Mondays are Dark

We hope you had a good weekend of theatre.  We had the honor of attending the Mosaic Theatre fundraiser, and somehow cadged a seat at the table with Bill Hirschman, who was honored with Mosaic Theatre's Jack Zink Spirit Award.  It was a delightful meal, shared with Bill's wife, the writer Oline Cogdill, Tony Finstrom, Beth Holland, Alvin Entin and his wife, and Jill Kratish.  Dinner was followed by a live auction, which was followed by Death and the Maiden.

Congratulations, Bill. Jack would be proud.

Not So Dark
Florida Theater On Stage reports that GableStage is hosting a reading of plays under consideration by City Theatre for inclusion in this year's Summer Shorts.
Also, an audition announcement for student productions at the Maltz Jupiter Theater, and an update on Miami playwright Lauren Feldman.

Number 6!
The South Florida Business Journal reports that South Florida ranks 6th in the nation for arts and entertainment jobs.

The tri-county area has 38,838 workers in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector, which has an average local pay per employee of $34,500.

It's proof once again that arts funding is jobs funding, too.

Palm Beach Mastery
BroadwayWorld fills us in on the upcoming Palm Beach DramaWorks production of Master Harold and the Boys.

Donation Inequity
The Huffington Post reveals that donations to arts organizations are even more uneven than wages to employees.

Let's put this in perspective: if there were one hundred people splitting $1 million according to the OWS breakdown, one lucky guy would get $250,000 and the other 99 would each get $7575, a ratio of 33:1. Now let's look at the nonprofit arts scene: if one hundred arts organizations were splitting $1 million dollars according to the NCRP breakdown, two lucky arts organizations would get $550,000 ($275,000 each), and the other 98 would each get $4591, a ratio of about 60:1. In other words, the income gap in the nonprofit arts scene is almost twice as wide as in the culture as a whole.

Keep this in mind when you get to the last story in our reading list.

She's Baaaack
Broadway World reports that the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts will be hosting the triumphant return of Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan.  Some of you may remember that she played her farewell tour back in 2005.  But apparently the 57-year-old former Olympian wants to give Ted Neely a run for "the actor most too old to play the role" slot in the Guinness book.  Ted Neely is more than twice the age Jesus was when he was crucified; Rigby is old enough to be the grandmother of the boy she's playing.  Well, to be fair, Mary Martin was 41 when she first donned the tights.

Silver Season
Actors' Playhouse is turning 25, and The Drama Queen goes over their 25th anniversary season line-up, which includes In The Heights, as does Florida Theater On Stage. Any bets on whether or not he gets Janet Dacal to reprise her Broadway turn as Nina?  And Oscar Cheda played Nina's father on the national tour...

Speaking of South Florida Broadway Stars...
Broadway World reminds us that Raúl Esparza will be opening Leap of Faith on Broadway next month, and includes a video interview with cast members of the show, including Esparza.  Meanwhile, TheatreMania reports that Mark Kudisch will be amongst the performers in the New York Philharmonic's Anywhere I Wander: The Frank Loesser Songbook, playing at the Avery Fisher Hall on March 26th.

Who Needs New York?
The Miami Herald reports that a number of local playwrights will see there work opening on local stages in the coming weeks.

The region’s most prolific playwright, McKeever has had work premiered at numerous theaters around South Florida. But he notes that things are different – and much better – now than when he started writing.

“There just weren’t world premieres here when I started 15 years ago,” he says. “Especially in the last five years, that’s changed. Florida Stage had a lot to do with it. Then the Caldwell and New Theatre and Actors’ Playhouse caught the bug. That’s Zoetic’s main focus. So many companies are developing and celebrating new work.”

Speaking of Zoetic
The Z-Spot gives us a look at the cast doing the initial reading of Zoetic Stage's next production, Michael McKeever's Moscow.

Final Exit
The Sun-Sentinel reports that the lead actor in a community theatre production of The Producers died on the day the show was scheduled to open.  And in the spirit of the ancient tradition, the show did go on at the Pembroke Pines Theater of Performing Arts.

Final Curtain for Promethean
The Promethean Theatre Company has struggled with little funding and poor attendance throughout its eight year existence, but always managed to attract the region's top talent and garner rave reviews.  They've even won the coveted Carbonell Award for their work.  But with support dwindling, the company has decided to close after the completion of its current production, the critically acclaimedThe Unseen.  Florida Theater On Stage spoke with executive director and company co-founder Deborah Sherman about the decision.