Mondays are Dark

The Sound of Silence
South Florida Theater Review ponders a problem greater than a cell phone going off mid-show; an audience who won't react. 

Sing The Blues
1st Draft tells us about a blues competition at BB King's Club.

Mom's the Word
From the producers of Menopause: The Musical comes a lyrical pre-quel with a not-so-subtle title: Motherhood: The Musical.  BroadwayWorld.com has the story.

From the Sun-Sentinel
..no, wait, that's a POST story....that's a HERALD review, another one from the POST, HERALD, HERALD...nope.  No news in the Sentinel.  Never mind.

Growing Pains
The South Florida Theatrer Review talks to Florida Stage about their recent move to The Kravis Center, and how they are adjusting. 

But the first show in the new venue has already taught a lesson. The debut of Low Down Dirty Blues proved that the action and the set have to move closer to the audience. As a result the 34 additional seats that the company gained in the move may well be sacrificed to bring the play closer to the laps of the audience.

Growing and Going Places
The South Florida Theater Review reports that The Naked Stage is moving its 24 Hour Theatre Project to Palm Beach County this year.  The fundraiser for Naked Stage and SouthFloridaTheatre.com will take place at The Caldwell Theatre on October 4, 2010, with an 8pm curtain.  By the way, Naked Stage co-founder John Manzelli was seen on A&E's The Glades last week.

Diversity through Exclusivity
Marjorie O'Neill-Butler wrote an article about The Women's Theatre Project for MiamiArtZine.Com.   O'Neill-Butler, a board member of TWTP, explains that the company's mission of producing plays by women, about women, produced by women, and performed by women, is intended to foster diversity.  Some critics point out that this excludes works by such renowned women playwrights as Wendy Wasserstein or Beth Henley, leaving the company without access to the name recognition that such plays bring with them.

The mission statement of TWTP states that they do plays by women, about women and for everyone. It is their choice to impose this limitation on themselves. Although there are other companies promoting female writers and actors, apparently this is the only company in the states that works with only women in their main stage productions. Our local theatre critics have had difficulty with this mission, saying it is limiting. Or wondered aloud in their reviews “where are the men?” Has any critic in a review of an all male play ever asked “Where are the women?”

This is the age of "niche theatre."  Several decades ago, the common wisdom for theatre programming was to try to be all things to everybody, to attract a wide base.  But then Florida Stage started doing new plays exclusively, selling out entire seasons of plays that no one had ever heard of.  And in time, other theatres have learned to find their own unique niche, finding a narrower range or genre, and mastering it completely.

Why not a gender-specific niche?

TWTP opens its production of Alma De Groen's Wicked Sisters this Thursday, August 5.  The men will be in the audience.

Hop on the Bus, Gus...
BroadwayWorld reports that 50 Words will be making its southeastern premiere at GableStage next month.  I hope they won't get lost or misconstrued....

Early Development
Later this season, Actors' Playhouse will be producing the world premiere of Nilo Cruz's The Color of Desire.  But you can about the process of developing it on Cape Cod Online.

Academic
The South Florida Theater Review brings us up to date on Academy, the award-winning creation of Andrew Kato of the Maltz Jupiter Theatre.