Amtrak's questionable Wi-Fi filter

I was on Amtrak's high-speed Acela Express this afternoon, returning home from a wonderful weekend in New York City.

AT&T's 3G wireless can be a little spotty on the train so I took advantage of the free Wi-Fi to check my Twitter feed.

I clicked on a link to a critic's notebook by Charles McNulty, who writes about theatre for the Los Angeles Times. He reviewed Gatz and Angels in America, both off-Broadway.

This is the message I got:

"The page you tried to visit cannot be accessed because it contains content belonging to the category of: Adult. AmtrakConnect blocks access to selected sites that are known to utilize high bandwith or that may contain content that could be considered questionable by some of our passengers."

I was pretty shocked. What "adult" content could there possibly be in a theatre review from the very mainstream Los Angeles Times?

When I got home, I read the reviews and I could not find anything objectionable, not one word or photograph that could be considered "questionable" by anyone. Certainly nothing that would have gotten the page tagged as "adult."

The only thing I can think of is, the Angels in America review mentions AIDS. Maybe that was the trigger for Amtrak's filter? If so, that would be very sad. Or maybe it was McNulty's use of the phrase "hot-blooded" in the Gatz review?

I simply don't know.

Now, I realize that Internet filters are imperfect. Maybe this was just a glitch. Or maybe I'm missing something here. I've sent an e-mail to Amtrak and I'll post an update when I get a reply.

Update: I got reply from Amtrak apologizing and explaining that there was a glitch in the automatic content filter. Typically, they have no issues with links on the Los Angeles Times. I still don't know what, if anything, specifically triggered the "adult content" block. It would have been interesting to find out.

Why should I wait until opening night?

Wow, some people just don't get it, do they?

British theatre producer Michael Codron, who received an Olivier Award for lifetime achievement earlier this month, has some harsh words for theatre bloggers.

Here's what the 79-year-old Codron told Mark Lawson in The Guardian:

His single flash of anger is aimed at the bloggers who, in defiance of theatrical convention that comment is embargoed until press night, review a play during its previews. "It's almost invariably reactionary responses. They're the modern equivalent of the lot that used to boo the plays in the 50s and 60s. I think they're ghastly."

When I started my blog, if I saw a preview I wouldn't wait, I'd post my review immediately. Now, I do tend to wait for opening night simply because it's more fun that way! If I saw a preview performance, I always mention that.

But since I pay for my tickets I'm under no obligation to anyone, especially the producers, to hold off on stating my opinion. And, I might add, I've paid full price for shows in preview.

The blog isn't my job, it's a hobby. It's simply an extension of a conversation I might have in everyday life. It's a way for me to jot down my thoughts, to vent occasionally, to write about something I enjoy.

To say that I shouldn't post a review until opening night is as silly as saying I shouldn't talk about the show with friends or coworkers or post something on Twitter. I should just enter the cone of silence and not utter a word to anyone.

Theatre fans are a pretty passionate bunch - hate it or love it, we want to talk about what we've seen. Why would you want to stifle that dialogue? Besides, the bloggers whose reviews I read regularly are extremely thoughtful and knowledgeable - hardly "reactionary."

Of course if someone accepts a free ticket from a producer with the understanding that they'll wait until opening night, well that's a different story. It's just not mine.

Kids' night isn't just on Broadway

Just a reminder to all of the theatre-loving adults out there that while it's called Kids' Night on Broadway, the annual program isn't limited to New York City.

In cities all across these United States young people ages 6 to 18 can get a free or reduced price ticket on certain dates when accompanied by an adult. (In Boston, the show is The Lion King on Feb. 16. In Providence, kids' night is the March 18 performance of 101 Dalmations at the Providence Performing Arts Center.)

Here's a partial list of theatres but I know it doesn't include every venue. It should be easy enough to call or e-mail the theatre in your area and ask if they're participating. (If they're not, ask them why not. Don't be bashful!)

The Kids' Night on Broadway Web site also has lots of fun stuff for the budding theatre-lover in your life, including a souvenir Playbill they can download. And here's a great Hartford Courant article for parents on bringing children to the theatre.

This is a good opportunity to introduce a new generation to the thrill of live performance. So find a kid, and take them!

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.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

First, via the Wayback Machine, here are some of the plays and musicals that will celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2010.

The musicals that opened in 1960 include:

Bye Bye Birdie, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Irma La Douce and Camelot on Broadway; Oliver! in London's West End; and The Fantasticks off-Broadway.

I've never seen The Fantasticks, which is currently playing at the Snapple Theater Center in Times Square. So maybe this will be the year!

Among the plays that opened on Broadway in 1960 were:

A Taste of Honey, by Shelagh Delaney; Becket, by Jean Anouilh, Toys in the Attic, by Lillian Hellman, The Best Man, by Gore Vidal, and All the Way Home, by Tad Mosel, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Interestingly, there were two stage adaptations of noteworthy novels that opened on Broadway in 1960: John Hersey's The Wall and Allen Drury's Advise and Consent.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2010! I hope it's a year filled with great theatre. And as always, thank-you so much for stopping by.

Theatre 2009 - the ones that got away

I've now gone through most of the best of 2009 theatre lists for New York City. I thought Elisabeth Vincentelli from The New York Post had the most interesting comments, especially for Brief Encounter and Becky Shaw, two of the many shows that I wish I'd seen.

(Although I'll get a second chance in the spring with Becky Shaw at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston.)

Becky Shaw (Second Stage Theatre)

Gina Gionfriddo's cutting play opened at the beginning of January and nearly 12 months later, it remains the funniest of the year. It was also the first in a series of excellent comedies written by women -- definitely the trend of 2009. "Becky Shaw" was deservedly popular but like other hits by women, it didn't move to Broadway. Surprise surprise: Producers are willing to take chances on transferring Off shows by guys, like Neil LaBute's "Reasons to Be Pretty" and Geoffrey Naufft's "Next Fall" (reopening in the spring after a run at Playwrights Horizons).

Brief Encounter (St. Ann's Warehouse)

Director Emma Rice uses all the tools at her disposal to tell a lovely little story that draws from David Lean's 1946 movie and Noel Coward songs. The show's an import from Wales, which begs the questions: Why can't American directors come up with this type of mainstream production, which boasts smart, theatrically savvy, heartfelt but not sappy, and completely accessible storytelling?

Okay, Vincentelli brings up some excellent points.

I think Becky Shaw garnered pretty good reviews. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times included it among the year's best and in his review, called the play "a big box of fireworks fizzing and crackling across the stage from its first moments to its last." So, why didn't some producer take a chance on it?

And I also wonder why American directors can't come up with the kind of theatrically savvy productions that British theatre companies seem to do with ease. Part of the reason I loved Black Watch, from the National Theatre of Scotland, and the import The 39 Steps is because they're both so inventive, yet they're both very accessible.

Although I'd argue that Our Town, from Chicago's The Hypocrites and directed by David Cromer, is a great example of that kind of smart and heartfelt storytelling. (It also made Vincentelli's list of the year's best - and mine.)

I'm so glad I got to see Our Town at the Barrow Street Theatre in Greenwich Village, but I really regret not seeing Ruined or A Streetcar Named Desire or The Emperor Jones or The Orphans' Home Cycle or So Help Me God or The Starry Messenger or A Boy and His Soul or The Brother/Sister Plays.

Well, I could go on and on but you get the idea.

I guess I did pretty well for someone who doesn't live in New York and can't get there all that often. I really enjoyed almost everything I saw. Still, I feel like there were a few cases where I could have made better choices, picked things that would have been more satisfying.

Yes, it's exciting to see the shows that open on Broadway every year, and it's especially handy for filling out my imaginary Tony ballot. But this year especially, reading the best of 2009 theatre lists makes me realize how much I'm missing beyond the confines of Times Square.

Staying in my seat until the bitter end

Earlier this week, SteveOnBroadway posed an interesting question on Twitter about whether or not you've ever walked out of a show. And Chris picked up on it in Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals.

I answered in both of those forums - the answer is no - but I always have more to say!

The simple, easy answer is that I have never walked out of a play or musical or even a movie. Okay, I'll admit The Tempest, with Ian McKellen, is in my DVR, only partly watched. I'll get back to it someday, I promise. But that's the exception. It's even rare for me to not finish a book.

In answering Steve's and Chris' queries, I said that Broadway theatre tickets are so expensive - over $100 unless I can find a discount code, that there's no way I'd ever walk out out of a show until the bitter end.

Monetary considerations aside, I don't get to New York that often and it's still a thrill for me to see a play or musical on Broadway, even if it's one I don't like very much. I came to New York to see a show. If I left, what would I do? Where would I go? And there's always a chance things will improve in Act II.

But even when I'm at home and buying a $15 rush ticket at Trinity Repertory Company, I've still never been tempted. In the midst of all of my responsibilities in life, going to the theatre is a luxury, a chance to sit back and relax and immerse myself in someone else's world for a couple of hours.

As I've said before, I'm a pretty easy theatergoer to please. I can always find something I like in a show. And I've simply never seen anything - on Broadway or elsewhere - that's so bad it would make me want to gather up my belongings and leave. I always want to stay and find out how things end.

Sure, there are times when I've been bored. But unless something is so offensive that I simply can't bear to stay, or unless there's something on stage that's making me physically ill, I can't ever imagine walking out. I'm just happy to be there.

I'm shocked, shocked - well, not really

Boston Globe critic Louise Kennedy has an interesting article about whether theatre has lost its power to shock audiences.

Kennedy admits that "The more I hear that a play is full of startling revelations, daring honesty, fearless confrontations with hard truths, the more I dread what I'll be seeing onstage." (She's spoilerish about some of the plays she discusses, most notably David Harrower's Blackbird.)

So, what's the problem?

For one thing, Kennedy believes that theatre is trying too hard to compete with movies and television in terms of graphic imagery and turbo-charged plotting. But theatre is verbal, not visual.

"In moving away from the essence of drama - that is, the subtle and expert use of language and carefully developed action to illuminate human life - toward thrill-seeking and adrenaline jolts, playwrights give up their own most precious gifts."

I think Kennedy has a good point - that what sets theatre apart is the richness of the language. A lot of what I remember about plays or musicals are dialog or song lyrics that moved me.

Violence certainly still has the power to shock but that's because it's so visceral. There was one point in Black Watch, for example, when I really believed that someone's arm was going to be broken right in front of me, and I winced.

I guess it depends on how you define "shock." While I've seen plenty of surprises and unexpected plot twists, I'm not sure they rise to the level of "shocking." Still, I've had many emotional and compelling moments that have made me gasp or put a lump in my throat.

I don't think that's the fault of playwrights, though. We live in an age of information overload. What is left to shock us after we've seen almost every form of human frailty and depravity and interaction and family situation reported in real life?

But one of the comments on Kennedy's article did crack me up. Lou the Fig wrote, "What about Cats? I was shocked to learn that felines can talk, sing & dance."

Okay, maybe there's one thing left that can still shock us!

At 92, a new stage for Kirk Douglas

I must give props to 92-year-old Kirk Douglas, who's planning four performances of a new one-man show next month at the theatre in Los Angeles that bears his name. Before I Forget will feature the actor, author and philanthropist talking about his life and career.

Michael Ritchie, artistic director of the Center Theatre Group, which includes the Kirk Douglas Theatre, tells the Los Angeles Times Culture Monster blog that it was Douglas's idea. "It’s anecdotes, but there’s also a philosophical thread throughout. It's about being an artist and an actor. It’s his life, told through some of his characters."

Of course, Douglas is best known for movies such as Spartacus, Lust for Life and Paths of Glory but my favorite is a 1966 film set in Israel called Cast A Giant Shadow. I found it when I was channel-surfing late one night and the movie inspired me to make my first trip to Israel, in 1995. I ended up living there for a year, so Kirk Douglas has had quite an impact on my life.

Douglas suffered a stroke in 1996 that partially impaired his speech. The last movie I saw him in was It Runs in the Family in 2003 and it was clearly affecting him. I'm not sure how much stage work he's done since his last Broadway appearance, in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, in 1964. But I'm sure the audience will be very understanding and hanging on every word.

Maybe he'll even take the show on the road!

Talking about race

In a speech yesterday at the Justice Department to mark Black History Month, our new attorney general, Eric Holder, said that Americans - black and white - simply don't talk to each other enough about race.

While blacks and whites are integrated in many sectors, such as the workplace, we're still too segregated in our free time. "Saturdays and Sundays, America in the year 2009 does not in some ways differ significantly from the country that existed almost 50 years ago," Holder said. "This is truly sad."

He's right, it is sad. And that quote made me think about my experience at A Raisin in the Sun at Trinity Repertory Company on a Sunday afternoon earlier this month.

For most of the play's nearly three hours, we're watching African-American actors tell the story of a working-class black family in Chicago in the 1950s. The lone white actor in the cast is on stage for only two scenes.

I found the play so absorbing that when the lights came on at the end of Act I, it was a little startling to look around and see that the audience in the sold-out theatre was almost entirely white. Once I got to the lobby, I realized that the crowd was more diverse but not by much.

I'm not criticizing anyone. I'm sure Trinity Rep has a community outreach program. I know it offers matinees for school groups through Project Discovery that attract students of all races and backgrounds. And there have probably been other performances that drew a larger percentage of African-Americans.

And it's not that I think black people have an obligation to come support this show. We should all be interested in hearing each other's stories as well as our own.

Unfortunately, I think there's still a misconception that theatre is somehow special - it's not for everyone. In my two years of regular theatergoing I've noticed that audiences tend to skew white and older.

A Raisin in the Sun is so relevant and compelling 50 years after its debut on Broadway and this is a fine production. It's a play about the dreams and struggles of a family that should resonate with everyone. I had hoped it would bring black and white theatergoers together for a shared experience.

Theatre especially is perfect for that role because the actors are right there in front of you. If you're in a small venue, it's a much more intimate experience than watching a movie or sitting on the couch at home watching television. And Trinity Rep has talkbacks for the audience after every performance where a staff member leads a discussion about the show.

That shared experience, as the attorney general said, is one we all need.

I'm a stimulus package all by myself

Two of my favorite mainstream media blogs that cover theatre - Culture Monster at the Los Angeles Times and Theater Loop, by Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune - have stepped into the debate over whether assistance for the arts should be part of the economic stimulus package.

At Culture Monster, Christopher Knight notes that the Senate passed, with bipartisan support, an amendment submitted by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma "to ensure that taxpayer money is not lost on wasteful and non-stimulative projects." That means excluding "any ... museum, theater [or] art center" from getting aid.

In response, Knight offers "Five Reasons Congress Hates the Arts."

• The culture industry is cosmopolitan, so flag-waving options are few.
• The culture industry is pluralistic, but Congress is only marginally so.
• As corporations, arts institutions are nonprofit, so there's no money to be made via lobbyists.
• Culture is girlie, not manly.
• The arts often look at sexual experience -- eek!

And at The Theater Loop, Chris Jones makes a case for why the arts deserve assistance:

"Economic stimulus is dependent on the human spirit. The arts create confidence and self-worth, and those qualities in turn foster fiscal activity. The arts build neighborhoods and can help stem the decline in property values. The current recession is most devastating in inner cities, precisely where the arts are at their best."

The idea that the arts don't create jobs is absurd, Jones argues: "they just fuel different kinds of struggling workers, workers unaccustomed to bonuses. Their role in generating billions of dollars in ancillary economic activity for stores, restaurants and the travel business has been proven in bucketloads of surveys and analyses."

As someone who spent a week in New York City last fall, I can personally attest to all of the economic activity I stimulated:

• Amtrak, which got me there and back
• the hotel where I stayed
• all of the restaurants where I ate
  
• all of the stores where I shopped
• taxi rides and bus and subway fares
• museum admissions
• the $5 I paid to a sidewalk vendor for an umbrella

What do all of those things have in common? They provide jobs. Heck, I was practically a one-woman stimulus package. And that's not even counting all the money I spent on theatre tickets. The theatre - you know, an art - is the whole reason why I went.

A problem like Blagojevich

Rod Blagojevich Superstar - the title alone makes me laugh.

Chicago's famed Second City comedy troupe has written a rock opera about the disgraced former governor of Illinois, under indictment for allegedly trying to sell President Barack Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.

I heard about it on NPR yesterday and I loved this quote: "Like all great theatrical ideas, Rod Blagojevich Superstar started with drinking," says Kelly Leonard, one of the show's creators. Well, I'm sure there some great theatrical ideas that didn't start with drinking - at least one or two anyway.

But somehow this seems fitting. Blago does have a flair for the dramatic - the way he jetted off to New York for television interviews while his impeachment trial was under way in Springfield, his comment that he looked to Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi for inspiration because they know the trouble he's seen.

And from Fiorello to Frost/Nixon, politicians have made good theatre.

The show opens on Tuesday but previews have already started. Some of the ex-governor's former staffers have seen it. They loved it so much, they stayed afterward to offer advice to the cast: "apparently our Rod doesn't swear enough."

Leonard told NPR that he's confident Blagojevich will be in the audience at some point. "As weird as that sounds, it feels to us like he's the type of guy who would come to the show, laugh his head off and go backstage for a photo op with the cast."

And I'd like to thank eBay

Wow, I'm kind of surprised by this: according to New York magazine, there's a Tony award for sale on eBay. I didn't even know you were allowed to sell one.

The award belonged to the late costume designer Florence Klotz, who won it for her work on the 1985 musical Grind. Ms. Klotz, who died in 2006 at the age of 86, won a total of six Tonys, including for Follies, Pacific Overtures and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

I know that since 1950, every Oscar winner has had to sign an agreement that neither they nor their heirs can sell the statuette without first giving the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the right to buy it back - for one dollar! Here's an article from Forbes that explains it all.

I don't know whether the American Theatre Wing has a similar stipulation for a Tony. But according to a New York Times story, Christie's auction house sold one in 2007 for $4,800 and another, which may have been returned to the manufacturer because of a misspelling, sold last year for $5,676.25.

(Update: Kevin at Theatre Aficionado at Large says there is one, and it requires that anyone wishing to sell an award first offer it to the Theatre Wing for a nominal sum. Here are the details. Apparently, the Tony that Klotz received for Grind predates the requirement.)

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I agree with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences spokesman who told Forbes: "They're not tchotchkes to be bought off of a shelf." On the other hand, I can sympathize with someone who needs the money, an heir who doesn't have an emotional attachment to the award or who might want to use the proceeds for some worthy cause.

Of course, a Tony won't net you as much as an Oscar. The Forbes story says that an Oscar can bring as much as $1.5 million. Bidding for the Tony starts at $10,000, although you can buy it now for $20,000. But I think the principle is the same - you should get one by earning it, not because you have enough money to buy one on eBay.

Secretary of the arts

Music producer and songwriter Quincy Jones said in November on the radio program Soundcheck that he'd like to see a Cabinet-level secretary of the arts.

In response, Jaime Austria, who plays bass for the New York City Opera and the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, created an online petition supporting the idea. So far, it's garnered more than 71,000 signatures. (Thanks to the Los Angeles Times blog Culture Monster for the story.)

Personally, I'm wary of creating another layer of federal bureaucracy. Plus, we've already got a National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities.

I guess they could be folded into a Cabinet-level department but I don't know what would be accomplished by that move. And in the current economic climate, a new department isn't likely to get any additional funding.

I don't know what, if anything, a Department of the Arts would mean for theatre. And honestly, I can't see this being a top priority for President-elect Barack Obama when he takes office next Tuesday.

But a lot of people who left comments on the petition are pretty passionate about it. They make good points about the importance of the arts in our society and in making sure children are exposed to them in school. I certainly agree with those sentiments.

Here's just one: "When financial times are tough, the arts seem to be one of the first areas in danger. But when times are tough, the arts lift our souls and give us hope. It seems to me this is a good idea and an important step."

The purple theatre bus

I needed a photo to accompany my previous post on the decline of reading drama. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind but something about it made me smile. I mean, all of those programs in one small vehicle. Pretty impressive, huh!

At first I thought maybe the Traveling Players were an itinerant troupe of actors who traveled the country in their little purple bus bringing drama to the people. I was intrigued by the combination of Shakespeare and backpacking.

It turns out that the Traveling Players Ensemble, founded in 2003 and based in Great Falls, Va., "strives to link theatrical work to nature by rehearsing and performing outdoors and by producing plays in which nature is a dominant theme."

Apparently my first instinct wasn't too far off. The Players do a lot of work with teenagers and their summer camp "reflects the origins of theatre, when troupes of actors roamed the ancient and medieval countryside, relying on the barest props and boldest imagination to convey their art."

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

To all of my readers, my dear friends and fellow bloggers, thank-you for making 2008 such a memorable year for me. The Guthrie, the Met, mimosas and more new pals and Broadway shows than I ever imagined!

My very best wishes to all of you and to all those you love for a happy, healthy and theatre-filled 2009.

In the coming months I'll be seeing more shows and hopefully there'll be more chances to meet up with my blogging buddies for good theatre, good food and drink, and good conversation.

But first, let's take a trip on the Wayback Machine:

In 1959, 50 years ago this year, these musicals opened on Broadway: The Billy Barnes Review, Fiorello!, First Impressions, Gypsy, Juno, Once Upon a Mattress, Redhead, Saratoga, The Sound of Music and Take Me Along

and these plays: A Majority of One, A Raisin in the Sun, Sweet Bird of Youth, and The Miracle Worker.

An epic acting opportunity

My acting experience consists of a drama class I took in middle school a long, long time ago and I probably won't be getting to New York City anytime in the next month. So sadly, I won't be auditioning for the Madshag Performance Group's staged reading of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

But Gabriel from Modern Fabulousity, one of the creative forces behind Madshag, has asked his fellow theatre bloggers to pass along the audition information in case any real actors out there want to give it a try. Who doesn't love a good epic! And this one, as Jon Stewart would say, is all about the Mess O' Potamia. (Although a much more ancient version.)

I had a terrific time meeting the very gracious ModFab during my last trip to New York and I love reading his insights into theatre, movies, television and politics. Plus, I'm all about supporting my fellow bloggers. So ModFab, I'm pleased to share my tens of readers with you! Click here for all the details.

The state of the stage

The National Endowment for the Arts has released its first report on nonprofit theatre in the United States and the findings are sobering, although they're hardly a revelation to anyone who's spent any time in a theatre audience.

• The percentage of the U.S. adult population attending non-musical theater has declined from 13.5 percent (25 million people) in 1992 to 9.4 percent (21 million people) in 2008. The absolute size of the audience has declined by 16 percent since 1992.

• The number of adults who have attended musical theater has grown since 1992, but remains largely constant as a percentage of the population.

• Attendance trends do not seem primarily related to ticket prices. Statistical models predict that a 20 percent price hike in low-end subscription or single tickets will reduce total attendance by only 2 percent. These data suggest that other facts are likely affecting the demand for theater.

• The number of nonprofit theaters in the United States has doubled over a 15-year period. In 2005, there were 1,982 nonprofit theaters with annual budgets of at least $75,000, up 100 percent from 991 in 1990.

• Among the top ten states with the highest per capita concentration of theaters are Vermont, Alaska, Montana, Oregon, Connecticut, and Minnesota.

• Although theaters continue to cluster in high-population states, the number of theaters in small and mid-sized population states has grown substantially. From 1990 to 2005, the sharpest growth rate occurred in Nevada, Arkansas, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, and Mississippi.

Even though there are more theatres today than there were 15 years ago, they apparently haven't had much success in attracting an audience, especially for plays. Fewer than 10 percent of Americans went to see nonmusical theatre this year. And the problem doesn't seem related solely to ticket prices.

Even if we weren't in a recession, I do think cost is a factor. I saw a play yesterday for $15 but I think even that's too much for people who are used to spending much less on a movie or are already paying for plenty of drama on television through their cable bill. And you'd have to spend far more to attend a touring production of a Broadway musical.

But a bigger factor is that we're simply not a culture of theatergoers anymore. I hardly know anyone, outside of my blogger friends, who goes to the theatre. Maybe, if I think of all of my friends, there's one or two couples who go semi-regularly and a few who might go to see a special musical if it comes on tour. As for the rest well, honestly, I don't know if they could be enticed at any price.

Can anything be done? Would better plays help or more marketing? Is American drama a lost art form or has it simply migrated over the past half-century to movies and television? Think about it - how many people can even name an American play written over the past 25 years? (Unless it was turned into a movie, of course.)

This is kind of like the discussion about soccer - plenty of kids grow up playing it in the United States but it's never translated into a big audience for the professional game. Plenty of kids get involved in theatre in high school or college, but it's never again going to be a form of mass entertainment in this country.

So while the NEA report is interesting, it's just a story we've all heard before. Maybe we should simply resign ourselves to being a niche and leave it at that.

Rating the Critic-O-Meter

There's an interesting discussion going on regarding the Critic-O-Meter, a new theatre blog that summarizes the critical consensus regarding Broadway and off-Broadway productions and assigns each show a letter grade.

The blog is a project of Rob Weinert-Kendt of The Wicked Stage and Isaac Butler of Parabasis who wanted to create a theatre equivalent of the Web sites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

Well, not everyone thinks this is such a great idea. In the L.A. Weekly, writer Steven Leigh Morris commends the pair for their passion but decries the cultural shorthand that he believes the Critic-O-Meter represents:

"Ours is a culture with a prevalent and public rush to judgment, to a letter grade or score, a thumbs-up or thumbs-down mentality that appears to be replacing the love of investigation, which comes from curiosity."

And Morris apparently finds the very notion of assigning a letter grade offensive:

"Teachers have been complaining for a decade that the test-scores results mandated by the No Child Left Behind program are an irrelevant reflection of a child, of his or her abilities and potential. A theater production, too, is a kind of child, intricate and multidimensional, born of a family history lodged in some cultural context. To assess a play with a grade is mildly insulting to the critic but deeply insulting to the creators."

I have to respectfully disagree. We do this all the time for other aspects of popular culture - movies, books, music, television. Stars or letter grades don't automatically shut off discussion. They're just clear, concise starting points in a world where we're short on time and bombarded with information.

From what I can see, the love of investigation is alive and well in our culture. The Internet may have its share of crackpots, haters and conspiracy theorists, but it's also home to passionate, knowledgeable and well-thought-out discussion on movies, books, music, television and theatre.

If anything, I believe a site like Critic-O-Meter can actually encourage discussion. It presents the whole range of choices - Broadway and off Broadway - in a convenient, familiar way. Information about theatre - especially plays - needs to be more accessible, more widespread. The more voices, the better.

When I was in New York last month, whenever I struck up a conversation with a fellow out-of-town theatergoer I always mentioned Gypsy and August: Osage County. Some people had heard of Gypsy but no one had heard of August: Osage County, winner of the Tony award for best play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. When the movie comes out in a few years, then they'll know about it.

So if the blog does become a stop for people who are looking for some guidance, I think it could help rather than hurt. For some shows, like Wicked, the critics don't matter. But for others, maybe it'll give them a little boost.

And Critic-O-Meter doesn't just give a letter grade. It summarizes how critics in general felt about the show, gives a brief overview of each review and provides a link to the full piece. If you read a handful of them you'll get a pretty lively debate.

(Morris also points out that the site give equal weight to reviews from the New York Times and Theatermania but that doesn't bother me, as long as the critic can write well and make a compelling argument.)

Like it or not, this is the way popular culture gets judged. The question is: Do we have to treat theatre differently because plays - and the people who create them - are too fragile to exist in the rough-and-tumble world of the critical marketplace? I don't think so. That, I would argue, is truly offensive.

Gifts for theatre lovers

Okay, Jan at Broadway & Me is my inspiration for this. She wrote about 12 terrific gifts - one for each day of Christmas - that you can get for the theatre lover on your shopping list. So I tried to come up with my own list of 8 presents, one for each night of Chanukah, which begins Dec. 21. But really, the items on both of our lists would be great to give and receive for any holiday. I took most of the prices from Amazon, just to give you some idea of the cost involved.

1.) Broadway: The American Musical. If I could pick just one gift, it would be this 6-hour documentary tracing the history of musical theatre that aired on PBS in 2004. I watched it before making my first trip to Broadway, and it got me even more excited. I even bought the companion 5-cd box set. Plus, there are hours of extra interviews on the dvds that didn't make it into the documentary. Since it's been out for a few years, I'm assuming most people reading this already have a copy. But there are new musical theatre fans being born every minute and they'll be needing one of their very own. Cost: dvd, 59.99; cd box set, $53.99.

2.) A Raisin in the Sun. 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the original Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry's play about the struggles and aspirations of an African-American family. A copy of the play would make a nice gift, along with a dvd of the recent Broadway revival starring Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad and Audra MacDonald that was filmed for television. Several theatre companies (and probably more) are putting on A Raisin in the Sun during its anniversary year. So if you live near one of them, consider buying a pair of tickets for that special someone. Cost: book, $6.95; dvd, $15.49.

3.) Carols for a Cure, Vol. 10. Whenever I'm at a show and there's an appeal for donations to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, I always drop some money in the fundraising bucket. While I've never bought anything at their online store, this year is different. I have my eye on the 10th anniversary Carols for a Cure CD. Every year, the casts of Broadway and off-Broadway shows record holiday songs, and this year's two-disc set includes classic tracks from past volumes. I can't wait to hear the cast of Hairspray sing "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel!" Cost: $20.

4.) Broadway Nights and The Q Guide to Broadway. These books by Seth Rudetsky are quick, very fun reads. I bought Broadway Nights, his novel, in the spring. It's about the life and loves of a pit musician who gets his big break when he's hired to be the musical director for a new show. So you get a bird's-eye view of how a Broadway musical comes together. I picked up the Q Guide during my trip to New York last month. It's filled with useful information, like the Top 10 Broadway CDs you must have, and the difference between an understudy, a standby and a swing. There's also some (discreet) backstage gossip. Cost: Broadway Nights, $10.85; The Q Guide to Broadway, $11.86.

5.) Long Day's Journey Into Night What makes the short-lived 1986 Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's classic play different from all others? It's got Kevin Spacey as the ne'e-do-well, alcoholic Jamie Tyrone, of course! And Jack Lemmon, Bethel Leslie and Peter Gallagher, too. I love watching Spacey and Lemmon engage in some brutal verbal sparring as father and son. As a bonus, there are two audio interviews - one with Spacey and a second with director Jonathan Miller. Spacey's interview is great - he talks about getting started in the business, how Jack Lemmon became a mentor and the slightly devious method he used to get an audition for Long Day's Journey. Aspiring actors, take note! Cost: $22.99.

6. Home: A memoir of my early years. Julie Andrews' memoir is an an exquisitely written, wonderfully detailed look at her youth in wartime England and her career on stage in London and New York in the late 1950s and early 1960s. My favorite parts are about her experiences on Broadway, where she starred in three shows in quick succession - The Boy Friend, My Fair Lady and Camelot. The book concludes with Andrews heading to Hollywood for the filming of Mary Poppins. I hope she's working on a sequel. Cost: $17.79.

7. 13. Tickets to a Broadway musical about a Jewish teenager who moves from New York City to Indiana and wonders whether the cool kids will come to his bar mitzvah - the perfect Chanukah (or Christmas) gift. I really enjoyed this sweet, funny, exuberant show about not simply going along with the crowd just because its the popular thing to do. It's got a catchy rock 'n' roll score by Jason Robert Brown, and a very energetic and appealing all-teenage cast. While 13 is closing Jan. 4, there's still time to see it over the holidays. You can also get the cast recording and the book based on the musical (which I haven't read yet.) Cost: book, $11.67; cd, $13.99

8. Broadway magnet. I have all my ticket stubs and Playbills, I love the Broadway posters and the souvenir programs and the coffee table books. And there's nothing better than eating your cereal and milk in the morning while gazing up at a refrigerator covered with magnets from your favorite Broadway shows. (Don't ask how many I have. Too many.) The Playbill store has a great selection of magnets and other merchandise for the theatre lover on your holiday shopping list. Cost (magnets): $4 and up