Mondays are Dark

It's another week of some really great theatre stories for your Monday reading list.  Enjoy!

Coulda/Shoulda Beens
South Florida Theater Review weighs in on a topic near and dear to Theatre Scene commenters Anonymous, Anonymous, and of course, Anonymous: plays that could have or should have been on the list of this year's nominees.

I have nothing but respect for the judging panel, but when you have a “co-creative” process as theater people love to say, something inevitably gets lost.

Broadway in South Florida
The Miami Herald tells us about the Broadway stars who will be performing on South Florida stages over the next few weeks.

Here's a Picture of a Singer
The Producer's Perspective says that folks producing musicals are missing the boat.

There was a time when "concept recordings" were made of shows and released well before the opening date.  Webber did most of them, with Jesus Christ Superstar being the most famous, which he followed up with a concept recording of Evita (featuring Les Miz's original Jean Valjean, Colm Wilkinson - who is awesome). 

Speaking of Producers
The Shiny Sheet talks with successful theater producers, Fran and Barry Weissler.

...the show that made their fortune was the revival of Chicago. The musical, which is still playing on Broadway 14 years after it opened, has been performed in 23 countries and, according to The New York Post, has posted a worldwide gross of nearly $2 billion.

Of course, not every show was that successful, and none of it was easy.

Behind the Scenery
South Florida Theater Review takes a close look into the scenic world of set designer Sean McClelland.

Unsung Underwriters
The New York Times reveals that there's a group of people subsidizing live theatre in the US, and it's not who you think.

The Critic's Stake
Minnesota Playlist has an excellent piece by a former theatre critic;

I'd be lying if I said it always pains me to write a bad review. As anyone who has done so knows, writing scathing critiques can be fun. It's an opportunity to show off wit and wisecracks, and in an age as ironic as ours, bad reviews can be fun to read. But there's something more at stake in a bad review than wit or irony. I panned shows because they were either aesthetically unpleasing, failing to arouse either pleasure or interest; or because they didn't represent the level of quality that I, as a critic, feel compelled to guard.

I don't mean this ironically: One of the critic's responsibilities is to promote theater that moves him or her.

Yet Another Arts Center
The Miami Herald reports that South Florida is home to yet another new venue: the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center in Cutler Bay.

“The center’s flavor will come from the smaller spaces around the venue where artists can engage the community,” Fliss said. “It’s my intention to bring national acts in and have them provide community workshops to local performers.”

And The Survey Says....
Broadway World reports that Florida Stage has tallied the votes, and popular demand has chosen ELLA, the musical created in Manalapan five years ago, as their next summer musical.  It's a good choice.

Court Order, Schmourt  Order
The Palm Beach Daily News reports that Kravis Center management  has still not settled with the stagehand's union.

Federal courts have ruled that the center engaged in unfair labor
practices when it fired six full-time union workers and ejected the
union in September 2000. The courts have ordered the center to negotiate
with the union and rehire the fired workers.

The Kravis Center is currently balking at paying the figure calculated by the National Labor Relations Board, a disinterested third party.