Mondays are Dark

It's certainly not a dark night tonight - it's the 36th Annual Carbonell Awards Ceremony!  The event kicks off at 7:30 pm at the Broward Center's intimate Amaturo Theatre.  Then it's off the after-party, hosted by the South Florida Theatre League at The Green Room Live, just a few blocks away.  We hope to see you there!

And now for your Monday reading list!

Star Turn
Avi Hoffman is alive and well, and doing Jaques Brel - in the Big Apple, no less.  TheatreMania reports that he'll be appearing in The Triad Theatre's production Jacque Brels Returns, a musical revue celebrating the 83rd birthday of the late singer-songwriter.

A Classic Returns
BroadwayWorld reports that Palm Beach DramaWorks opens Master Harold and the Boys this weekend.  The cast includes Paul Bodie, who received rave reviews in the GableStage production back in 2004. Previous productions in South Florida were mounted at The Minorca Playhouse (former home of GableStage) in 1991, and Actors' Rep back in 1986.

Wall Street on Broadway
The Wall Street Journal's Terry Teachout examines the lack of straight plays on the Great White Way.

So what happened in the past half-century? Did playgoers get stupid? Is everybody staying home to watch television? Maybe—but something else is going on. The best-remembered new play to hit Broadway in 1962 was Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" It was budgeted at $47,000, the equivalent of $361,000 in today's dollars. By contrast, the 2009 Broadway revival of Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs" cost $3 million to produce.

Spanish Shorts
The Miami Herald fills us in on The MicroTeatro por Dinero Miami festival.

Thursday to Sunday, audiences can pick from nine micro-length original plays, just 15 minutes long, staged in cargo containers lined up in the Center’s parking lot-turned courtyard patio. The cost is $5 per play, and between artistic mini-experiences, people can mingle over tapas and drinks at an outdoor café, stepping out for another dose of theater.

Herald's Round-Up
The Miami Herald rounds up briefs about Avenue Q at Andrews Living Arts Studios, the aformentioned MicroTeatro por Dindero, and the 21st Annual Reach for the Stars Gala Auction at Actors' Playhouse.

FTOS's  Round Up
Florida Theater On Stage rounds up composer-lyricist Jerry Herman's visit to Hello Dolly! at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, New Theatre's addition A Bicycle Country to its current season, and the addition of Other Desert Cities to the next season at Actors' Playhouse.

The Struggle Continues
The Miami Herald reports that the Caldwell Theater, which went into receivership last week, has postponed the opening of its next show.

Scott Brenner, the court-appointed receiver for the Caldwell, declined comment on the latest development. But Cholerton said, “The receiver suggested that rather than jumping into another show, we should take a breath. Sit down and think through it rather than going into rehearsal. My hope is that we get ourselves into making decisions on a proactive basis rather than a reactive one.”

We attended the closing performance of Working, and the staff was hopeful that they will be able to resume pre-production of Our Lady of Allapattah without too much delay.  The audience was enthusiastic, with many of them asking when they could buy tickets for the next show.

We'll point out that the Intiman Theatre and the Pasadena Playhouse are back in operation following receivership, and hope that the Caldwell Theatre Company will follow suit.

On a Brighter Note
Florida Theater On Stage interview Stuart Meltzer, artistic director and co-founder of Zoetic Stage.  Their production of Moscow opened Friday at The Arsht Center to critical acclaim.

Meanwhile...
... in Miami, the Coconut Grove Playhouse is still closed.  But the Miami Herald reports that Grove residents are wrapping the mouldering structure in yellow ribbons.  To get the city to take back the Playhouse.  Which the city is already working on.  With the help of the current Board of Directors.