Mondays are Dark (Updated)

The Most Important Thing
I just had to include this late addition by The Producer's Perspective on the value of having the right artistic director.

It's a challenge for ADs, because their job is to serve a mission, challenge an audience, stretch, push, educate, etc . . . but they must remember that if the audience doesn't enjoy what they are seeing, they'll go somewhere else.  Period. 

I think that having an AD who respects the budget is also important.  Because you can sell out a show and STILL not make money if you're not minding the numbers.

What's the Buzz?
The Miami Theatre Examiner reminds us that In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play opens this week at GableStage.

Will Bill Bail?
The Palm Beach Post reports that IATSE local 500 is hoping that Bill Maher won't cross their picket line to do his May 28 show at the Kravis Center.

The stagehands union and the performing arts center in West Palm Beach remain at odds after an 11-year contract fight in which a federal judge ruled in 2008 that management had engaged in unfair labor practices.

"Bill Maher's a guy that speaks about injustice and hammers it home to everybody about hypocrisy," said Terry McKenzie, a former stagehands union president. "In a perfect world, Bill Maher wouldn't cross a picket line."

All The World's a Stage
Broadway World reports on Gen Z Global Stage, an initiative by Florida Stage in association with Dreyfoos School of the Arts to facilitate global collaboration via digital technology (making plays through the Internet). 

With a dialogue that functions via a Google Groups website, young people from all of the participating countries share their thoughts, ideas, fears, hopes and triumphs. The project has at its heart the desire to teach young people that even though they are separated by thousands of miles, and in very different cultures, they have more in common than they would have previously realized.

South BEACH Theatre Scene?
CBS-Local 10 looks into a movement to create a theatre district in Miami Beach's South Beach district. Apparently, we missed the story when it ran in The Herald last month.

Led by Paris Theater owner Eugene Rodriguez, former mayor Harold Rosen and attorney Steve Polisar, the Miami Beach Theater & Show District Association has been meeting with city administrators and officials to promote a concept in which the two blocks would become a hotspot for investors looking to open small theaters and live performance venues. - The Miami Herald, 4/18/2011

The plan: to turn Washington Avenue from Fifth to Seventh Streets into a strip of off-Broadway playhouses, jazz clubs and dinner theaters.  Polisar said the idea was inspired by the enormous, 1945-built Paris Theater on the west side of Washington Avenue. Currently, it is only used for private events, but its owner, Eugene Rodriguez, said it could be transformed for public use.  Rodriguez said the empty nightclubs across the street that are half its size would be perfect for up and coming acts.  - CBS Local10

It's an interesting concept, but hard to imagine in the current economy.

"I see...FAMOUS People..."
James Cubby writes up Celebrity Autobiography for Miami ArtZine.

"The show features a rotating cast of celebrities reading celebrity autobiographies on stage..."

This week, the readers will include Sharon Gless (who lives here, making this "legitimate" to South Florida), Bruce Vilanch, Paul Provenza, Cady Huffman, Roger Bart (yes, THAT Roger Bart), and Dayle Reyfel.  Who's Dayle Reyfel?  He's one of the creators of the show.

Video Trailers for Live Theater
The Naples Stage Door posts the latest clip for a show at Florida Rep, and mentions that while it's easy for bloggers to share video on YouTube, Facebook videos - and articles - are only visible to other FaceBook users.  (That's a hint, son.  I say, a HINT.  Send us links to your You Tube videos, and we'll probably post them.)

Does Theater Matter?
The Tony Award nominations are out, so TimeOut New York reflects on the purpose of it all.

Edward Albee Expounds
The Telegraph has an interview with Edward Albee.  At 83, he hasn't mellowed, and that's just fine.

'Let me remind you of something,” says the spiky, donnish voice on the line from Texas, where the playwright Edward Albee is taking an hour on the phone before his day’s teaching begins. “You may not need reminding, but a lot of people do. A playwright or any creative artist is his work. The biography can be distorting, or it’s just gravy. The work is the essence of the person.”

Purple Prose
The Palm Beach Daily News reports that the national tour of The Color Purple returns to South Florida, this time to the Kravis Center.  This show sold out at the Arsht Center, and did a brisk business at the Broward Center.  Meanwhile, the Palm Beach Post talks with playwright Marsha Norman about her work on the musical.

Full Frontal Nudity
Of course, we must be talking about Rising Action Theatre, infamous for its gratuitous inclusion of nudity.  BroadwayWorld reports that their next production is Two Boys in Bed on a Cold Winter's Night.  Subtle.

This Business We Call Show
The Minnesota Playlist has the testimony of the wife of a theatre owner.

I’m sure the long hours and countless demands of a theater are not dissimilar to that of any new entrepreneurial venture. What I think is different about theater is the social nature of it. Anyone can come in off the street and see my husband at his theater. It’s fun! It’s entertaining! Which begs the question: Why don’t you hang out with him there?

Stars on Parade
uVu Blog has video from the Broward Schools' 12th Annual Stars on Parade showcase, held at the Broward Center on April 26, 2011. The show features the best talent from Broward County Schools arts programs.