Reed Birney, Sarah Steele, Jane Houdyshell and Arian Moayed in The Humans. (Photo by Brigitte Lacombe) It was a relatively busy year for plays on Broadway, though it produced no widespread, runaway hit that will sustain itself much beyond the Tony Awards telecast Sunday. Still, considering the seriousness of most of these subject matters, maybe remaining open this long into … [Read more...]
Tonys to honor Miles Wilkin, who brings Broadway to America’s backyard
Miles Wilkin. Call it PACE Theatrical, SFX Entertainment, Clear Channel, Key Brand or its current corporate moniker, the John Gore Organization. Whatever you call it, for the past 35 years, through mergers, acquisitions and just plain name changes, Miles Wilkin has been helming the largest organization in North America dedicated to growing and protecting the network of stage … [Read more...]
Tonys will celebrate a record season in awards telecast
The stats are in for the Broadway season that ended May 24, and it was a record-breaker. The 2014-2015 season had the highest attendance and highest total box office ever, with ticket sales topping out at $1.365 billion. Of course, it helps that ticket prices are at their highest ever. Most major musicals top face-value tickets hovers around the $150 mark with Book of Mormon, … [Read more...]
Tonys question: Why not celebrate theater community, as is?
Since the Tony Awards telecast is more about marketing Broadway than it is about handing out statuettes for excellence, it is only fitting that awards were spread out to 13 different shows, each of which can hang out the Tonys shingle for whatever box office boost that is worth. As expected, there was no dominant winner Sunday night, with the revival of Hedwig and the Angry … [Read more...]
Preview to the Tonys, No. 3: ‘Bullets Over Broadway,’ ‘Aladdin’
For the runup to the Tony Awards on Sunday, ArtsPaper’s Hap Erstein takes a series of looks at the shows up for Broadway’s highest honors: Bullets Over Broadway — Susan Stroman (The Producers, Contact) must surely be the reigning director-choreographer of Broadway, but her stock has fallen substantially this season. It began with the musical Big Fish, which, by most … [Read more...]
Preview to the Tonys No. 2: ‘Act One,’ ‘Mothers and Sons,’ ‘Casa Valentina’
For the runup to the Tony Awards on Sunday, ArtsPaper’s Hap Erstein takes a series of looks at the shows up for Broadway’s highest honors: Act One — Just as marijuana is thought of as a gateway drug to harder stuff, Moss Hart’s autobiography Act One is surely responsible for getting many a young would-be theater artist hooked on the stage. The memoir of an impoverished kid … [Read more...]
Preview to the Tonys, No. 1: ‘Gentleman’s Guide,’ ‘Beautiful,’ ‘If/Then’
For the runup to the Tony Awards on Sunday, ArtsPaper’s Hap Erstein takes a series of looks at the shows up for Broadway’s highest honors: Here are three of this season's Broadway musicals, vying for a box office boost from the Tony Awards broadcast Sunday: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder — Romance is the motor of most musical comedies, but a team of writers, designers … [Read more...]