Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Today I wrote what may be the three most satisfying words a dramatist writes: END OF PLAY. They went on the bottom of page 103 in Scene 12 of a new full-length comedy. (One only hopes...
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 09:30PMSunday, March 17, 2013
Impoverishment is the default condition of most theatre artists, including playwrights, composers and lyricists. Very few make a living from their art and many struggle to make ends meet and…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 07:05PMWednesday, September 12, 2012
How much should playwrights worry about cast size when they write a script? This unsavory question is driven by the economic mess that has imperiled nonprofit theatres in recent decades. Wri…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 10:15PMFriday, July 20, 2012
The Washington State Lottery identifies the odds of winning its Lotto jackpot as one in 6.99 million. That’s one of 6.99 reasons why I never buy a lottery ticket. The odds of writing a pla…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 03:39PMThursday, June 21, 2012
I have seen many productions of Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya over the years but am not likely to ever experience one with such intimacy as I did recently at Soho Rep in New York. It was...
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 04:41PMSunday, April 1, 2012
Commercial theatre in New York is a financial long shot at the best of times. Only twenty to twenty-five percent of Broadway shows turn a profit. Those odds get a lot longer for straight pla…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 11:34PMSunday, February 12, 2012
What are the optimum conditions for creative output, particularly as regards working solo or in a group? (David Licata in a recent post praises artist residencies for the fertile conditions …
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 04:11PMMonday, January 2, 2012
“It’s a strange, compulsive business, the urge to make plays. To act in them, or write ‘em, or produce ‘em. It’s no use appealing to reason.” That’s Henry James counseling a fr…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 02:33PMThursday, December 15, 2011
John Hurt, the superb British actor, gave an entertaining and enlightening interview this week on the “Charlie Rose Show.” Hurt is currently appearing in Samuel Beckett’s play Krapp’…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 12:48PMFriday, September 2, 2011
I recently read The Abominable Showman (by Howard Kissel, 1993), a biography of legendary Broadway producer, David Merrick (1911-2000). Merrick was Broadway’s foremost producer in the thir…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 12:30PMTuesday, August 30, 2011
A terrific interview with playwright Terrance McNally and actress Tyne Daly (musical Gypsy; television Cagney & Lacey, Judging Amy) recently aired on the Charlie Rose show. The 30-minute…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 10:21AMMonday, August 8, 2011
Roland wrote a short post a couple of weeks ago about an innovative ticket sales strategy at ACT Theatre in Seattle, prompting me to dig deeper. I write regularly about marketing and revenue…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 08:16AMMonday, July 25, 2011
This week I visited a cherry orchard to experience something I’ve been avoiding. I discovered that it’s actually pretty good. Five years ago the Metropolitan Opera, led by its new and in…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 09:04AMWednesday, July 13, 2011
War Horse and Jerusalem, two plays developed in Britain’s subsidized theatres, received high honors last month at the Tony Awards. Michael Billington is one of England’s foremost drama c…
SOURCE: Extra Criticum at 10:38AM 
