News for the Week of Feb. 6, 2012

Caldwell Theatre
Bill Hirschman at Florida Theatre On Stage reports about the Caldwell Theatre and how thay are considering bankruptcy protection but have no plans to fold.

The board of directors at the Caldwell Theatre Company are considering seeking federal bankruptcy protection as one solution to persisting financial problems at South Florida’s longest running regional theater, but it has no expectations of folding or canceling its season, said Artistic Director Clive Cholerton

“We’re not going anywhere,” he said in an interview Friday night after briefing local members of Actors Equity Association about the situation.

The Boca Raton-based professional company, now in its 37^th season, is weighing three versions of restructuring its debt which tops $1 million. The board is likely to decide which course to take sometime next week, Cholerton said.

Unlike some theatres with huge debts who seems to be sinking lower with dwendeling subscriptions, Caldwell Theatre at least has some things going for it.

The decision to restructure was quietly made at the end of the year when the company had nearly broken even on its $1.6 million operating budget, but had not been able to earn enough to reduce the debt at all, even though some creditors had court judgments, Cholerton said.

The situation was frustrating because single ticket sales had doubled during the year and the level of 2,000 subscribers, while far below the Caldwell’s glory days, had stayed nearly even.

There is not one theatre within the tri-county area that has not been hit by the way the economy has been down-turning.  And every community in the United States probably has at least that one theatre that they thought would not go under.  We had our first one when Florida Stage went under.  Lets hope the Caldwell can bounce back.




Jupiter
The Maltz Juiter Theatre has just announced there 10th anniversary season complete with classics, showstopers, drama and family entertainment.

The Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s 10th anniversary season will feature the crowd-pleasing brand of musicals that have cemented its popularity, but it will continue its push toward serious fare with two powerhouse plays: Doubt and Amadeus. The rest of lineup announced Monday night includes the mainstream musicals The Music Man, Singin’ in the Rain and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

“We are celebrating our tenth season of success with the best Broadway-caliber productions and events that we’ve ever assembled,” the theatre’s artistic director, Andrew Kato said in a news release. “Our season is filled with classic musicals, family entertainment and captivating plays, including four Tony Award-winning productions and an MGM spectacle. Our audiences will be completely dazzled.”

Coconut Grove
Christopher Jahn at South Florida Theatre Scene, as well as a few others, have had their comments deleted from the Facebook page "Save The Coconut Grove Playhouse"  Could the Facebook page be hiding something?

It started when Steve Shapiro asked me to post something for him.  You see, Steve was a long-time staffer at The Grove, and is intimately familiar with the problems that faced it.  So he's got a solid insider's view on the issue of saving the Playhouse.

And so he posted his view on the matter on the Facebook page of Save The Coconut Grove Playhouse.

Shortly after he posted his comments, they were deleted.  So we took a look, couldn't find them, and posted a couple of questions about claims being made on the matter.  Not only were our comments deleted, the page de-friended us.

After you read the above post please feel free to read Christophers next one where he starts to fact check the "Save Coconut Grove Playhouse" FB page.

Since SAVE THE COCONUT GROVE has been deleting any comment made that in any contradicts their views and opinions, we decided to provide a place to discuss the issues surrounding The Coconut Grove Playhouse.

One thing I asked STCGP about was their repeated claim that the $20 million grant being held in abeyance was specifically to restore the old building. At the time, I questioned it because I remember that grant being set aside for capital improvements; they needed a new roof, much of the building was structurally unsound, and its technology was woefully out of date.

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God of Carnage

The Red Barn Theatre Presents
The God Of Carnage
Book By Yasmina Reza
Feb 7 - March 10

Winner of the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play and the Olivier Award in London for Best New Comedy, this Broadway smash hit is a comedy of manners without the manners. Two couples meet to discuss an altercation on the playground between their eleven year-old sons in a civilized manner.  Civilized manners soon give way to a rumble in the living room as both sets of parents become more and more childish.  Boys will be boys, but the adults are apparently much, much worse.


Showtimes
Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, & Sat @ 8 PM
Saturday March 10 @ 2 PM

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Current Productions for the week of February 6, 2012

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity

at The Caldwell Theatre Company Until Feb 12

Fresh from its Pulitzer Prize nomination, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is the comedic look into the world of professional wrestling but told through a thoughtful examination of race relations, geopolitics, and personal introspection.

Next To Normal

at Actors Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre Until Feb 12

Winner of 3 Tony Awards and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Next to Normal is an emotional powerhouse of a musical about a family trying to take care of themselves and each other. It is about one woman's struggle with manic depression and the toll it takes on her family. Next to Normal's surging score is intense, emotional and ultimately hopeful of how the family comes to terms with their past and faces their future. 

Brooklyn Boy Staring Avi Hoffman

at Para​de Productions Presents Until Feb 12

Brooklyn Boy follows the career of Eric Weiss, a writer whose novel hits the bestseller list the same time his life begins to unravel.   His wife is out the door, his father is in the hospital and his childhood friend thinks he has sold himself to the devil.  A funny and emotionally rich look at family, friends and fame.

Dead Mans Cell Phone

at The Waterfront Playhouse in Key West Until Feb 18

In a quiet cafe a cell phone rings.  And rings.  The stranger at the next table has had enough.  She confronts the owner of the cell phone, but, well … he’s dead.  She begins to answer his calls and suddenly finds herself enmeshed in his life and family.  Unfortunately, the dead guy has quite  a number of shady loose ends.

Winter

at New Theatre Until Feb 19

In this witty new play, what begins as a scheduling "headache" arranging for the funeral of fraternal twins Peter and Christina Winter's recently deceased mother evolves into an all-out blood feud between the siblings and their mother's mysterious, young live-in assistant.

Divorce Party The Musical

at The Kravis Center Until Feb 19

Still reeling from her divorce, Linda is rescued by her three friends who have come to turn her despair into a weekend of hilarity. Using popular songs with clever new lyrics, the ladies sing and dance their way through the wildest divorce party ever.

Living Out 

at The Main Street Players Until Feb 26

Living Out tells the story of the complicated relationship between a Salvadoran nanny and the Anglo lawyer she works for. Both women are smart, hard-working mothers, and want better lives for their children. But what are the differences wrought by race, class and Ana's illegal status. The play is both outrageously funny and ultimately tragic.

Last of the Red Hot Lovers

at Broward Stage Door Theatre Until Mar 4

Barney Cashman is middle‐aged, overweight, and married. He wants to join the sexual revolution to have one last fling. Knowing that his mother's apartment is empty on certain days he lures three different women there and attempts to seduce the,. He bungles every attempt.  He utterly and hilariously fails at seduction. In desperation he asks up the only other woman he can think of: his wife.

The God Of Carnage
at The Red Barn Theatre Until March 10
Two couples meet to discuss an altercation on the playground between their eleven year-old sons in a civilized manner.  Civilized manners soon give way to a rumble in the living room as both sets of parents become more and more childish.  Boys will be boys, but the adults are apparently much, much worse.

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Living Out

The Main Street Players Presents
Living Out
Book by Lisa Loomer
Feb 10 – Feb 26


Living Out tells the story of the complicated relationship between a Salvadoran nanny and the Anglo lawyer she works for. Both women are smart, hard-working mothers, and want better lives for their children. But what are the differences wrought by race, class and Ana's illegal status. Through Ana, we understand what it means to leave a child in another country to come here, and the potential cost of sacrificing one's own child in order to care for someone else's. Through Nancy, we understand the pressure on women today to "do it all" and the cost of making that choice. The play also looks at the prejudices and misconceptions between Anglos and Latinos. How do we make someone "the other" and what is the cost of doing so? The play is both outrageously funny and ultimately tragic.


Directed by: Daniel Nieves and A.D. John Olivera

Staring: Patty MacAuliffe Fernandez, Clara Lyzniak, Lali Navarro, Anita Garcia, Mikey Fernandez, Marina Catalán, Cairo Cangas, and Juanita Castro

Showtimes
Thurs(Feb 23 Only), Fri, & Sat @ 8 PM
Sundays @ 5

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Theatre Notes Blog Watch for the week of Jan. 30, 2012

In this weeks Theatre Notes Blog Watch we run down the benefits of arts education and ask the quiestion who is more important to talk about in advertising for an event?

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Actor's Blog Watch for the week of Jan. 30, 2012

In this Actor's Blog Watch for this week we have posts from Ann Hu about what it means for and actor or actress to "get pinned", a reminder from Erin Brese to always take a kindness and pay it forward and Joel Putman tells us that we don't need to go anywhere to become famous. Just keep doing what your doing.

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The Past Week In Theatre History (Jan. 30 - Feb 3)

1860 Birthday of Victor Herbert (1860-1924), Broadway's operetta king, composer of Babes in Toyland, The Red Mill, Mlle. Modiste, Naughty Marietta, Sweethearts and numerous editions of the Ziegfeld Follies.

1903 Future actress Tallulah Bankhead, who can count two U.S. Senators and a Congressman in her family, is born today.

1911 Hugh Herbert Hipple is born today in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After dropping two H's, he will become suave actor Hugh Marlowe. In 1940 he will appear in Elmer Rice's Flight To the West.

1912 Birthday of composer Burton Lane (1912-1997), who will go on to write On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Hold on to Your Hats, Laffing Room Only and his great hit, Finian's Rainbow.

1917 Joe Darion, lyricist of Man of La Mancha, was born. Darion also wrote lyrics for Shinbone Alley and Illya Darling.

1920 Eugene O'Neill's first full-length drama, Beyond the Horizon, plays at the Morosco Theatre. This drama of the Mayo brothers and the woman they both love stars Richard Bennett, Robert Kelly, and Elsie Rizer. It will go on to win the Pulitzer Prize.

1921 Carol Channing is born today. The saucer-eyed actress will achieve stardom as Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but her greatest role will be the original Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly!.

1922 The Czarina is Catherine the Great. Her story is told through the eyes of her lover Count Czerny. Doris Keane and Basil Rathbone star. This comedy will run at the Empire Theatre in New York for 136 performances.

1925 Tony-winning performer Elaine Stritch is born today in Detroit. She'll star in Sail Away, Company, Pal Joey and her solo show, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty.

1926 James Rennie is The Great Gatsby at the Ambassador Theatre. Also starring Florence Eldridge and Elliot Cabot, this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel by Owen Davis will run 14 weeks. George Cukor provides the direction.

1927 Opening night of Ziegfeld's first non-revue musical, Rio Rita, by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson. It's the inaugural production at the new Ziegfeld Theatre, and runs 494 performances.

1928 It all becomes a Strange Interlude at the Golden Theatre. Eugene O'Neill's nine-act saga of Nina Leeds and the men in her life stars Lynn Fontanne. It will run 426 performances and go on to win the Pulitzer Prize.

1928 Also this week, producer/director Harold Prince is born. He will win a record 20 Tony awards (as of 2005) and will serve as producer and/or director of Broadway classics Fiddler on the Roof, Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Cabaret, Damn Yankees, Follies, A Little Night Music, Company, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and many more.

1928 Also born this week: Mitch Leigh, composer of Man of La Mancha.

1935 Opening night for George Abbott's long-running gambling comedy, Three Men on a Horse starring Garson Kanin, Shirley Booth, Sam Leven and Teddy Hart. It will run 835 performances.

1936 Picking up where her late husband, Florenz Ziegfeld, left off, Billy Burke produces the Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 with Bob Hope, Fanny Brice, Josephine Baker, Eve Arden and Judy Canova. It runs 115 performances at the Winter Garden.

1938 When a grandfather holds off Death (by chasing him up a tree) so he can be sure his grandson will be taken care of, he's working On Borrowed Time. This comedy was adapted by Paul Osborn from Lawrence Watkin's novel of the same title. Dudley Diggs stars as Gramps, Peter Holden is his grandson, and Frank Conroy is the Grim Reaper.

1942 Of V We Sing, the V stands for victory in World War II. Co-produced by Alex Cohen and the American Youth Theatre, this timely show hosts songs and sketches and some lively jitterbugging. The cast includes Betty Garrett, Phil Leeds, and Daniel Nagrin. It will run nearly 10 weeks.

1956 Broadway musical comedy leading man Nathan Lane is born today in Jersey City, NJ. He will star in Broadway productions of The Producers, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Guys and Dolls, The Odd Couple, On Borrowed Time, Love! Valour! Compassion! and other shows. He will also collaborate with Stephen Sondheim on the musical The Frogs, a lend his voice to Timon the Meerkat in Disney's The Lion King.

1958 Franklin Roosevelt's life at the family retreat of Campobello Island, Maine, is dramatized in Dore Schary's Sunrise at Campobello, which will run 556 performances at the Cort Theatre. Ralph Bellamy plays FDR. Also in the cast in a minor role: James Earl Jones.

1960 The Wrong Side of the Park might also be the wrong side of marriage in this John Mortimer drama. Staged by Peter Hall at London's Cambridge Theatre, Margaret Leighton stars as a neurotic wife tormenting her husband (Richard Johnson) with a fantasy of her deceased first spouse. It will run nearly 22 weeks.

1966 Opening night of Frederick Knott's murder mystery Wait Until Dark, about a blind woman stalked by a killer. It runs 374 performances and becomes a staple in stock.

1967 The Deer Park Norman Mailer's adaptation of his novel stars Rip Torn, Gene Lindsey and Marsha Mason. Leo Garen directs the 128 performances at Theatre de Lys.

1969 Boris Karloff, who came to life on film as Frankenstein's monster, dies today at 82 in Sussex, England. He made his first stage appearance in 1910. In 1941 he appeared in the comedy Arsenic and Old Lace at the Fulton Theatre in New York.

1976 Opening night for A Matter of Gravity starring Katharine Helpburn and Christopher Reeve. Enid Bagnold's drama will run just 79 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre.

1985 The story of 19th century acting team Ned Harrigan and Tony Hart gets the musical treatment in Harrigan 'n Hart, which gets acclaim as the first musical developed at Goodspeed Opera House's Norma Terris Theatre, but lasts only 4 performances after its transfer to Broadway. Harry Groener stars with Mark Hammill.

1986 The Steppenwolf Theater Company's production of Harold Pinter's The Caretaker opens tonight and will run 45 performances at the Circle in the Square. The cast features Gary Sinise, Jeff Perry, and Alan Wilder.

2000 Boston's Shear Madness turns 20 years old today. It is the longest-running non-musical play in the history of American theatre. The play is a comedy in which a murder occurs in the Shear Madness Hair Styling Salon and it is up to the audience to vote on who is guilty of the crime.

2002 Hildegard Knef, 76, the husky-voiced singer and actress who sang the role of Communist official Ninotchka in Cole Porter's Silk Stockings dies in a Berlin hospital, after a long illness.

2004 Film star Isabella Rossellini stars with Richard Thomas in the world premiere of Terrence McNally's The Stendhal Syndrome, which begins performances at Off-Broadway's Primary Stages' new home, 59E59 theatre complex.

2004 Also this week, Jason Raize Rothenberg, who created the role of Simba in Broadway's The Lion King, is found dead today of an apparent suicide at age 28, in Yass, Australia.

2005 Pulitzer-winner Donald Margulies opens his latest play, Brooklyn Boy, at Manhattan Theatre Club. Adam Arkin, Polly Draper and Ari Graynor are featured in the drama about a man who returns to his childhood neighborhood after becoming a famous novelist.

2006 Wendy Wasserstein, who dramatized the progress of her generation of women through a series of comic and rueful plays, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Heidi Chronicles, dies of lymphoma at age 55.

2011 Tennessee Williams' The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, a rarely seen title about a wealthy, aging Southern eccentric barking her memoirs to a secretary as a harbinger of death climbs up the hill, opens Off-Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre Company's Laura Pels Theatre. Olympia Dukakis stars as widow Flora Goforth.

More of this week's Birthdays: Fritz Leiber 1882.  James Joyce 1882.  Eddie Cantor 1892.  Clark Gable 1901.  Langston Hughes 1902.  Ayn Rand 1905.  James A. Michener 1907.  Bibi Osterwald 1920.  Mario Lanza 1921.  Bernard Gersten 1923.  Liz Smith 1923.  Elaine Stritch 1925.  Ruth Brown 1928.  Gene Hackman  1930.  Richard Clarke 1933.  Tammy Grimes 1934.  Suzanne Pleshette 1937.  Garrett Morris 1937. Vanessa Redgrave 1937.  Sherman Hemsley 1938.  Blythe Danner 1943.  Leo Burmester 1944.  Brent Spiner 1949.  Charles S. Dutton 1951.  Anthony LaPaglia 1959.  Linda Eder 1961.  Cady Huffman 1965.  Jennifer Westfeldt 1971.  Marisa Jaret Winokur 1973.


This is by no means a comprehensive list of everything that happen this week in theatre history, that post would be WAY longer than this one. To see more check out the "Today in Theatre History" blog posts on Playbill.com.

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Show reviews for the week of Jan. 30

The reviews for this week consists of two firsts: The first show by a new local company, Parade Productions, and the world premiere of a new show, Divorce Party: The Muscial!

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Women's Theatre Project 2012 Season Press Release

The Women's Theatre Project is a company of professional female theatre artists dedicated to producing theatrical works exploring the female voice. The company was founded from a need for women's voices to be heard, a desire to break down the stereotypes of women propelled by the media, and to create more professional theatrical opportunities for women of all shapes, sizes, races, and ages. 
 
Over the last 10 years, we have worked diligently to bring a unique theatre experience to audiences in our region. While it is never easy to develop a theatre company, the last several years have brought many challenges to our organization. With the decline of the economy, we have seen grant funding reduced year after year. Fortunately, we witnessed an incredible level of support from our audience, who contributed donations that supported and sustained our work when the grant money fell short. We also had the benefit of finding constancy from our major corporate sponsor, Sixth Star. To Doug Jones and Sixth Star, we are truly grateful.

As we look to 2012 and beyond, we face more challenges that we are working to resolve. The theatre space at Sixth Star will be converted into offices in March, which means we will no longer be presenting productions in that venue. We have been working with other venues in Broward County to secure performance space but the right opportunity has not presented itself, as of yet. In addition, we are registered in Broward County as a not-for-profit and our major source of funding comes from the Broward Cultural Division. Understandably, we are obliged to perform in our home county to receive this funding. This places us in the precarious position of not being able to secure grants for future work because we do not have an identified location for presentation. This scenario dictates that we cannot sell a season, which also impacts our revenues to fund productions.

We feel the only way to move forward at this point in time is to postpone our plans for a full 2012 season. We will, instead, channel our efforts on Girl Play 2012, because the nature of the festival program provides us with the portability we require at this stage in our development. If you are not familiar with Girl Play, it is a short play competition and festival. We receive hundreds of submissions from around the globe for this program that has become a strong outreach program for TWTP.

This news is difficult to share and comes from a company that has faithfully delivered every production on time and on schedule (and under some dire circumstances).

Our subscribers were contacted individually on behalf of our Board of Directors and have already been refunded their subscriptions purchased for the 2012 season.

We will remain in touch with you on updates or changes as they arise and this information will be posted on our website, as well. We look forward to sharing good news with you in the near future.

Sincerely,
Meredith Lasher
President

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Breaking News: Women’s Theatre Project Postpones Rest of Season

From Florida Theater On Stage
February 1, 2012 by Bill Hirschman
Note: This story is still evolving and hopefully more details will follow soon.

The Women’s Theatre Project has postponed the rest of its 2012 season because it has lost its venue in Fort Lauderdale and has been unable to find a suitable replacement yet in Broward County, the group announced Wednesday.

“This news is difficult to share and comes from a company that has faithfully delivered every production on time and on schedule (and under some dire circumstances),” reported a news release.

Since much of its funding comes from the Broward Cultural Division and it is registered as a not-for-profit organization in the county, “understandably, we are obliged to perform in our home county to receive this funding,” the company reported.

“This places us in the precarious position of not being able to secure grants for future work because we do not have an identified location for presentation. This scenario dictates that we cannot sell a season, which also impacts our revenues to fund productions,” the release stated.

The company has refunded money to its subscribers, but will continue later this year with Girl Play 2012, its annual lesbian playwriting festival, which does not have to be performed in the current space.

The theater had three more plays slated for the season: The Sex Habits of American Women scheduled for Feb. 16, plus Blind Spots and Taking Flight.

For ten years, the company has been devoted solely to plays written by women and dealing with women’s issues, but it has built a loyal audience among patrons of both sexes.

Its web page states, “The company was founded from a need for women’s voices to be heard, a desire to break down the stereotypes of women propelled by the media, and to create more professional theatrical opportunities for women of all shapes, sizes, races, and ages.”

The Women’s Theatre Project has also been one of the leading companies in the state exploring lesbians’ concerns. As a result, it has developed a strong following among lesbian patrons.

Like many tiny companies, the troupe has wrestled with financial issues in the down economy, asking private donors to replace grant money that has dwindled. It has operated for several years in a vest-pocket storefront space at 505 NW 1st Ave. in Fort Lauderdale, donated by Doug Jones and Sixth Star Entertainment. But the theater is being converted into offices in March.

Since its first staged reading in 2001, its incorporation in 2002 and its first full production in 2004, The Women’s Theatre Project has presented world and regional premieres of several works such as Speaking Elephant by local playwright Terry Lawrence.

Like every other company, the quality of its productions varied, but it has mounted acclaimed works such as Eclipsed, about the oppression of women in war-torn Africa, The Year of Magical Thinking, drawn from Joan Didion’s memoir, and Playhouse Creatures about women in the theater.

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