New research suggests that, in the early morning, you can have your cake and shed pounds too A new study from Tel Aviv University finds that eating a small dessert as part of a balanced breakfast can actually help you shed unwanted pounds. Staying skinny and eating chocolate? Here, a brief guide to what sounds, frankly, impossible: Full story at The Week. Photo: CC by ::paqman:: All the top stories from The Week. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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Can dessert for breakfast help you lose weight?
Holy Kaw!9 Feb 2012 | 1:39 pm -
Lea Michele May Reprise Role in Spring Awakening Film
Playbill.com : News9 Feb 2012 | 1:36 pm"Glee" star Lea Michele, who created the role of Wendla in the original Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Spring Awakening, is currently in talks to re-create her performance in the film version of the Tony-winning musical, according to eonline.com. -
New York: Stephanie J. Block, Linda Lavin, Laura Osnes, Paulo Szot Set for The Best of Jim Caruso's Cast Party
TheaterMania.com9 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pmThursday, February 09, 2012 4 PMUpdated casting has been announced for The Best of Jim Caruso's Cast Party, at Town Hall on Thursday, February 23 at 8pm. The event will be presented by TheaterMania contributor Scott Siegel. Participants will now include Stephanie J. Block, David Ippolito, Terri Klausner, Lisa Lampanelli, -
Met's acclaimed GAtterdAmmerung' in theaters Saturday
Theater News9 Feb 2012 | 1:38 pmRobert Lepage's technologically advanced new staging of Wagner's Ring cycle comes to an epic climax with "Gotterdammerung" The production will be broadcast live for only one day on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT in select movie theaters. -
Casting Directors Set For 3 Fox Pilots
Backstage9 Feb 2012 | 8:54 amAlyson Silverberg, Megan Branman, Dylann Brander, and Debi Manwiller will cast new Fox pilots, Back Stage confirmed.
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Holy Kaw!
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Can dessert for breakfast help you lose weight?
9 Feb 2012 | 1:39 pmNew research suggests that, in the early morning, you can have your cake and shed pounds too A new study from Tel Aviv University finds that eating a small dessert as part of a balanced breakfast can actually help you shed unwanted pounds. Staying skinny and eating chocolate? Here, a brief guide to what sounds, frankly, impossible: Full story at The Week. Photo: CC by ::paqman:: All the top stories from The Week. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Romance survey [infographic]
9 Feb 2012 | 12:02 pmVia Hotels.com. Infographics to put you in the mood. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Do aliens go invisible by 'going green'?
9 Feb 2012 | 11:24 amAs we discover more and more planets around other stars, the Fermi Paradox is becoming, well, more paradoxical. The Fermi Paradox simply asks the question "where are they?" Our Milky Way galaxy is so big and so old -- and we are estimated to be accompanied by at least 100 billion planets -- that aliens should have visited us by now. Instead, when we peruse the heavens, we are faced with the Great Silence, which is one of the biggest challenges to modern astronomy. Full story at Discovery News. More news from Discovery Communications. Photo credit: Fotolia Permalink | Leave a… -
Mysterious sounds reported around the world
9 Feb 2012 | 11:23 amPeople around the world have reported hearing strange sounds from the skies over the past month. Sometimes they describe it as a hum or low rumble; other times it’s a whine, thump, or even a melody. Often the sounds have been recorded and posted online, fueling rumors and conspiracy theories. One blogger wrote, "either the world is ending, aliens are landing or everyone is getting hoaxed. Or, possibly, there’s an actual scientific explanation for the mass amount of YouTube videos capturing bizarre sounds that are being heard around the globe. Are we witnessing the beginning of a… -
Costa Concordia: an ecological time bomb
9 Feb 2012 | 11:21 amAs workers begin to extract the half-million gallons of fuel in the shipwrecked cruise liner, locals are worried that their pristine waters are in danger. Reporting by Rossella Lorenzi. Written and produced by Rossella Lorenzi and Martin Berman. Full story at Discovery News. More news from Discovery Communications. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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Playbill.com : News
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Lea Michele May Reprise Role in Spring Awakening Film
9 Feb 2012 | 1:36 pm"Glee" star Lea Michele, who created the role of Wendla in the original Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Spring Awakening, is currently in talks to re-create her performance in the film version of the Tony-winning musical, according to eonline.com. -
Tony Rulings: 13 Shows Discussed, Including Godspell, On a Clear Day, Mountaintop, Lysistrata Jones
9 Feb 2012 | 12:56 pmThe Tony Awards Administration Committee assembled Feb. 9 for the second time this season to decide the eligibility of 13 Broadway productions for the 2012 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards, presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. -
Original Merrily We Roll Along Cast Members Will Reunite for Current City Center Encores! Production
9 Feb 2012 | 12:46 pmMembers of the original Broadway cast of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along will reunite Feb. 14 to attend a performance of the current City Center Encores! production of that musical. -
American Idiot's Stark Sands Lands Role in New Coen Brothers Film
9 Feb 2012 | 12:40 pmStark Sands, most recently on Broadway in American Idiot, has been cast in the new Coen Brothers film "Inside Llewyn Davis," according to Deadline.com. -
Godspell Revival Will Offer "Tweet Seat Performance"
9 Feb 2012 | 12:18 pmThe Broadway revival of Stephen Schwartz's Godspell at Circle in the Square Theatre will allow fans to tweet live during the 7:30 PM Feb. 19 performance.
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TheaterMania.com
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New York: Stephanie J. Block, Linda Lavin, Laura Osnes, Paulo Szot Set for The Best of Jim Caruso's Cast Party
9 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pmThursday, February 09, 2012 4 PMUpdated casting has been announced for The Best of Jim Caruso's Cast Party, at Town Hall on Thursday, February 23 at 8pm. The event will be presented by TheaterMania contributor Scott Siegel. Participants will now include Stephanie J. Block, David Ippolito, Terri Klausner, Lisa Lampanelli, -
New York: Jeremy Jordan, Patti Murin, Laura Osnes, Hunter Parrish Eligible in Leading Performer Tony Award Categories
9 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pmThursday, February 09, 2012 4 PMThe Tony Awards Administration Committee has met for the second time this season to decide the eligibility of 13 Broadway productions for the 2012 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards, including the plays Man and Boy, The Mountaintop, Relatively Speaking, Chinglish, Other Desert Cities, Venus in -
New York: New York School of Interior Design to Present Theatrical by Design Exhibition
9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmThursday, February 09, 2012 3 PMNew York School of Interior Design will present Theatrical By Design: A Century of The Shubert Organizations Theatre Interiors, which will be on view at the NYSID Gallery, (161 East 69th Street), March 7-April 27. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm. Reagan Fletcher, longtime archivist of -
New York: Carolyn McCormick, Zach Grenier Set for Reading of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Abigail/1702
9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmThursday, February 09, 2012 3 PM Vassar & New York Stage and Film's Powerhouse Theater will present a reading of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Abigail/1702 in the Martel Theater in the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film at Vassar College, Saturday, February 11 at 5:30pm. Aguirre-Sacasa will also direct. The play explores what -
New York: Broadway's Godspell to Allow Live Tweeting at February 19 Performance
9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmThursday, February 09, 2012 3 PM The Broadway production of Godspell, at Circle in the Square Theatre, will allow a limited number of patrons to tweet live during the Sunday, February 19 at 7:30pm. Fifteen of the show's most vocal Twitter fans will be selected to participate in this "Tweet Seat"
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Theater News
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Met's acclaimed GAtterdAmmerung' in theaters Saturday
9 Feb 2012 | 1:38 pmRobert Lepage's technologically advanced new staging of Wagner's Ring cycle comes to an epic climax with "Gotterdammerung" The production will be broadcast live for only one day on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT in select movie theaters. -
Oscar-nominated shorts, coming to a theater near you
9 Feb 2012 | 9:28 amIf you're feeling behind on watching this year's Oscar-nominated films, here's one way to catch up on five titles in one sitting: ShortsHD's theatrical screenings of the short film nominees, which kick off Friday. -
Oscar-nominated shorts, coming to a theater near you
9 Feb 2012 | 9:28 amDirector Hallvar Witzoe smiles after he discovered that he was nominated for an Oscar award in the Short Film category for his film "Tuba Atlantic" in Oslo Jan. -
Drive-in theater might return to Sioux Falls
9 Feb 2012 | 6:18 amWild Water West is considering expanding its entertainment business by adding a drive-in theater. -
Bay Area arts news, Feb. 9
9 Feb 2012 | 2:04 amMarin wisely balances its art, budgetary roles Who says nonprofit arts organizations are fiscally irresponsible? Marin Theatre Company , the 45-year-old mainstay of North Bay drama, just reported that the organization ended its 2010-11 season with a $255,000 surplus and total revenue exceeding $3 million.
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Backstage
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Casting Directors Set For 3 Fox Pilots
9 Feb 2012 | 8:54 amAlyson Silverberg, Megan Branman, Dylann Brander, and Debi Manwiller will cast new Fox pilots, Back Stage confirmed. -
Maya Rudolph to Host 'Saturday Night Live'
9 Feb 2012 | 8:43 amCurrently starring on NBC comedy "Up All Night," Rudolph will lead the Feb. 18 episode with musical guest Sleigh Bells. This marks her first time hosting the live late-night sketch comedy show since she left in 2007. -
Naomi Watts Cast to Play Princess Diana in Big Screen Biopic
9 Feb 2012 | 8:40 amNaomi Watts has signed to play British icon Princess Diana in Oliver Hirschbiegel's big screen portrait "Caught In Flight." -
'House' Ending Its Run This Season
9 Feb 2012 | 8:39 am"While it's with much regret, and a lump in our throats, we respect the decision Hugh, David and Katie have made," Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly says. -
Mark Thompson Admits 'BBC Got It Wrong' on Older Women
9 Feb 2012 | 8:36 amAfter a slew of controversies about age discrimination, the pubcaster has vowed to make sure there are more women in key roles on television.
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NYT > Theater
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Theater Review: ‘Growing Up Gonzales’ at the Jan Hus Playhouse
9 Feb 2012 | 1:08 pmAndres Chulisi Rodriguez portrays two brothers in the one-man show “Growing Up Gonzales” at the Jan Hus Playhouse. -
Theater Review: Sondheim’s ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ in Encores! Staging
9 Feb 2012 | 1:01 pmThe first production of this season’s Encores! series, Stephen Sondheim and Gorge Furth’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” comes across as oddly quaint and self-conscious. -
THEATER: 'Merrily' Memories
9 Feb 2012 | 12:37 pmJim Walton, a member of the original cast of the 1981 Broadway musical “Merrily We Roll Along,” meets the cast of the Encores! revival and talks about the contents of his “Merrily” scrapbook. -
Theater Review: ‘Chekhovek,’ With 9 Chekhov Plays, at ArcLight Theater
9 Feb 2012 | 11:00 am“Chekhovek” offers short stories from Chekhov, including “The Lady With the Dog” and “The Chemist’s Wife.” -
Theater Review: ‘Myths and Hymns,’ Directed by Elizabeth Lucas
9 Feb 2012 | 11:00 amIn Elizabeth Lucas’s spare but effective dramatization of “Myths and Hymns,” Adam Guettel’s songs remain the focus.
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Backstage
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Myths and Hymns
7 Feb 2012 | 4:30 amDirector Elizabeth Lucas has tried to turn Adam Guettel's 1998 song cycle into a musical by adding a narrative, but her ambitious and undeniably inventive attempt is not theatrically satisfying. -
NY Review: 'The Ugly One'
7 Feb 2012 | 4:30 amMarius von Mayenburg's sharp satire on the nature of identity and the inescapable human bent for conformity is a wicked piece of japery that elegantly makes its points in one breezy hour. -
Rx
7 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amPlaywright Kate Fodor mixes strong dosages of satire and pathos in this piercing new comedy about our overmedicated society. It's the perfect prescription for an anemic theater season. -
Psycho Therapy
7 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amYou'll get more laughs by watching clips from classic TV sitcoms on YouTube than you will from 90 minutes of misery at Frank Strausser's flimsy excuse for a play. -
Chekhovek
7 Feb 2012 | 4:00 amThis dramatization of nine short stories by Anton Chekhov has fluid staging, aptly defined performances, handsome period costumes, and evocative music, but soul is in short supply.
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Blogway Baby
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HOW TO WRITE A NEW BOOK FOR THE BIBLE AT SEATTLE REP
6 Feb 2012 | 11:46 amDespite the Super Bowl and beautiful sunny weather yesterday afternoon, the Bagley Wright Theatre at Seattle Repertory Theatre was packed. Not surprising, because the closing performance of Bill Cain's HOW TO WRITE A NEW BOOK FOR THE BIBLE was playing. I was excited to get a rush seat, since the last Bill Cain play I saw at the Seattle Rep was EQUIVOCATION, which is one of my favorite plays of all time. This production HOW TO WRITE A NEW BOOK FOR THE BIBLE, beautifully directed by Kent Nicholson, was a world premiere co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Everything about this… -
THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE AT ARTSWEST
31 Jan 2012 | 3:46 pmI am thrilled to announce that Myrna Conn will be starring as Little Voice ("L.V.") in Artswest's Seattle premier of THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE by Jim Cartwright, running March 7 to March 31, 2012. Rehearsals have finally started and ArtsWest has put together a stellar cast: Myrna Conn, Peggy Gannon, Pat Haines-Ainsworth, Daniel Reaume, Jesse Smith, and Travis Tingvall. Christopher Zinovitch is directing, and Kim Dare is Music Directing. From the Season Brochure: Little Voice is a young woman with a hidden talent: she can emulate every chanteuse from Judy Garland to Edith Piaf. She… -
DALY CHOCOLATE WITH TAYE DIGGS!
2 Dec 2011 | 2:24 pmI was so excited to see "Daly Chocolate", the third episode of The Daly Show! My new favorite webseries, written and directed by Ben Shelton and shot by Anthony C. Kuhnz, has topped itself! Not only do I get Tim Daly, but I also get Taye Diggs singing Broadway tunes! These are definitely a few of my favorite things! And for the record, I bet he does taste like chocolate. -
THE DALY SHOW WEB SERIES ROCKS!
28 Oct 2011 | 8:40 amThe Daly Show, written and directed by Ben Shelton and shot by Anthony C. Kuhnz, stars film and tv star Tim Daly, and his son, Sam Daly.And thank goodness for that, because, after all, we could all use a little less douche! I've seen both episodes and can't wait for more! -
HUMOR ABUSE AT SEATTLE REPERTORY THEATRE
17 Oct 2011 | 6:14 pmHow do you make a perfect afternoon? Well, you end it with an early dinner at The Melting Pot and shopping at Bellevue Square. But it has to start with a family outing to see HUMOR ABUSE at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. HUMOR ABUSE is one of the most funny, compelling and gasp-making shows I have ever seen. HUMOR ABUSE is a one-man show (or is it a one-clown show?) created by Lorenzo Pisoni and Erica Schmidt, directed by Erica Schmidt and starring Lorenzo Pisoni. From the website: While other kids dreamed of running away to join the circus, Lorenzo Pisoni was dreaming about running away from…
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The Wicked Stage
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Saddest Sign on Broadway
9 Feb 2012 | 4:43 am44th Street, Feb. 8, 7 p.m. In case the photo doesn't speak for itself. -
The Chemistry Proof
7 Feb 2012 | 12:56 pmAn utterly charming, disarming crossroads moment. -
Quote for the Day
7 Feb 2012 | 5:37 am"If Shakespeare saw most of the productions of his work today, he'd probably say: 'Roland Emmerich was right. Edward de Vere actually wrote this.' "-Michael Musto (h/t Charles McNulty) -
Bashing Smash
6 Feb 2012 | 8:18 amThis kind of thing makes me batty: Producer Ken Davenport tells theater folks it's our duty to watch Smash tonight:It's about Broadway, it's shot on Broadway, it's written by a Broadway writer, directed by a Broadway Director, and stars a whole bunch of Broadway peeps.And if there was one thing that could have an atomic bomb-like impact on Broadway theatergoing, Smash is it.I call bullshit on this, for two reasons. First, the show's Broadway pedigree is what makes the thundering mediocrity of Smash, whose pilot I barely managed to get through last week, so disappointing. Shaiman, Rebeck,… -
The Inadvertent Duet
6 Feb 2012 | 5:10 am
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The Theater Loop - chicagotribune.com
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Suburban theater for the week of Feb. 10-16
9 Feb 2012 | 10:26 amKERRY REID on what's on stage in Chicago's suburbs. -
Chicago theater openings for the week of Feb. 10-16
9 Feb 2012 | 10:26 amThe upcoming opening nights. -
At Hypocrites and Victory Gardens, two different ways to take charge
9 Feb 2012 | 10:26 amWithin 24 hours last weekend, I watched two artistic directors make their debuts at the artistic helm of two Chicago theater companies: Halena Kays at The Hypocrites and Chay Yew at the Victory Gardens Theater Company. -
A 'Farce' this good ought to be a crime
9 Feb 2012 | 9:45 amTHEATER REVIEW: "Unnecessary Farce" at First Folio Theatre in Oak Brook ★★★½ THEATER REVIEW: "Unnecessary Farce" at First Folio Theatre in Oak Brook ★★★½ ... Farce fanatics (you know who you are) should hie themselves hence to Oak Brook for Paul Slade Smith's blissfully nonsensical comedy about a sting operation gone — wait for it — awry. If you're not a fan of the genre, well, the title alone should be enough to warn you what you're in for and... -
A new comedy room, and a cautionary tale for Second City
8 Feb 2012 | 10:37 pmTHEATER REVIEW: "Sex, Love & The Second City: A Romantic Dot Comedy" at UP Comedy Club at Second City ★½ THEATER REVIEW: "Sex, Love & The Second City: A Romantic Dot Comedy" at UP Comedy Club at Second City ★½ ... Beware, O Second City, of the perils of the plush-and-shiny new room with the new high-tech toys just begging to be used!
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theatre notes
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"Sh*t self-righteous theatre bloggers say"
5 Feb 2012 | 9:19 pmUpdate: Jana Perkovic weighs in at Guerilla Semiotics. Well worth the read. * The launch of an independent news organisation is a major event in Australia, where the fiercest debates about our media circle around the fact that we have the highest concentration of media ownership in the western world, with Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd owning 70 per cent of Australian newspaper circulation. And the -
Review: The Year of Magical Wanking
1 Feb 2012 | 6:16 pmThe Midsumma Festival occurs at an awkward time of year for Ms TN. Through January, I am usually cowering in a bunker, resolutely ignoring the explosions as the year's first press releases burst overhead in showers of light and noise. This year was the same, only more so. But a letter trickled through my defences, despite everything I could do; and so last Sunday I found myself at Theatreworks, -
Review: Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
23 Jan 2012 | 4:21 pmOne of the paradoxes of art is the uneasy legacy of success. As soon as a work is labelled a "classic", it becomes curiously invisible: it transforms into a monument, cobwebbed by all the extraneous things its success now symbolises, and the energies that made it a success in the first place are polished away by the pieties that must now attend it. Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is a good example -
Exit 2011
29 Dec 2011 | 3:08 pmWas that 2011? I'm thinking of the Venerable Bede's story, in which one of King Edwin's thanes compares the life of a man (with the Anglo-Saxons it was always a man) to the swift flight of a sparrow through a banqueting hall on a dark winter's day. The past year has seemed the mere flip of a wing. Yet somehow I reviewed around 86 shows this year - quite a lot more than last year, when I reviewed -
Review: The Story of Mary MacLane by Herself
7 Dec 2011 | 4:03 pmIt's tempting to consider what Mary MacLane's life might have been, had she been born male. For one thing, I might have had a better chance of having heard of her: the work of interesting women is all too apt to disappear after their deaths. Perhaps MacLane might have been known as an early 20th century Thomas Chatterton or Arthur Rimbaud, a wayward brilliance that ignited rebellion into a
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The Playgoer
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The Privatization of Censorship
7 Feb 2012 | 2:30 pmNick Cohen in the Literary Review (UK) offers some useful ways to think about censorship in the 21st century: We cannot puncture our own myth that we are fearless seekers after truth, even though, if we honestly owned up to our limitations, we might force society to confront the fact that modern censorship does not conform to old models. It is a mistake to think of repression as repression by the state alone. In much of the world it still is, but in Britain, America and most of continental Europe the age of globalisation has done its work, and it is privatised rather than state forces that… -
Surprisingly Decent Theatrical Satire
30 Jan 2012 | 2:06 pmNormally I find any pop culture take on theatre to be oddly distorted. But, catching up with a recent SNL rerun this weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to find not one, but two very funny playgoing sketches. Yes, the one-man show has been parodied to death, but I just can't resist Fred Armisen's riff on the old cliches. ("Tommy Palmese tells his life story through characters!") (apologies for the ads) And while this send-up of War Horse (the play, not movie) may be off target about the play, it certainly is spot on about Lincoln Center audiences... -
Venues for the Short Play
26 Jan 2012 | 8:22 amSteve Waters in the Guardian sings the praises of the short play: So what is a short play, exactly? Is it simply defined by its length? I ask because as a form it's under-discussed and under-valued. . . a fugitive form, lacking a permanent home, rarely available on the page. Yet for all that it seems to me a very good way into any writer's work – released from the armature of plot, the playwright is compelled to invest the moment with intense theatrical energy. In those precious minutes the dramatist's toolkit of rhythm, voice and image is ruthlessly exposed. It's a place for encounters not… -
That Tony Lure
19 Jan 2012 | 9:39 amSomething interesting happening on the Rialto right now: a number of recent Off Broadway successes will be descending upon available theatres this spring just in time for Tony Time. (That time being recently confirmed to as June 10.) Today we have definite announcements from Clybourne Park and Peter and the Starcatcher. They will join there other previously announced Off Broadway transfers, Venus in Fur and Once. Now you'd think all these available playhouses might be a bad omen for these plucky upstarts, since they are vacant due to fizzling out of so many other unasked-for Broadway runs of… -
The Arts vs "Austerity"
13 Jan 2012 | 9:20 amEnglish playwright David Edgar has a good, long essay in the Guardian on the UK's arts funding crisis and especially the crisis in how to argue for the arts in a time of official, imposed "austerity." While his persepctive is exclusively Brit-based, analogies are not hard to find here. He begins with some helpful history of shifting justifications for arts funding over time, reminding us how conservative elitists used to be the arts' best friends: When it was founded in 1946, the Arts Council could justify its activities in its own terms: it was there to widen access to the arts…
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The Theatrefolk Weblog
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Spotlight on Commedia dell’arte
8 Feb 2012 | 2:00 pmThe latest issue of “Spotlight” is now available. Our tour through theatre history continues with a look at Commedia dell’arte. Background, characters, exercises and more! Background Commedia performers travelled in troupes from town to town and performed outside in town squares on makeshift stages. Actors relied on costumes and props rather than elaborate sets. Characters Commedia characters are not known for subtext or subtle back story. They are big, bold, and physically exaggerated. They know what they want, they say what they want and they go after what they want. Learn… -
Typcast: Watch me type!
7 Feb 2012 | 2:00 pmWatch how Lindsay types on her Olympic. On the floor. Not as easy as a laptop for sure. And whose bright idea was it to activate the heaviest key with your pinkie??? -
Spread the Love: Magic Fairy in the Microwave by Dara Murphy
6 Feb 2012 | 2:00 pmThis week we spread the love for Magic Fairy in the Microwave by Dara Murphy. Recorded live at the 2012 TETA Conference in Houston, Texas. -
Neat Activity – Tabletop Puppetry
5 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amKidsmomo posted a lovely video of New York’s New Victory Theater in action. Their style is decidedly low-tech, featuring a blend of tabletop puppetry, shadow puppetry, and live action. When Lindsay and I were still producing plays our budget was pretty much $0. Lindsay wrote for free. I acted for free. And whatever we spent on sets and costumes came right out of our pockets. If that meant we needed $20 for fabric then, hey, the grocery budget was that much smaller that week. Producing on such a shoestring instilled a love in us for the low-tech. The Kidsmomo site also posted some photos… -
Picture prompts: Houston
4 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amSome pictures from Houston TX to provide writing inspiration. Think about where each picture takes place, what’s happening and why? What’s the story? Think of the character who is standing just outside of frame, looking. Write that monologue. What’s going on in the character’s mind?
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The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre
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We'll Live in Peace and Love and Rock & Roll Forever More
9 Feb 2012 | 11:47 amCry-Baby rehearsals are going really, really well. We're done blocking the show, everything's choreographed, and Tuesday night, we ran the whole show for the first time. And it was really great! Sure, there were bumps along the way, mostly just brain farts, but it had great energy, a great sense of fun, and some wonderful surprises... For example... I had suggested to Mike Dowdy that it might be fun if his character Baldwin (the story's squeaky clean villain) starts to really lose his shit in Act II when everything and everyone is turning against him. I thought it would be fun if,… -
Don't Mean to Be Rude
31 Jan 2012 | 11:38 amOne of the coolest thing about my job and the kind of work we do is that I frequently get to talk to the writers of the shows we produce -- Jason Robert Brown, Bill Finn, Andrew Lippa, Adam Guettel, Steve Sondheim, Tom Kitt, Amanda Green, Kyle Jarrow, and others. It's so helpful to hear them talk about what elements are really important to them, what their original intentions were, what they thought of their shows' original productions, etc. But now I've had what may be my coolest writer conversation yet... I had the intense honor yesterday of talking on the phone with John Waters! First of… -
We're Lucky to Be Us
28 Jan 2012 | 12:08 pmStill working on funding applications for next season... Part of that process is asking people in our community to write "letters of support" about how cool New Line is, to include with our applications. This year, the three support letters we'll be including in our applications are so heartfelt and so complimentary, that I have to share them with you. One letter is from Kyle Jarrow, writer-composer of the brilliant rock musical Love Kills, which New Line produced in 2009. The second is from Jake Fruend, college student and former New Line intern. And the third letter is from Larry Quiggins,… -
See, I've Got a Vision
24 Jan 2012 | 11:30 amThere's a fine, fine line, as Kate Monster would tell us. We walk a potentially treacherous tightrope with a lot of our shows, quite a few of which have wacky, outrageous surfaces and serious, intense, sometimes even depressing subtext. But the Cry-Baby tightrope may be the hardest to balance on. After all, it's concept musical in which the style of old-school musical comedy wars with the style of the modern rock musical, and this stylistic battle serves as a big, blazing metaphor for the central conflict of the story. But that's not all there is to it... The story is also originally a… -
You People Think You Know Me
18 Jan 2012 | 1:00 pmI've been working on funding applications lately, something I really hate a lot. I usually procrastinate till the last minute but I decided I'd try to do them early this year, several weeks before the deadlines, before I get too busy with Cry-Baby rehearsals. Each year we get written feedback on our applications from the "peer panel" that reviews them. Some of these comments are helpful and some are just weird, but the ones that really bother me are from people who want to cram New Line into some mold they have in their mind and slap some preexisting label on us. I've learned over the years…
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nytheatre.com
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Coming Attractions
8 Feb 2012 | 4:39 pmUpdated list of coming attractions heading to New York City theatres -
New Shows This Week
8 Feb 2012 | 4:39 pmListings of New Shows This Week in New York City -
Review: MYTHS AND HYMNS by David Gordon
7 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pmSince its debut at the Public Theatre in 1998, Adam Guettel's Myths and Hymns (né Saturn Returns) has accrued the cult status that belongs to many little-known musicals. Aficionados and historians of the genre are quick to note that this heretofore unconnected song cycle, based on Greek myths and religious hymnals, stacks up considerably well against his more prominent works, namely Floyd Collins and The Light in the Piazza, and the piece in its original form lives on as a recording. -
Review: RX by David Gordon
6 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pmYou may leave Kate Fodor's Rx, a comedy about the relationships people have with one another and their pharmaceutical drugs, feeling a bit drowsy. Weariness is indeed a side effect of this over-stuffed new play; so too are restlessness, frustration, and sudden-onset sentimentality. Still, it's hard not to admire Fodor's guts, and Ethan McSweeny's imperfect yet thoroughly balls-to-the-wall direction. -
Review: A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE by Judith Jarosz
6 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pmThe musical A Man of No Importance features music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and a book by Terrence McNally. It tells a touching tale about a man struggling with his sexuality in 1964 Dublin, and premiered off-Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater in 2002. Producer Robert Earle Jones and director Hans Friedrichs have assembled a talented production team and an entertaining cast for this touching show.
