Mondays are Dark

Sorry it's late, folks.  Internet problems held us up.  But here's your Monday reading list:

Concert Review
Hap Erstein reviewed Caldwell Theatre's concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods for the Palm Beach ArtsPaper.

Cholerton and company have hit upon a format that is very appealing and relatively affordable.‭

The New Kid on the Blog
David Sirois joins the blogosphere with a blog called Playwright's Cabin.  So far, it has a surprising number of videos for a writer's blog, but I guess the best way to see the work is to see it performed.

It's full of Stars...
The Drama Queen reports from Broadway, and she's not looking at the sky...

Summer Starts in South Africa
...which is the setting of Mosaic's next production, Groundswell.  Read about it in the Palm Beach Post.  And while we're on the subject, check out the nifty video.

Another Look Back
1st Stage posts a list of every show produced by Florida Stage in their Manalapan home over the last 19 years.  It's a long list.

Drama Daily Discount
Drama Daily has links to discounted tickets for the previews of MilkMilkLemonade at Empire Stage.  You can also get a peak into the process.

Connecting to the Community
Over on Towards a Holy Theatre, Andie Arthur discusses arts advocacy, spurred on by reports of massive budget cuts in Broward County.

... I think that arts advocates need to think more broadly, more deeply. Instead of waiting to show how relevant, how vital we are to the communities we serve when we're in danger of cuts, we need to be doing this all the time.

She's right.  People don't know how intertwined with the community theaters really are - they only see us asking for money when the budget cuts come.  Even opening nights, we only show them the businesses that gave us stuff.  While it's great to acknowledge all those who gave us a handout, it blinds us to the fact that we still pay for a lot of stuff - willingly and gratefully.

I think the question we need to ask always (and if we have a good answer, shout it to the rooftops) is: "if this theatre were to go away today, how would the community suffer?"

Perhaps someone would like to list all the businesses they worked with to put on a recent production.  After all, we buy paint, lumber, hardware, fabrics, and a whole slew of other materials to produce a play. And a lot of patrons grab a meal before seeing a show, or a drink after.