A leaner North Shore Music Theatre

After reading about a spate of regional theatres shuttering, I'm happy to see one making a comeback.

The North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass., which closed in 2009, has announced its new season under a new owner. William Hanney, who also owns Theatre by the Sea in Matunuck, R.I., bought the bankrupt venue.

The season starts off with Gypsy, July 6-25; followed by Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aug. 3-22; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sept. 21-Oct. 10; A Chorus Line, Nov. 2-21; and A Christmas Carol, Dec. 3-23.

This is good news for actors and theatre fans on the North Shore. Although it may not be such great news for anyone hoping to make a career out of the theatre behind the scenes, with the stability of a full-time job and benefits.

What Hanney told The Boston Globe is understandable given the recession and the North Shore's past financial problems. But it does strikes me as a sad and foreboding commentary on the current economic climate.

"Hanney also said he's not going to hire nearly as many full-time workers as were employed in the theater's last incarnation. (When the theater closed last year, it laid off more than 50 people.) Instead, Hanney imagines supporting six to eight staffers with an ever-changing slate of temporary workers to answer phones and take tickets."

Still, a theatre that's open and employing six to eight people full time is better than one that's closed and employing no one.

Theatre from coast to coast

The National Endowment for the Arts announced a new round of grants recently and it's always interesting to read about the theatre projects that received funding.

I couldn't find a breakdown just for theatre, but the NEA awarded a total of $155 million for 2009.

Some of the money goes toward developing new plays. Other times, it's re-imagining a classic. A lot of money is spent on education and outreach efforts.

To me, the list demonstrates how much interesting work is being done all over the country.

These were some that caught my attention:

Indiana Repertory Theatre
Indianapolis, IN
$30,000
To support the commission and development of April, 4 1968 by playwright-in-residence James Still. The play will be based on Sen. Robert Kennedy's six-minute speech in Indianapolis on the night of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.

Irondale Ensemble Project
Brooklyn, NY
$20,000
To support the development and world premiere of Murrow's Boys and Their Descendants, a documentary play created by Artistic Director Jim Niesen with members of the Irondale Ensemble Project. The play will dramatize the creation of the CBS radio news division under Edward R. Murrow, interwoven with an exploration of the news habits of today's public.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Ashland, OR
$50,000
To support the development and world premiere production of American Night, a new piece by the theater ensemble Culture Clash to be directed by Jo Bonney. The project will be the first production in the company's American Revolutions: the United States History Cycle, a decade-long public dialogue, commissioning, and production initiative.

Dallas Theater Center
Dallas, TX
$35,000
To support a revival of It's a Bird. . . It's a Plane. . . It's Superman with music and lyrics by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. Using original songs from the 1966 Broadway musical, the production will be re-envisioned with a new book by playwright and comic book writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

Shotgun Players
Berkeley, CA
$10,000
To support the development of Beardo, a new play by Jason Craig based on the life of Rasputin (1869-1916). Music will be composed by Dave Malloy.

Talking back at the theatre

Okay, just my 2 cents on a theatre-related story this week.

The Broadway revival of Oleanna is closing Jan. 3. According to Michael Riedel's column in The New York Post, there was a bit of a dustup between playwright David Mamet and the producers about the post-performance talkbacks. Mamet did not like them but they were popular with audiences.

I don't agree with Mamet's point of view but I understand it. Apparently he believes that the play should stand on its own and not be picked apart by experts. I know some film directors feel the same way. As much as I would enjoy them, Woody Allen doesn't do dvd commentaries on his movies.

Personally, I like talkbacks. If I'd seen Oleanna, I would have stayed for it. (And I like dvd commentaries, too.) I almost always go to the theatre alone, so it's an opportunity to discuss the play with other people who've just seen it that I wouldn't have otherwise.

They can be a great opportunity to spur discussion, help you think about what you saw on stage in a way that maybe you hadn't considered, or raise issues you hadn't thought about. I think playwrights should view them as a way to keep the conversation going. And isn't that the point?

I know Trinity Repertory Company in Providence offers them after every performance of every show. I don't always have time to attend but on the occasions I have, like for the staged reading of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, I've definitely gotten something out of the experience.

I realize talkbacks probably work better with shorter shows or maybe after matinees, when people have more time to stay. The 39 Steps has a talkback series on Tuesdays with, among others, comedians, Hitchcock scholars and mystery writers.

It's all about choice. If you don't want to stay, don't. I haven't had a chance to attend a Broadway talkback yet but if the opportunity arises, you know I'll take it. Of course when I go to New York, I'm on vacation so I could sit there all night!

Practicing the fine art of giving

Here are two nice stories about philanthropy and the arts:

Mona Webster of Edinburgh, Scotland, who died in August at age 96, left New York City's Metropolitan Opera a bequest of $7.5 million. (The New York Times article notes that 40 percent will go to taxes but it's still a sizable chunk of change.)

Webster recalled listening to the Met's weekly radio broadcasts as far back as 1939. They're aired in the afternoon but because of the time difference she heard them in the evening.

"Saturday nights were sacred,'' said Gail Chesler, director of planned and special gifts.

Those broadcasts, now sponsored by homebuilder Toll Brothers, are still being heard across the United States and around the world. They reach 11 million people in 42 countries, making them one of this country's best cultural exports. The 79th season begins Dec. 12, with Puccini's Il Trittico.

In Massachusetts, a story from the Boston Globe finds that more gay couples are choosing to be recognized as couples when they donate to arts organizations.

Stephen Weiner and Donald Cornuet, who married last March on their 20th anniversary together, began to donate as a couple after joining the Opera Boston board in 2004. This year, they co-chaired the company's annual gala.

“The issue for us has been, when you look at the program books, it’s Sally X and John Y, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be the two of us,’’ said Weiner.

And named gifts, the article notes, are gold because they encourage others to emulate them.

Dan Salera and his longtime partner, Michael McCay, recently gave $50,000 to the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown and sponsored the just-ended production of Speed-the-Plow.

“There is a sense of recognition and I would say some pride when, as a gay man, you’re sitting there before the curtain goes up and you’re flipping through the program and looking at the list of donors and you see a same-sex couple,’’ said Salera.

“Others who see those names might be more inclined to give as a couple when the time comes.’’

Playwright Steven Dietz, for beginners

When Trinity Repertory Company announced its 2009-2010 season and I saw that a play by Steven Dietz was included my first reaction was, "Who?"

And that surprised me, because even though I haven't been a regular theatergoer for that long, I like to think that I recognize the names of most well-known playwrights.

Previews begin tonight at Trinity Rep for his romantic comedy Shooting Star. It features Kurt Rhoads and Nance Williamson, a real-life married couple, portraying two former lovers who meet unexpectedly in a snowbound airport. The play runs through Nov. 22.

And despite my ignorance, Dietz is a prolific playwright. Shooting Star, from 2008, is his 31st play to be produced. This article calls him "arguably one of the most widely produced living playwrights in the country" and notes that his "well-made plays - tight and polished" are suited to regional theatre.

He's been able to earn a living doing something he loves, no small feat for a playwright:

"I've never written a hit play. I've never written a masterpiece. And when colleagues of mine had those moments, oh, man am I envious," he says with a chortle and a wide smile. "But the flip side of all that is that I have a career (as a playwright). The art form and the deadline business of the art form has let me - or forced me - to write a lot of plays."

Among his most produced plays are Lonely Planet, about the AIDS epidemic, and God's Country, about the role of a white supremacist group in the murder of Denver talk-show host Alan Berg. He's also written plays about Sherlock Holmes (Love to see that one!) and Dracula (No thanks!)

Dietz, 51, grew up in Denver and graduated from the University of Northern Colorado. He moved to Minneapolis after college, where he honed his craft at the Playwrights' Center. From 1991 to 2006 he was based in Seattle, and now divides his time between there and Austin, Texas, where he teaches at the University of Texas.

In 2004, he talked to Playbill about the virtues of not being a New York-based writer:

"As much as I wanted my early plays to have a big New York success, the very fact that they didn't — or more importantly, didn't go to New York and get hammered — meant that I got to write my next play, and my next play. So I feel like I've had this 20-year apprenticeship. I've gotten to learn my craft."

Dietz is also familiar to readers of American Theatre magazine, which published his Audience Manifesto. It says, in part:

"Tell your theatre that you're ready for anything, and that you plan to let them know exactly what you think of it, good or bad. Getting your money's worth is not good enough. Get your heart and mind's worth. As artists and audiences, together we share the theatre. Together we share this grand, eloquent, messy, unpredictable experiment. Let's revel in that."

I especially like that line about getting your money's worth isn't enough. He's right, it's about getting your heart's and mind's worth. It's about something that makes you think or moves you. Hopefully, it does both.

Teaching theatre etiquette

With school starting up that means, hopefully, all students everywhere will take a class trip to see a play during the year (if the money hasn't been chopped from the budget).

I found this guide for teachers on the Trinity Repertory Company Web site. It seems like a good way to start a discussion on proper behavior and what makes going to the theatre unique. (And some adults could use this lesson, too.)

TEACHERS:

• Speaking to your students about theatre etiquette is ESSENTIAL. Students should be aware this is a LIVE performance and that they should not talk during the show.

• If you do nothing else to prepare your students to see the play, please take some time to talk to them about theatre etiquette in an effort to help the students better appreciate their experience. It will enhance their enjoyment of the show and allow other audience members to enjoy the experience.

ETIQUETTE:

• What is the role of the audience in a live performance? How does it differ from attending a movie?

• Why can’t you chew gum or eat at a live theater performance? Why can’t you talk?

• What can happen in live theatre that cannot happen in cinema?

• Reiterate that students may not chew gum, eat, or talk during the performance. Please make sure all cell phones and pagers are turned off. Recording devices and cameras are strictly prohibited.

• If there is a disturbance, the parties involved will be asked to leave and the class will not be invited back to the theatre. Students will not be able to leave the theatre during intermission unless accompanied by an adult.

Guides to Boston theatre and beyond

The weather's turned a little cooler this week and the college kids are moving back. Soon the leaves will change and it'll be time for another fall theatre season in New England.

So thanks to Joel Brown at Hub Arts for tipping me off to some great sources for news about what's coming up and Art Hennessey of Mirror Up to Nature for compiling a list of this fall's "should see" plays and musicals.

First, there's ArtsBoston, which offers reduced-price tickets and bills itself as a "one-stop shop" for arts and entertainment.

The revamped Web site is a little busy looking but it's pretty comprehensive. And the season preview, which you can download at Hub Arts, includes a blurb from my fellow blogger Chris Caggiano, of Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals. (It's on Page 6.)

A new resource is Explore Boston Theatre, the brainchild of Nicholas Peterson, who has extensive experience in using the Internet to promote the arts and nonprofit organizations.

The mission of the Web site is to connect audiences with excellent theatre productions throughout New England, although it does seem a little Boston-centric right now. Hopefully that'll change as it gets off the ground.

And Peterson has inaugurated Explore Boston Theatre with a nice feature. He's asked artistic directors from throughout the region to consider this question:

The past year has brought changes to the national economy which affect the financial health of theatres. We need theatre now more than ever. It promotes the public dialogue about what matters to all of us. Why?

The first reply comes from Kate Snodgrass, artistic director of Boston Playwrights Theatre, who writes about the importance of new plays. Here's part of what she said:

"New work asks the questions we're afraid to ask, and it does it with respect and in-your-face compassion. New works make us laugh in the face of hopelessness, instruct in the face of ignorance, and call attention to our lives just in the nick of time."

Yes Rocco, there is theatre in Peoria

This morning I got a very nice comment from Kathy Chitwood, executive director of the Eastlight Theatre in Peoria, Ill. (Okay, to be honest, it's more like a statement than a comment and I don't think I'm the only one who received it. But I do appreciate being included!)

Anyway, after reading a New York Times interview with Rocco Landesman, in which the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts questioned whether there was theatre in Peoria and if so, whether it was any good, she graciously invited him to visit:

"In response to Mr. Landesman’s NY Times interview, Suzette Boulais, executive director of ArtsPartners, and I extended invitations to the new NEA chairman to visit Peoria to attend a production at Eastlight Theatre (one of Peoria's theatres).

He immediately responded by e-mail his gratitude for the invitation and that he will come. Tuesday afternoon on his first day in office, I received a call from Mr. Landesman confirming that he is excited about visiting our community to experience our arts scene.

Our goal is for Peoria to represent all of the smaller communities in the nation that are doing worthy and worthwhile work in the arts.

In homage to the ‘The Beer Summit’, we are lovingly calling this visit, ‘The Lemonade Stand’…not because that is what we drink, but because that is what we do in Peoria – we take lemons and turn them into lemonade."

I agree with Ms. Chitwood - communities of every size across the country are doing worthwhile work in the arts. And wouldn't it be great if The Lemonade Stand attracted as much attention as The Beer Summit?

By the way, if you're in the area, you've got two more chances - tonight and tomorrow night - to check out Eastlight's production of Rent. Here's what the Peoria Journal Star had to say: "Rent is a challenging and perceptive musical, and Eastlight's production a breath of much-needed fresh air."

When in Rome ... go to Curtains

The musical Curtains is being presented next week in upstate New York as part of Rome Capitol Theatre's SummerStage series. I've been eagerly following its progress through updates from my Twitter pal Chris Van Patten.

I used to live in Syracuse, only a short drive away on the New York State Thruway. And Curtains, with the talented and gracious Tony-winner David Hyde Pierce, was the first musical I ever saw on Broadway. It's funny and hugely entertaining and I still love listening to the cast recording.

Set in Boston in 1959 during the tryout of a Broadway musical, it has a backstage murder mystery plot, big production numbers and a memorable cast of characters, including a theatre-loving homicide detective who tries to catch the killer.

I've been hoping for a national tour of Curtains, with a stop in Boston, naturally, ever since the Kander and Ebb tuner closed on Broadway last year. Supposedly one is in the works beginning next March but that's an odd time to start a tour, so who knows!

Still, I'm happy to see that a show I enjoyed so much is finding a new life in regional and community theatre.

Plus, there's something so fitting about a community theatre putting on Curtains. Lt. Frank Cioffi, the detective who tries to solve the murder at the center of the story, lives to tread the boards himself every spring:

"Each year from May twenty-third to the twelfth of June when I turn my life over to the Swallow Street Players, that's more than a vacation for me. That's an overture of hope, it's the curtain rising on the greatest joy of my life."

While I don't miss the winters in Central New York, I am sorry I'll be missing this show. But if you live in the area, definitely go see it. Here's a great video that Chris has put together:



The Rome Capitol Theatre's production of Curtains will be presented Aug. 13-15 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $16 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $14 for Capitol Theatre members and $12 for students. They're available by phone at (315) 337-6453 or at the door.

Women and playwrighting

So, I know I'm a bit late with this but I wanted to say something about the study by a Princeton University student on why female playwrights find it so difficult to get their work produced.

The study's author, Emily Glassberg Sands, found some validity to the argument that there simply are more male playwrights and they tend to be more prolific. She also says that female artistic directors and literary managers tend to be harder on female playwrights, which I guess feeds into the stereotype that we're always tougher on "our own."

Sands examined the 329 plays and musicals produced on Broadway over the past 10 years. She found that shows written by women have sold more tickets and tend to be more profitable overall. But they weren't kept running any longer than less-profitable plays written by men.

Here's an article from Salon discussing the report. One of the comments makes an interesting point that playwrights have to sell themselves and culturally, women have been discouraged from pushing themselves agressively. Blogger Monica Reida, at Fragments, offers some thoughts as a reader and writer of plays.

Over the past 2 1/2 years of theatergoing I've seen about 40 plays, only a handful of which have been written by women.

Three of those I saw at Trinity Repertory Company: Kathleen Tolan's Memory House, Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House and Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. (During that time, Trinity Rep has produced other plays by women that I didn't see.) In New York, I've seen Liz Flahive's From Up Here off-Broadway and Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage on Broadway.

(And one of my favorite musicals, Wicked, was written by a woman, Winnie Holzman, who also wrote the short-lived tv series My So-Called Life. Yeah, I know Wicked is based on a novel by Gregory Maguire. But there's way more Holzman than Maguire.)

I think part of the issue is that so few new plays of any kind get produced. Regional theatre companies tend to rely on the classics, on plays that have been theatre staples for the past hundred years or so, and we're talking about works written almost exclusively by men.

Since historically women have been the primary caregivers, we may simply have focused our literary ambitions elsewhere - toward novels, memoirs, poetry, short stories, which are far less of a collaborative enterprise.

Of course I'd like to see more plays by women, just as I'd like to see more plays by writers who have diverse backgrounds and life experiences, who deal with diverse subjects. I mean, I wouldn't want to see 80 plays about people exactly like me. That would get pretty tiresome.

And we should definitely do everything we can to encourage writers - male and female - to write for the theatre. I was glad to read earlier this year about Fidelity's FutureStage program, which gives students in New York City an introduction to acting, playwrighting and directing.

But I have to tell you, the one play that illuminates the lives of women like no other work I've seen was written by a man - Tracy Letts' August: Osage County, which ends its Broadway run tomorrow.

Small theatres, big expenses

Last September I saw Follies at the Lyric Stage in Boston and enjoyed it very much. I don't remember how much my Follies ticket was - probably under $50. Unfortunately, I was only able to go to one show there but I would like to have seen more.

So of course I'm now on the Lyric's mailing list and I got this e-mail a few days ago letting me know about the upcoming season and asking for a donation:

How Your Gift Helps Support The Lyric Stage Company of Boston:

$15,000 The set for a major musical like Follies.
$6,000 Custom-made quick-change costumes for a comedy like The Mystery of Irma Vep.
$2,500 Specially-made Oval Office rug for the comedy November.
$1,100 One student's tuition for Lyric First Stage, summer theatre program for teens.
$600 Special effect lightning for The Mystery of Irma Vep.
$250 One stage lighting instrument.
$150 Two students' participation in Lyric First Curtain, theatre access for students.
$100 One pair of dance shoes for Follies.

I'm not sure if some of those figures, like the $15,000 for a set, include labor or if that's just for materials. But I'd never really thought before about how much a smallish theatre company like Lyric spends on things like sets and costumes.

So the e-mail was definitely a bit of an eye-opener for me and hopefully I'll be able to support them again with a visit.

The Shakespeare slot

The Playgoer, always on the lookout for interesting stories from across the country, found one in the Denver Post, where John Moore wrote about the Denver Center Theatre Company's practice of scheduling plays by "slots" i.e., the black play, the woman's play, the Latino play.

Moore argues that it can end up seeming condescending to the very audience the theatre is trying to attract. (Okay, we've given you your "black" play during Black History Month, now we can forget about you for the rest of the season.)

But he admits that the alternative hasn't worked out very well. For years, the Denver Center Theatre had pretty much ignored the city's large Hispanic population and Latino theatergoers felt the doors were closed to them.

"I do think of it as a slot in our season but I think that's a positive,'' says artistic director Kent Thompson. And Moore notes that many of the works from Latino playwrights are commissioned by the theatre, which is great.

Honestly, those slots don't bother me, as long as they're worthwhile plays. I like seeing diversity built into the schedules of regional theatres. We should have more plays by blacks, women and Latinos. And I've written before that as an audience member, I want a balanced season - between new works and classics, comedies and tragedies.

However, when I first read this story I was thinking, there is one slot I could do without. I know this is blasphemy, but it's the Shakespeare slot. My eyes glaze over when I see Shakespeare on an upcoming schedule.

It's not out of a lack of interest - he covered some pretty universal themes, after all. Over the past few years I've seen Hamlet, Richard III and Macbeth. They're usually nice to look at - interesting scenic design and special effects and menacing villains.

But it's been a long time since high school and I just don't find the language very accessible. It's often difficult to figure out who's who and what's going on without some preshow preparation. I don't mind being challenged when I go to the theatre. But I don't feel I'm getting as much out of Shakespeare as I should.

Last fall, I wrote about Seattle theatre critic Brendan Kiley's list of 10 things regional theatre companies must do to save themselves. Kiley, who writes for Seattle's alternative weekly, Stranger, put this at the top of his list: "Enough with the ********* Shakespeare already."

In fact, he called for a five-year, nationwide moratorium on all productions of Shakespeare, arguing that the Bard has become a crutch theatre companies use when they're timid and have run out of ideas.

Okay, maybe that's a little harsh. I understand that some theatres are pretty much obligated to do Shakespeare. Trinity Repertory Company, as part of its Project Discovery educational series that brings schoolchildren to the theatre, alternates Shakespeare and classic American works.

And there's probably a part of the adult audience that wants to see the Bard, too. Next season, Trinity Rep is doing Twelfth Night. I might go. I'll just make sure I do some homework beforehand.

How a theatre season comes together

All right, my third post about Trinity Repertory Company's upcoming season. That's some kind of record. But I think this is interesting to theatergoers everywhere.

After reading about Trinity Rep's 2009-2010 lineup of plays (and one musical) I wondered how a company goes about deciding what to put on. Well, my question has been answered. The task falls to artistic director Curt Columbus and associate artistic director Craig Watson. Next year's theme is second chances. Here's some of what they had to say:

Twelfth Night
(This is Trinity Rep's annual selection for its education program, Project Discovery Plus, which alternates Shakespeare with classic American plays.)

Curt: "Thousands of students will see it and host our actors in their classroom workshops. I love what it has to say about second chances! The play fits our company extraordinarily well."

Craig: "It's Shakespeare's best comedy, the one I enjoy the most."

Dead Man's Cell Phone
Curt: "Our audiences loved The Clean House, and Sarah [Ruhl] is a Brown alumna and friend. It’s a great complement to Twelfth Night."

Craig: "Sarah’s work has such lyricism, which rhymes well with Shakespeare."

Cabaret
Craig: "It’s a musical that we can do well with our resident company and students. The second chances theme is strong in Cabaret, but in a very different sense."

Curt: "It’s all about the world in motion, and how we make our way in that world with courage."

Shooting Star
Craig: "Shooting Star is one of those plays which was chosen through serendipity. I was reading plays in the days before Christmas, and I read this new two-hander by Steven Dietz and rather liked it, I saw the possibilities."

Curt: "It’s a warmhearted, generous romantic comedy, with very human details.''

The Odd Couple
Curt: "It's just so good. You know, there were lots of raised eyebrows when we announced Our Town three years ago. People said “Oh, I’ve seen that before, in high school.” Maybe The Odd Couple gets even less respect because it’s a comedy."

Craig: "It’s a very thoughtful and well written play. It stands as an American classic, and we’re proud to do it. Particularly because it was NOT an obvious choice for us! It says something that a lot of people may not expect, having experienced only the TV show, several generations removed from the original story."

The Syringa Tree
Craig: "This piece was written by and has been largely performed by Pamela Gien, about her experience growing up under apartheid in South Africa, leaving, and returning to South Africa after liberation. It’s especially attractive to me because I spent a couple of years working in South Africa right after liberation in the mid-1990s. As a nation, it’s a model for change and second chances, and third and fourth chances, which tends to be overlooked on our continent. Aside from all that, it’s just a beautiful piece of writing."

Curt: "It’s a lovely complement to The Odd Couple, strangely enough. The Odd Couple is a really well-made play. The Syringa Tree is almost a poem, sometimes, monologue or choral piece. It resides in the imagination, whereas The Odd Couple provides all the mechanics, if you will, for the thing itself. It’s a terrific balance, a great way to end the season, as Craig says. A beautiful complement to Cabaret, because it speaks about a second chance, when a second chance seemed impossible."

13 gets a makeover

I really enjoyed the musical 13 when I saw it on Broadway in November. Sure, it was kind of gimmicky, with its all teenage cast and musicians.

But I thought it was a sweet story told with a lot of humor and poignancy about Evan Goldman, a Jewish teenager who moves from New York City to small-town Indiana on the eve of his bar mitzvah and struggles to fit in.

It's too bad the show couldn't have opened in the spring because I think it could have attracted tourists with teenagers visiting New York City this summer. Instead, it opened in the fall to lukewarm reviews and closed in January.

Anyway, now 13 will make its regional deubt at Theatre Under the Stars in Houston in September. According to Playbill, composer Jason Robert Brown and librettists Dan Elish and Robert Horn will test out a revised version at the French Woods Performing Arts Camp in Hancock, New York.

This is what puzzles me. Brown told Playbill that he and his collaborators "loved the show we put on Broadway, but felt that 13's future life would be well served by taking one more shot at certain sections of the piece, particularly those sections that might not make as much sense to an audience outside of New York City."

What is he talking about exactly? The only thing I could think of is, maybe they're toning down some of the Jewish references, the gentle pokes at the Gentiles and small-town America? I don't know.

I hope they're keeping the culture clash. To me, what really resonated was Evan's sense of feeling out of place and desperately wanting to fit in. We've all felt like a gefilte fish out of water at some point in our lives, haven't we?

I'm a fan of Brown's music and I hope that 13 has an afterlife in schools and regional theatres. But it would be interesting to know what wouldn't make sense to an audience outside New York City!

Theatre in a time of recession

A couple weeks ago, Isaac Butler at Parabasis wrote about regional theatres and how their choices don't exactly inspire him. The example he picked was Trinity Repertory Company's 2009-2010 season, which struck a nerve with me, since I'd just written about it.

And Trinity Rep's choice of The Odd Couple seemed to disappoint him the most.

"There is perhaps no safer play to do than The Odd Couple. It's so safe - having been immortalized in a pretty good movie, and having no angles into the material other than the obvious one - that there's actually no reason to produce it (unless you want to use it as a star vehicle, as the recent Broadway version did, a dubious reason to do a play if you ask me)."

Now, Butler sympathizes with artistic directors, he understands the challenges they face and he's not trying to single out Trinity Rep. I think he just wishes that theatres could be more adventurous instead of turning to what he calls "the rock solids." It's a well-thought-out piece and it engendered some discussion, including from me.

I guess I'm more excited about Trinity Rep's season than Butler or any of the other people who left comments. While some of these plays may seem like old hat, they're new to me, and probably to most of the audience. One thing I think we have to keep in mind is, a lot of theatergoing is local. People go to the theatre where they live.

To me, it's all about striking a balance. Sure, The Odd Couple is a known quantity, just like Cabaret, which opens the season in the fall. But I've never seen either of them on stage and I'll admit I'm looking forward to both of them. Other plays, by Steven Dietz, Sarah Ruhl and Pam Gien, will be new to me - and probably to most of my fellow theatergoers.

I don't think there's anything wrong with including plays or musicals that you think will fill seats, especially in difficult economic times. I've seen shows at Trinity Rep, like Our Town a few years ago, that I guess you could place in the not-very-daring category. But it was my first time seeing this classic American play and I thought it was very compelling.

And it's not like the theatre hasn't tackled difficult topics or hasn't tried to be relevant. In 2006, Trinity Rep commissioned a play called Boots on the Ground, which used oral histories to tell the story of the impact of the Iraq war on Rhode Island.

In announcing the upcoming season, artistic director Curt Columbus said, “We wanted a season that people would have fun with – giving us all a second chance, a second wind, with music and laughter."

You know, I have to agree. Not everything has to have a message, not everything has to be edgy. Sometimes it's okay to simply sit back and be entertained.

Hopefully, there'll be occasions over the next season when I'll be at the theatre and feel choked up or moved in some way. But by spring 2010, I may really just need to laugh. And Felix and Oscar may be just the ticket.

Big Theatre flexes its muscle

Okay, maybe "Big Theatre" is an exaggeration and maybe I just don't know how things work in the world of licensing agreements. But both of these stories seem so unfair:

ACT I

Dario Fo is a Nobel Prize-winning Italian playwright. Last week, his representatives withdrew permission for a Live Arts, a small theatre in Charlottesville, Virginia, to mount a production of his play Accidental Death of an Anarchist.

The reason they gave was a pending Broadway engagement, although there's been no official announcement.

Accidental Death of an Anarchist did have a run on Broadway, a 1984 production that included Jonathan Pryce, Bill Irwin and Patti LuPone. It closed after 20 performances.

“This is a heartbreaking development for us,” said Live Arts Artistic and Executive Director John Gibson. The play was scheduled to run April 3-25. Live Arts is searching for alternative programming but the theatre does not have a full production to replace it.

Act II

Thunder & Lightning Ensemble, a small theatre company in Chicago, got permission to put on Bob Glaudini's comedy Jack Goes Boating. Unfortunately, the contract with the Samuel French Agency contained a stipulation prohibiting the theatre from inviting the press to review it.

Kris Vire, from Time Out Chicago and the Storefront Rebellion blog, contacted the French Agency. "A rep explained that they agreed to allow a production on the no-reviews condition in hopes of securing a larger production later."

As a result, Vire says, the 35-seat theatre "is stuck with a production it can’t promote through traditional means, and no press clippings they can use when applying for grants."

Although, as some of the comments noted, the contract is between the French Agency and the theatre. There's nothing to prevent Vire, or anyone else, from buying a ticket and writing a review. Jack Goes Boating runs through April 4.

Trinity Rep's new season: second chances

I love this time of year, when regional theatres announce their shows for the upcoming season. I can only imagine how difficult it must be in this economy to put together a mix of crowd-pleasers and new works that you hope will draw an audience.

Trinity Repertory Company unveiled it's 2009-2010 lineup this week. The theme for the season, according to artistic director Curt Columbus and associate director Craig Watson, is second chances.

Here's what they have to say:

“Starting over and taking up the challenge is something we’re all facing, regardless of ideology,” Watson says. “We wanted a season that people would have fun with – giving us all a second chance, a second wind, with music and laughter,” adds Columbus.

Trinity Rep doesn't usually tackle a lot of musicals, so I'm really looking forward to Kander and Ebb's classic Cabaret. And The Odd Couple, wow. I've seen so many of the movies made from Neil Simon's plays but I've never had a chance to see one on stage. In fact, I only know either of those shows from their film and television incarnations.

I saw Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. She has a good ear for witty dialog and creates some great, quirky characters. I'm hoping Dead Man's Cell Phone will be another insightful look at modern life.

I have to admit that I've never heard of Shooting Star or its playwright, Steven Deitz. But I do love romantic comedies. Likewise, I'm not familiar with Pamela Gien, but the Syringa Tree sounds like a very moving personal story.

As for Twelfth Night, well, after seeing a few of Shakespeare's tragedies in a row, it'll be nice change of pace.

Here's the lineup: (And of course, A Christmas Carol is returning, from Nov. 20 to Dec. 27.)

Cabaret book by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb
September 11 – October 11 in the Chace Theater
Berlin, 1931: music, money, and love are there for the taking. Cliff seeks inspiration for his novel. He finds it in Sally Bowles, the Kit Kat Klub’s chanteuse, who charms him into sharing his apartment. The emcee has not one but two ladies to keep him company. The landlady’s found new love with the grocer. Yet outside the cabaret the world is changing: what's in store for Sally and her friends? Cabaret celebrates the indomitable human spirit.

Shooting Star by Steven Dietz
October 16 – November 22 in the Dowling Theater
A young man and woman fell in love in college, and promised each other they’d change the world. Twenty years later, they meet unexpectedly in a snow-bound airport. Sharing stories deep into the night, they discover who they’ve become as they recall who they were. When morning comes, all flights are cleared for departure – what’s the final destination for these two? The author of God’s Country and Lonely Planet gives us that rare thing: a truly smart romantic comedy.

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
January 29 – March 7 in the Chace Theater
Shipwrecked, orphaned, separated from her twin brother, disguised as a boy in a hostile country – when Viola thinks things can’t get worse, she falls for her new boss, the Duke. He pines for Olivia, who’s sworn off men – till she met Viola’s male alter-ego. Spurned suitors, servants with delusions of grandeur, and Viola’s big, big love for the Duke – it’s a giddy mess that’ll put someone in the madhouse. Shakespeare’s meditation on love and identity is one of his most nuanced – and funniest – comedies.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl
February 19 – March 28 in the Dowling Theater
Why doesn’t he answer that phone?! Jean picks it up, and finds herself holding his legacy in her hand, along with the phone. Think about it: when we leave our bodies, do we live on in our cell phones, iPods, GPS’s, and PDA’s? Do these indispensable tools, these grown-up toys, hold the secrets to the afterlife? From the author of The Clean House, another whimsical comedy about life, death, and love in these modern times – and the connections, real and virtual, holding them together.

The Odd Couple by Neil Simon
April 9 – May 9 in the Chace Theater
Oscar’s wife has left him. Alone in his big apartment on Riverside Drive, his slovenly ways run happily amok. Then, Felix’s wife kicks him out. Concerned about his poker buddy, Oscar takes Felix in, but there’s a problem: Felix is a neat-freak, and his compulsive cleanliness drives Oscar to distraction. What will these woefully, wonderfully mismatched roommates learn from each other? Can they stay together, or is their living situation hopeless? Hilarity ensues in Neil Simon’s beloved touchstone of American comedy.

The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gien
April 30 – May 30 in the Dowling Theater
Growing up under Apartheid, six-year-old Lizzie confronts rules she cannot understand. Why must her nanny keep her daughter hidden? Among twenty-eight characters capturing four generations, she paints an evocative portrait of the abiding love between two families – one black, one white. History’s shocking events unravel, mingled with the resonant rites of passage all families share. As Lizzie comes of age, we experience her sacrifice and liberation, and the bonds which cannot be broken.

Boston theatre gets a lift

I found a couple of interesting stories in The Boston Globe this week about how the recession is - or isn't - affecting theatre.

First, there's an article by Rich Fahey about the steps community theatre companies in Massachusetts are taking to survive. While they're mostly run by volunteers, they still have bills to pay.

Rent, utilities, maintenance, costumes, sets and rights fees to put on shows are some of the expenses. So they're reusing costumes, trying to get innovative with fundraisers, doing their own repairs if they own their building and adjusting what they offer to the public.

The story says that these troupes are going for what's cheap and familiar - Neil Simon comedies, Agatha Christie mysteries. Productions that don't require lots of scenery, like Thorton Wilder's Our Town, or big casts, like A.B. Gurney's Love Letters, are in. Elaborate musicals or weighty dramas are out. (Although Our Town is hardly escapist.)

"Many of our theaters have changed the way they work," said Robert Hallissey, president of the Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres. "They're less likely to take a chance on less well-known shows, and concentrate instead on plays guaranteed to bring in an audience."

Well I think there's room for both escapist fare and weighty drama. Sometimes, when things are rough, you want entertainment that speaks to the anxieties in your life. At other times, you want to forget about those things and be transported someplace different for a couple of hours.

That brings me to my second noteworthy story. I've never even seen the 1987 movie, so I can't say why it's so popular. But apparently, Dirty Dancing has lots of fans and they'll be coming by the busload to see the musical version in Boston starting next week. (After reading Vance's review/warning at Tapeworthy, I think I'll steer clear of this one.)

Tickets for the musical, which range from $30 to $132.50, are selling quite well, according to an article by Meredith Goldstein. (Wow, $132.50 for a theatre ticket in Boston? That's unbelievable!) The show was slated to run at the Opera House from Feb. 7 to March 15 and has already been extended, to April 12, due to strong advance sales.

"This is doing by far much, much better than other shows," says Drew Murphy, president of Broadway Across America-Boston. He tells The Globe that 90 percent of seats at weekend performances in February and March have been sold. "It's bringing out a lot of your nontraditional theater audience, the people who normally wouldn't buy a theater ticket."

Shouting "Stella!" in a crowded theatre

Thanks to Chicago-based blogger Kris Vire of Storefront Rebellion for pointing me to this story from The Stranger, Seattle's alternative weekly. Writer Brendan Kiley has compiled a list of 10 things that regional theatre companies need to do right now to save themselves. (Robert Ullman did the illustration.)

You can read the details in the story but here's the list:

1.) Enough with the ********* Shakespeare already.
2.) Tell us something we don't know.
3.) Produce dirty, fast and often.
4.) Get them young.
5.) Offer child care.
6.) Fight for real estate.
7.) Build bars.
8.) Boors' night out.
9.) Expect poverty.
10.) Drop out of graduate school.

Okay, some of Kiley's suggestions may not be realistic, like Number 1, his call for a five-year, nationwide moratorium on all productions of Shakespeare. He says that Shakespeare has become a crutch that theatre companies use when they're timid and have run out of ideas. Kiley advises, "Stretch yourself. Live a little. Find new, good, weird plays nobody has heard of. Teach your audiences to want surprises, not pacifiers."

And some, like boors' night out, are kind of funny. Kiley says theatres should build audience participation into their productions, a la The Rocky Horror Picture Show. "For one performance of each show, invite the crowd to behave like an Elizabethan or vaudeville audience: Sell cheap tickets, serve popcorn, encourage people to boo, heckle, and shout out their favorite lines. ("Stella!")

But I really think that other items on his list have a lot of merit and definitely seem within the realm of possibility. Number 5, for example, is a great idea. Why don't theatres offer child care? A lot of theatre companies already have summer programs for kids, so it's not that much of a stretch.

Kiley says, let parents drop their kids off in a rehearsal room with some young actors who could entertain them for a couple of hours with some theatre-related activities. It'll encourage more people to subscribe, help fulfill the theatre's education mission and teach children to go to the theatre regularly. "They'll look forward to the day they graduate to sitting with the grown-ups."

And although Number 7, build bars, sounds a bit glib, Kiley actually has a good point. He says that theatres should "encourage patrons to come early drink lots and stay late." Trying to build a community with post-play talkbacks and lectures is going about things the wrong way. "You want community? Give people a place to sit, something to talk about (the play they just saw), and a bottle."

One of the things that amazed me about my visit to the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis in September is the extent to which the theatre is a destination. You can take a tour, take a class, eat in one of its restaurants, relax in the lounge and enjoy the view of the Mississippi River in addition to seeing a show.

Sure, not every theatre has the room for a full-service restaurant, the advantage of a breathtaking view or the staff to offer courses. But certainly most theatres could offer a backstage tour. And what about putting in a bar with some comfy chairs to entice patrons to come early or linger after the show?

Kiley's article has generated quite a bit of comment on The Stranger's Web site. Some readers took issue with his more snide remarks, like the suggestion to drop out of graduate school because theatre departments are staffed by "has-beens and never-weres." But I have to give him credit for being thought-provoking and starting a discussion.