Mondays are Dark

THey tell us the cold snap is over...but I'm still wearing my longjohns. Here's your Monday reading list.

Hellavu St. Patty's Day - in January..
...Or, Barry The Money Launderer, his Costa Rican - American femme-fatale, and a Bunch of Miami Kids Tell Us What It Is To Be Irish. MiamiArtzine.com's Mary Damiano has a tête-a-tête with Paul Tei, founder of Mad Cat Theatre. The scrappy little theatre company that can is re-mounting one of their early hits this month at the Colony Theatre as part of the South Beach Comedy Festival.

Split Personality
Clive Cholerton's next project at Caldwell Theatre is a new tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Chemical Imbalance; a Jekyll and Hyde Story. BroadwayWorld lists a cast that's ridiculously full of talent; besides Tom Wahl as Jekyll/Hyde, there's John Felix, Erin Joy Schmidt, Angie Radosh, Amy Elaine Anderson, Wynn Harmon, Lindsey Forgey, Laura Turnbull, and Tiffany-Leigh Moskow. The Drama Queen describes it as "over-the-top nuttiness here -- a kind of farce-meets-horror flick vibe." Hap Erstein spoke with Tom Wahl for the Palm Beach Post.

Three Firsts
Well, actually, it's just the first word on First Stage from 1st Draft. Florida Stage's blog announces the lineup for the fourth annual 1st Stage New Works Theatre Festival. Say that three times fast.

Rednecks Rising
The Miami Theatre Examiner reports that Actors' Playhouse is bringing us The Great American Trailer Park Musical, describing it as a mix between South Park and Desperate Housewives. Meanwhile, The Fort Lauderdale Theatre Examiner tells us that Rising Action Theatre is putting up Sordid Lives.

Alice in Lone Star Land
Talkin'Broadway reports that the musical Wonderland leaves Tampa for the Alley Theatre, in Houston Texas. South Florida native Janet Dacal stars as Alice in this show created by South Florida native Frank Wildhorn.


...He's Gotta Wear Shades
Hap Erstein interview Louis Tyrell for Palm Beach ArtsPaper. Tyrell, Producing Director and founder of Florida Stage, is enthusiastic about the upcoming move to the Kravis Center.

Stop Looking Back
David Byrne (yes, THAT David Byrne) reads about how one opera company committed to a 32 million budget for a new production of Wagner's Ring Cycle, and gets Los Angeles County to bail them out when they fall far short of raising the funds.

I think maybe it’s time to stop, or more reasonably, curtail somewhat, state investment in the past — in a bunch of dead guys (and they are mostly guys, and mostly dead, when we look at opera halls) — and invest in our future. Take that money, that $14 million from the city, for example, let some of those palaces, ring cycles and temples close — forgo some of those $32M operas — and fund music and art in our schools.

The gist of the argument; it's more important to teach kids to be creative, than to spend huge amounts of monies on reviving old works. Look at it this way: the "classic works" we celebrate now, we celebrate because they marked a drastic change from the market they were playing in at the time: they were cutting edge new works. It's worth discussing.

Indigenous Growth
David Dower of the New Play Blog is inspired by an article Paul Mullin put up on his blog, Just-Wrought. Paul is pushing regional theatres to offer more "locally grown" plays, specifically, he wants Seattle theatres to produce plays by, well, Paul Mullin. And his friends. Who live in Seattle. David Dower suggests that there's nothing wrong with Chicago theatres producing plays created in Chicago, and New York producing New York, and so on.

And here we are in Miami, where we're already feasting on locally grown theatre. Mad Cat grows it in their own greenhouse, while GableStage, New Theatre, Caldwell, Florida Stage and Naked Stage have all harvested local talent. Although, in some cases, the fare doesn't necessarily have a local "flavor." Comments? (Be polite!)

Do You Hate Your Patrons?
MissionParadox is surprised to discover how many theatres resent their audiences.



Maybe We Should "Eat Sandwiches"
The Guardians Theatre Blog opines that it's time to end smoking onstage. I mean, if How I Met Your Mother could find a... suitable... replacement for discussing drug abuse of our parents, so can that shrink in Agnes of God.

Meanwhile, In Palm Beach...
...the Royal Poinciana Playhouse is still closed. To speak on behalf of saving a theatre space no theatre producer in South Florida seems to want, the Theatre Guild imported Evans Haile, who runs a theatre that isn't surrounded by about 30 producing regional companies. Curious that Patrick Flynn can't get any of the local experts who successfully produce in South Florida to speak on behalf of the Royal Poinciana Playhouse.