUGHOUT: The New York Times is seeking a full-time theater critic to replace Charles Isherwood.
Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy confirmed Isherwood’s departure as the No. 2 theater critic, but said the paper doesn’t discuss personnel matters. Isherwood joined the Times from Variety in 2004. He declined to comment.
The position has been one of the most influential in theater journalism. Its current minimum salary is $2,075 a week, said Grant Glickson, the president of the NewsGuild of New York and a staff assistant and head of the bargaining unit at the Times. That’s just above the Broadway performer minimum of $1,974, according to Actors’ Equity.
