102 stories from Extra Criticum
I recently read The Abominable Showman (by Howard Kissel, 1993), a biography of legendary Broadway producer, David Merrick (1911-2000). Merrick was Broadway's foremost producer in the thirty…
A terrific interview with playwright Terrance McNally and actress Tyne Daly (musical Gypsy; television Cagney & Lacey, Judging Amy) recently aired on the Charlie Rose show. The 30-minute…
Roland wrote a short post a couple of weeks ago about an innovative ticket sales strategy at ACT Theatre in Seattle, prompting me to dig deeper. I write regularly about marketing and revenue…
The Bourne Dilemma: How to Survive Local Theater Without Going to Hell It was air conditioning on a 100-degree day that made my partner and myself seek out the nearest mall and watch the onl…
This week I visited a cherry orchard to experience something I've been avoiding. I discovered that it's actually pretty good. Five years ago the Metropolitan Opera, led by its new and intrep…
Do you like watching actors at work? Then go to Lincoln Center before July 31 and sometime between 8:45pm and 11:30pm. Sit by the fountain and face south. You'll see something magical: Portr…
My name is easy to misspell. The second "e" doesn't effect the pronunciation, so it often gets left off. It doesn't bother me, and is such a common mistake I usually don't even notice. So I.…
Interesting piece in The Stranger. ACT in Seattle is going pay-what-you-can for all shows. As long as a person walks up to the box office, he/she can pay a nickle to get a theatre ticket. Bi…
Love this little bit from Ken Davenport's Day By Day blog about producing the upcoming Godspell revival. So, we bought a $100 flyer stand, and every day, an intern, staff member, or me, brin…
I just had this thought: while developing a new idea for a script or a story...what if I were to put my notes up on the internet? Character sketches, plot ideas, etc, etc. It feels a...
War Horse and Jerusalem, two plays developed in Britain's subsidized theatres, received high honors last month at the Tony Awards. Michael Billington is one of England's foremost drama criti…
I think I'm facing something that I don't want to face. And I'm not even sure if it's true. I've written a lot of pages in the year since I've moved to LA. A LOT of...
This People magazine "didja know" item is insane. Rob Lowe is playing former TV news star Drew Peterson for a Lifetime reboot: To play the 57-year-old former Illinois police sergeant " jaile…
With the recent announcement that the 39-yr. old Intiman Theatre in Seattle would abruptly halt its 2011 season in order to regroup and avoid fiscal catastrophe, there's been much talk in th…
Okay. So, my dear pals Jenny Bacon and Stephen Barker Turner, a power couple of brilliant actors to rival the Barrymores (although, were they brother and sister or husband and wife? I can ne…
A press release arrived recently from Massachusetts' Green Theatre Collective, announcing their eco-friendly production of Shakespeare's As You Like It in... drumroll... a public park! I kno…
Listening to NPR's Morning Edition today, I heard the following story, an audio tour of a safety simulator of the control room at a Mississippi nuclear reactor. Is this really news? Or is it…
This picture was taken by my pal David Heath yesterday at a family BBQ. We immediately saw its potential as a promo shot for a very unusual local cable access show. Care to name it? (Useful.…
I'm reading The Film That Changed My Life: 30 Directors on Their Epiphanies in the Dark by Robert K. Elder. I'm enjoying it and I'll write a post about the whole book here soon. But I...
I am one of those annoying New Yorkers. You know the type. They know about a show forever -- or at least the duration of its run -- and they can't be bothered to actually go...
Just saw Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and, well, if it hadn't already been said by so many others before me, I might be running around letting the world know that Rajiv Joseph is certainl…
This morning on my way back from the gym, I shared the elevator with two silent women. As I turned to get off at my floor, one of them remarked to the other: "This is a...
This just in from our friends at TSL in Hudson, NY: Linda Mussmann and Claudia Bruce are excited to announce that they will be married at the last stroke of midnight on Saturday July 23 /...
