The Playgoer: Friday Roundup

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Friday, May 25, 2007

Friday Roundup

Sorry for the late posting today. I'm off to a good lazy start this Memorial Day weekend.

But it won't be a blogging-free weekend so keep tuning in, if you're not blog-free.

So, just a quickie round-the-horn.

First, more pre-Tony Tidbits from Riedel, including:

Yesterday, a Tony source said CBS was still pushing for more musical numbers, and that, if "Legally Blonde" does get on, it will be as part of a montage of all the shows from the season - Laura Bell Bundy in pink, Stephanie J. Block in a pirate hat, Twyla Tharp with her closing notice, Michael Cerveris and Donna Murphy doing their Boris-and-Natasha routine from "LoveMusik."

Then, check out the Guardian for the most fraught late-night parking lot encounter since Deep Thoat days--I'm talking Nick Hytner and "dead white male" Michael Billington. Billington reports, but I'm afraid Hytner gets off the real zinger:
"Look," he said bluntly, "our audience at the National is rapidly changing. But the critics are not changing with it. And that is the problem."

And don't miss the very amusing Guardian editor's accompanying photo choice.

Also in said Brit paper, that great actor-intellectural Antony Sher has a characteristically engaging essay on playing Kean while reflecting on other self-destructive thespians he has known.

Finally, you may recall our little bloggers' campaign for small-bore theatre fundraising, citing the worthy Contemporary American Theatre Festival in West Virginia. Well, it seems to have done some good and A.D. Ed Herendeen wanted to let me and other bloggers know, by leaving this comment on our sites:
Thank you for your kind words of support. On behalf of the entire 2007 CATF Company I want to personally thank you for supporting our passion and courage for producing My Name is Rachel Corrie. Our 2007 Repertory features four provocative new American plays. I believe that making art and supporting the arts is, especially in this moment, a form of social activism. It is a statement of belief in the power of community.I am awestruck by the power of the American voices writing for the theater. I assure you that their voices are loud, strong and vibrant. And I am listening.

That's all for today. Now go out and barbecue. Or, in my case, go see Frost/Nixon.

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