Mondays are Dark

I have to say, there's a lot of good material out there this week, particularly from the Herald.  Enjoy your Monday reading list.  And don't forget to tune in Aisle Say at 2pm!

Waiting For The Grove
Christine Dolen of the Miami Herald goes into depth about Joseph Adler and the Coconut Grove Playhouse. The planned conversion of GableStage into The Grove may herald a new age in South Florida theatre:

"The whole purpose of the Coconut Grove Playhouse is to give South Florida actors, directors, writers and designers the opportunity to exercise their craft here,'' Adler says. "If we do it right, we can build the theater community and have five to 10 new companies born because the playhouse is here.''

This is a major shift in policy from prior administrations. The article note that in this sentence that sums up what those of us in the industry have known all along:

...during Mittelman's 21 years at the helm, South Florida theater artists correctly felt that the doors of the region's best-known theater were largely closed to them.

Now it's a waiting game; the old Grove board has to retire the $4 million debt run up by Mittelman before Adler can get his company fully involved, and then the old Playhouse building has to be demolished and a new theatre built.  A transfer is years away, at best.

Old News
John LaRiviere of Talkin' Broadway is talking about the upcoming conversion of GableStage into the Coconut Grove Playhouse (years away with no set date) and Florida Stage's scheduled move into the Kravis Center.  Nothing new in either story, but they do neatly summarize the planned sequence of events.

What A Survey Can Tell You
The Producers' Perspective has the results of a recent study of Broadway analysis that offers up a few surprises, and it illustrates why you want someone to do an in-depth analysis of your audience's attendance habits.

Bad Audience Participation
This isn't about actors reaching out to patrons through the fourth wall; it's about thoughtless audience members who bring it crashing down for purely selfish purposes.  The Drama Queen's Christine Dolen found numerous offenders at M Ensemble last week, while Ben Brantly sees the other side of the cellphone violators in the NYT's Art Beat.

Fund-Raising Season
Two of the areas largest companies are holding two of the area's largest fundraisers:

BroadwayWorld.com reports that the Caldwell Theatre is offering a night of special entertainment on February 26th: they are bringing in Broadway stars Gary Beach and Billy Porter, and patrons will dine on food provided by top restaurants from around town. 

The Miami Herald announces that Actors' Playhouse has teamed with Lexus of Kendall to present their 19th annual Reach for the Stars Gala Auction on April 17th.  As in years past, the Miracle Theatre's lobby will be house tasting stations for 30 of the best restaurants in Coral Gables and Miami, while a silent auction is held in the Mainstage Auditorium.  Then artistic director Dave Arisco and former TV new personality Bob Soper will start the live auction. Jewelry, fine art, and vacation packages are among the items in the catalog.

Meanwhile, The Producer's Perspective tells us how two New York producers have taken the fund-raising game to a whole new level. 

FurtherMore...
Florida Stage is always the best source for a peak behind the scenes of its own productions.  FurtherMore: Sins of the Mother is the latest entry of their FurtherMore series.

Sun-Sentinel Scrapes Bottom
Rod Hagwood of the Sun Sentinel scrapes the bottom of the barrel to come up with a list of 39 things about the play.  C'mon, only a fashion editor would include the fact that the cast watches Project Runway on this list, and is only the most glaring example of something that's not actually about The 39 Steps.  The fact that Hagwood doesn't know much about theatre is made painfully obvious by this exceptionally puffed-out puff piece.

Next Season
TheatreMania has the Maltz Jupiter Theatre's lineup for 2010-2011.

Later This Season
TheaterMania on the 4th 1st Stage New Works Festival at Florida Stage.
TheatreMania on Michael McKeever's Melt at Actors' Playhouse - with surprising news about the director.  More information at the play's website.  That's right, Melt has its own site!

Shout Out
The Stage Door, the theatre blog of the Naples News, mentions our SIGHTINGS post from last week, so of course we're giving it - and reviewer Chris Silk - a shout back.

BTW, Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal also enjoyed the production, which features Avi Hoffman and Chris Clavelli on a Richard Crowell set. (Thanks to Jason Parrish for sending the link).

Meanwhile...
... the Royal Poinciana Playhouse is still closed.