Mondays are Dark

Well, the Air & Sea show got rained out: hopefully, you took advantage by slipping in to a theatre to see a nice, dry, play.  And in case you think  you missed it, The Boca Raton Theatre Guild just extended its limited run of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill to include performances on May 5th and 6th.

The Team
TheatreMania tells us who's involved with the Palm Beach DramaWorks production of Proof, which opens on May 23.

We Be Weebles
The Producer's Perspective had Stephen Schwartz in for an audience talkback after a recent performance of Godspell.

It's Magic
The reviews are already out for Death and Harry Houdini, but there were a bunch of advance stories.  Florida Theater On Stage discusses the mixing of magic and theatricality, while The Miami Herald reflects on the merging of 19th century magic with 21st century technology.

Following Up
TheatreFace shares the story of a patron who saw a play, and a few days later received a "thank you" email from the theatre.

The first thing it did was reinvigorate, in my mind, the experience I'd had at the theater. I remembered sitting next to my wife, holding her hand, during the final act. I remembered bantering with friends before the show. I remembered admiring the space in which the performance had been held. I remembered a few particularly compelling moments from the production. I remembered having a good time.

'Tis The (off)Season
You know we're coming to the end of the official theater season when they start talking about City Theatre's Summer Shorts.  This year, the program of one-act plays stays at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts; BroadwayWorld fills us in.

But It's Not Over Yet
The Examiner lists some of the shows coming to South Florida stages in May.

Big One Oh
The Maltz Jupiter Theatre offers a celebration of their tenth anniversary season that appeals to South Florida Gay News;

Fresh off a pinnacle of eight Carbonells for their ninth season, the theater launched a costume exhibit on April 16 at the Grand Court in the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, featuring costumes from their own collection as well as those from Costume World, the largest supplier of costumes to theaters around the world.

In all fairness, you don't have to be gay to appreciate theatre costumes.  It's a great exhibit in a great venue; lots of parking, easy to get to, and a fabulous good court.

NOT The Usual Suspects
The Examiner reports that New Theatre's next fundraiser incorporates plays written not by playwrights, but by members of the community.

This year’s celebrities include J. Ricky Arriola, President and CEO of Inktel Direct Corporation, James R. Kaufman, CPA, Managing Principal of Kaufman, Rossin & Co., and lobbyist Eric. R. Sisser, President and CEO of Eric R. Sisser, Inc. Returning to Miami Stories this year as Master of Ceremonies is David Samson, President of the Miami Marlins

Starting Over, Every Time
Butts In Seats mulls over articles suggesting that arts organizations should have a set life span at the outset.

Based on my reading of both articles idea of a transitory organization makes sense. We are discovering that the 501 (c) (3) model doesn’t really work for everyone. A temporary formation allows groups to essentially experiment with structures that work well for the participants and make sense for the particular community. It could be for a few months to accomplish a single project or it could be for a span of years. The board and the staff may be one in the same or they may be different entities.

Green Theatre
The Minnesota Playlist goes over the various efforts being made to create a template for environmentally sound theatrical production.

So Change.
Parabasis weighs in on the programming issue highlighted by the outcry over The Guthrie's next season.

Change is coming, it must come, it always comes. But it won't come from words. Just actions. This conversation may spur some change, spur some action, and that's its use. That's good enough. For me, though, I'll keep focusing on what is to be done. And try to do that.

More Guthrie response
2amtheatre blithely rattles off what they think is a wonderful season of diverse plays.  It has the advantage of complete anonymity, since no one's heard of any of the shows or any of the playwrights.  But that's also its disadvantage.  That would be a great season for a small company dedicated to new works; but it's niche programming, and The Guthrie is much larger than that tiny little niche.  I was a Florida Stage staffer; I know that there's an audience for new plays.  But I also know that it's not a large audience.

Seen on Broadway
Florida Theater On Stage reviewed the Broadway production of Leap of Faith, starring Miami native Raul Esparza.  And why are they reviewing Broadway plays?

Over the next two weeks, we’ll give you a look at what we took in, seen through the prism of Florida theatergoers. Among the shows are Leap of Faith (starring Miami’s Raul Esparza), Other Desert Cities (announced for Actors Playhouse), Peter and the Starcatcher (based on books by the Herald’s Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson), Once, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Columnist, End of the Rainbow, Venus in Fur and a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire (with an African-American cast).

Leave 'em Alone
This isn't strictly a theater story, but it's about casting; the Miami Herald reports that the TV show Magic City has had a problem finding actresses who didn't, um, who haven't, er, who were "natural."

“I’ve actually had better luck finding synchronized swimming groups than I did finding real boobs,” said Bill Marinella, local extras casting director. “We did a lot of research and reached out to burlesque clubs and just finding people on the beach and literally walking up to them on the street and saying, ‘Hey, you look like you’re right out of The Great Gatsby.’ ”

And it's not just boobs:

Marinella had to look out for a long list of period-inaccurate body features: implants in breasts, yes, but also lips and butts; tattoos; shaved chests and waxed bikini areas, too-skinny females and too-ripped men.

It's something that's been forgotten in our ever-increasingly narcissistic society; actors are supposed to be "tabula rasa," a blank slate onto which a character can be created.  But too often, young actors fill that slate.  We're not saying "don't," but we are advising "leave room."  This period production is a perfect case in point; whatever you do, consider how it will work into your professional life.