Keeping Up-To-Date
With the Theatre Scene
By Tony Vellela
Our invaluable, talented theatre casts and crew members have reached an historic agreement between the Broadway League, representing producers, theatre owners and general managers, and the Broadway unions, to reach an emergency relief agreement, now in effect. This will provide Broadway employees with pay and health insurance during the current suspension of all Broadway shows due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League, announced that “we are a community that cares about each other, and we are pleased that we can offer some relief. Once we are past this challenging moment,” she added, “we look forward to welcoming everyone back to our theatres, to experience the best of live entertainment together once again.”
In other news, scheduled to premiere this summer, if the crisis averts, is the long-anticipated stage remake of the stage of the television sitcom “Designing Women,” at the Theater-Squared venue in Fayetteville, Arkansas, recently announced by producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. Plans call for a Broadway transfer following its run there at a yet undetermined time or site. The CBS sitcom debuted in 1986, starring Dixie Carter, Jean Smart, Annie Potts, Delta Burke and Meshach Taylor, and ran for seven seasons.
Currently underway are the 24 Hour Plays, which launched live podcasts, begun on Monday, March 16 at 8 PM. According to artistic director Mark Armstrong, “the 24 Hour Plays is already a singular theater event, but turning it into an audio experience allows us to bring this lighting-in-a-bottle to audiences wherever they find their podcasts. We are thrilled to partner with WNYC to create something unique during this challenging time, for our friends around the world to enjoy.” In addition to The 24 Hour Plays and The 24 Hour Musicals in New York City, events take place in London, Los Angeles, Dublin, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Germany, Athens, Finland, Mexico City, Florence and Denmark. Each live taping of a podcast brings together four writers, four directors, eight actors, one host, one musical guest and a full team of audio engineers, to create recorded events from a live performance, published online in all 24 hours. At each taping, plays and songs from the musical guest are recorded. The next morning, two new episodes are available wherever podcasts are found, starting at 9 AM, completing the 24-hour cycle. Since 1995, the events have featured an array of talent, including Edie Falco, Billy Crudup, Live Schreiber, Phylicia Rashad, Cynthia Nixon and America Ferrera. Details are available at https://24hourplays.com/podcast/.
On Book
It’s the perfect time to keep your theatre genes percolating with some great tomes, beginning with the impressive 496-page “Broadway – The American Musical,” a welcome addition to anyone’s coffee table. Compiled by Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon, with a conversational foreword by Julie Andrews, it comes from Applause Books, and the updated, revised edition is a companion book to the six-part PBS series; featuring a foreword by John Lithgow, “The American Stage,” edited by Laurence Senelick, from The Library of America covers theater from Washington Irving to Tony Kushner. This invaluable work chronicles essays, historical statements and critiques that will open your eyes to many aspects of the American theatre; veteran critic Michael Billington has penned “The 101 Greatest Plays – from Antiquity to the Present,” the present being 2015, when Guardian Books brought it out. His compilation makes for great reading, to give you insight into some of the landmark theatre works from the last oh-so-many centuries. It’s a fun read.
TONY VELLELA wrote and produced the PBS series about theatre, “Character Studies.” His play “Admissions,’ directed by Austin Pendleton, won the Best Play Award at the New York International Fringe Festival, and is published by Playscripts. ArtAge published his play “Maisie and Grover Go to the Theatre.” He has written eleven other plays and musicals, including “Mister,” for Anthony Rapp. He has written entertainment articles for Parade, Rolling Stone, Theatre Week, Dramatics, The Christian Science Monitor, and several other publications and news services. His television documentary “Test of Time” won the CableAce Award for Lifetime Television. He has taught theatre sessions at Columbia University’s Teachers College, the 92nd St. Y and HB Studio, among other institutions. He is a member of the Writers Guild and the Dramatists Guild.
CARMEL CAR & LIMOUSINE SERVICE, in business since 1978, has been selected as the official transportation company for Intermission Talk. Its wide variety of services, including special theatre packages, and reservations, are available at carmellimo.com, the Carmel App, or at 212 – 666 – 6666.
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