damned if you do...

I try to avoid much discussion of Broadway-level production -- because, you know, why? -- but an interesting pair of items came to view this past week. First, the news that The Miracle Worker will be closing at a total loss to its backers:

After only 21 preview performances and 38 regular performances, the Broadway revival of William Gibson’s play “The Miracle Worker” will close at Circle in the Square Theater next Sunday, the producers David Richenthal and Dini von Mueffling said on Sunday. The show cost $2.6 million to mount and will close at a total loss to its producers and investors, a spokesman for the show said.

Patrick Healy notes that the production -- starring Abigail Breslin -- was notable for its unabashedly starfucking producer:

Plans for the show drew attention in the theater industry last fall when Mr. Richenthal explicitly shared a viewpoint that many producers hold privately: “It’s simply naïve to think that in this day and age, you’ll be able to sell tickets to a play revival solely on the potential of the production to be a great show or on the potential for an unknown actress to give a breakthrough performance,” Mr. Richenthal told The New York Times. “I would consider it financially irresponsible to approach a major revival without making a serious effort to get a star.”

He was perhaps coming on strong in response to the disabled community's unhappiness with Breslin's selection over an actually disabled performer, but at least he was honest about the goals and necessities of commercial theater. He's also wrong.

A few days later, the Times noted the critical and commercial success of Next to Normal:

"Next to Normal" is among the 25 percent to 30 percent of Broadway shows each year that become commercial hits. And while this musical benefited from positive reviews and three Tony Awards last year, several theater producers and directors said the show’s recoupment was as significant as it was unlikely, given the tough subject matter, lack of star performers and shrinking audience in a grim economy.

So good on them. Nevertheless, keeping score on this is akin to taking sides between late night TV hosts. After all, who cares? They're all rich.

for the first time in decades...

...Doonesbury is sublime:

Tea-Baggers = Yippies.

Magnificent.

Sausage Gets Made, continued [All's Fair (Six Western)]

Part of COItc's pipeline for 2010-2011 includes development of the new play All's Fair (Six Western), the recipient of a performance residency at Centrum (Port Townsend WA). Throughout the year, we hope to post the thoughts of various members of the development team and track its progress.

Below, the playwright continues to recall some of the thought process behind the work. (Part Two is here.)

The details of why I shared the script with Leah elude me, but I do remember quite clearly that it pissed her off. Now that I think about it, we were running up against a submission deadline, and being nowhere near done on anything else at the moment, I grasped for the AF(SW) script simply because it was a completed, if disastrous, draft. Leah was decidedly annoyed she hadn't been shown it before.

As Managing Director of Stage for COItc, Leah more or less has free reign of all my work as an assumed add-on; I didn't want her to feel I was holding out on her. At the same time, I didn't feel compelled to shovel shit onto her desk, which is what I felt this was.

Leah had other ideas.

The most exhilarating aspect to this group has been the evolution of our aesthetic; I can't define it quite yet, but it's there. Timor Mortis, McReele, and The Danish Mediations/slots had different directors and designers, but they nevertheless held our company's stamp, somehow. And one thing I've learned to trust is that if I don't like a script on the page, I can throw it into the middle of the group and watch something remarkable happen. Leah's gut told her she could do something with this script. As anyone who's worked with her knows, it's a mistake to doubt her judgement.

As just as it had been born out of some desire to stretch the framework of showcase performance infrastructure, in discussions Leah and I found that we were mutually tired of the entire showcase process, start-to-finish: the limitations of COItc's budget and schedule made every aspect of the process feel rushed. We wanted to do something that took its time, was better considered, and had time to breathe.

In the truncated timeline which had developed over time, the various aspects of production were stacked over each other in a haphazard fashion: the hiring of actors and designers were to distinct processes that occurred simultaneously, but without any discussion between the two groups until later in the process. That, we both decided, needed to change. Instead of parallel tracks, we were going to get a designer months in advance to help us create a world for the actors to step into from day one.

For that, we needed a designer who not only shared our mutual aesthetic seamlessly, but who had an appetite for a really intimate, long-running discussion about an incredibly wacky setup to begin with; someone who for practically no money at all and very little to show for it in the months -- up to a year -- to come, would still throw him or herself in headfirst. We needed a nut. One of us.

We needed Kina.

oh, david

At least now we know why Marissa Shorenstein resigned. So she could talk to the NYTimes without reserve -- because hoo, boy. The man is just lying left and right at this point:

Gov. David A. Paterson personally helped draft a statement last month that he hoped would be endorsed by a woman involved in a domestic dispute with one of his top aides, proposing language asserting that there had been no violence in the encounter, according to three people with knowledge of the governor’s role.

On the night of Feb. 16, with The New York Times preparing an article on the aide, David W. Johnson, Mr. Paterson told his press secretary the key points that needed to be included in a brief statement that was sent to the woman, Mr. Johnson’s former companion, the three people said.

He said that the couple’s breakup months earlier had been unfriendly but not violent, and that any charges related to the altercation had been dropped.

The language that was drafted, according to the people, was sent in an e-mail message to Mr. Johnson’s former companion, Sherr-una Booker, through an intermediary, a woman who was a friend of both Mr. Paterson and Ms. Booker.

Ms. Booker refused to go along, telling the mutual friend at one point in the process that she would not participate in “a lie,” according to two people briefed on the exchange.

Mr. Paterson, who himself had spoken with Ms. Booker several times in the preceding 10 days, was disappointed that she would not endorse his statement.

Meanwhile, let's not even list the number of things that need to be fixed in New York State's budget right now. The priority is clearly getting a criminal aide off the hook, yes, Governor...

Robert Culp, 1930-2010

I love Columbo. Robert Culp was one of its better villains. RIP.

we'll be mentioning this show a *lot*. get used to it

We can finally announce that we've been invited back to participate in the second annual Planet Connections Festivity in June. (You might recall our award-winning effort last summer. Probably not, though.)

This year we'll be presenting the original play War Crimes in the Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor, on the following dates. You can buy tickets now:

Thurs 6/10 @ 9 pm
Sat 6/12 @ 4 pm
Tues 6/15 @ 6:30 pm
Thurs 6/17 @ 6:15 pm
Sat 6/19 @ 9 pm
Sun 6/20 @ 6:30 pm

Seriously. Buy your tickets. The sooner you buy tickets, the sooner I go back to eviscerating David Patterson. It's win-win for everyone.

fan-effing-tastic

Some of our friends moved to Austin. Now we know why. A bar in Austin during SXSW:

[via ekai's flickr photostream]