the week of august 25-31, 2023
blues for an alabama rush
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton | Editorial Support: Rebecca Adelsheim
productions
Alexis Scheer’s Our Dear Dead Drug Lord is now playing at Center Theatre Group in association with IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles. The “fierce and feverish comedy” about a pack of teenage girls gathering in an abandoned treehouse to summon the ghost of Pablo Escobar is directed by Lindsay Allbaugh.
Madeline Sayet’s Where We Belong is now playing at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Mei Ann Teo directs the ongoing tour of Sayet’s “intimate and exhilarating solo piece — moving between nations that have failed to reckon with their ongoing roles in colonialism — asking us what it means to belong in an increasingly globalized world.”
Chloe Xtina’s Joan of Arc in a Supermarket in California is now playing through September 2nd from The Tank. Staged at E & S Wholesome Foods in Brooklyn, the “epic daydream that explores intuition, paranoia, and possession” is directed by Kaycie Sweeney.
The Public Works’ production of The Tempest runs August 27th - September 3rd at the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park. Featuring music and lyrics by Benjamin Velez, the “ambitious work of participatory theater exploring the grief of being cut off from community, the desire for retribution, and the healing power of love” is directed by Laurie Woolery.
El Chelito and Raymond O. Caldwell’s adaptation of Jason Reynolds’ Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks starts previews August 29th at Theater Alliance in DC. The world premiere adaptation of Reynolds’ young adult novel “offering glimpses into the private struggles, strengths, and secrets of students who only know each other in passing” is directed by Raymond O. Caldwell.
The world premiere of Joe Iconis and Gregory S. Moss’ The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical runs August 29th - October 8th at La Jolla Playhouse. Christopher Ashley directs the new “gonzo musical blasting into the life of one of America’s most influential and destructive icons, careening from the 1940s to his death in 2005.”
James Graham’s Ink starts performances August 30th at Round House Theatre in a co-pro with Olney Theatre Center. The drama about Rupert Murdoch's 1969 takeover and transformation of The Sun newspaper is directed by Jason Loewith.
festivals
The Sol Project’s SolFest: A Latiné Theatre Festival runs August 27-31. The five-day program — presented in partnership with Pregones/Puerto Rican Theater and North Star Projects — features in-person and online events, including readings of eppchez yo-sí yes’s Publik Private (directed by Santiago Iacinti), Jesús I. Valles’ bala.fruta./bullet.fruit., Michael León’s Red Eyes (directed by Estefanía Fadul), Alexis Elisa Macedo’s Picked Up (directed by Adriana Gaviria), and Edwin Sanchez’s Lottery Boy (directed by Jorge B. Merced).
digital
David Ives’ Second Sight is now available for download from Playing on Air. The world premiere audio play about the otherworldly aftermath of a retired historian’s minor surgery features Danny Burstein, Steven Boyer, Susie Essman, Lee Wilkof, and Brittany K. Allen.
2023-24 season updates
Atlantic Theater Company has added three productions to its 2023-24 season. The new additions are the US premiere of Lucy Kirkwood’s The Welkin (directed by Sarah Benson); Mando Alvarado, Tommy Newman, and Jaime Lozano’s new bilingual, Wizard of Oz-inspired musical El Otro Oz (directed by Melissa Crespo); and the world premiere of Shayan Lofti's What Became of Us.
Vineyard Theatre announced its upcoming season. The line-up includes the world premiere of John J. Caswell Jr.’s Scene Partners (directed by Rachel Chavkin) and Sarah Gancher’s Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy (directed by Darko Tresnjak), as well as works-in-progress presentations from resident artists Shayok Misha Chowdhury, Mara Nelson-Greenberg, Nazareth Hassan, a.k. payne, and more.
The Catastrophic Theatre announced its 2023-24 season. The Houston company will produce Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (directed by Jason Nodler), Mickle Maher’s It Is Magic (directed by Jeff Miller), Sarah Kane’s Cleansed (co-directed by T Lavois Thieubaud and Jason Nodler) and two world premieres: Tamarie Cooper and Patrick Reynolds’ musical bonanza Tamarie’s Texas Toast and Afsaneh Aayani, Adam J. Thompson, and Bradley Michalakis’ environmental multimedia adaptation of The Turn of the Screw.
the regional theatre game of thrones
Seven Devils New Play Foundry announced its new three-person artistic leadership team. The Idaho new work company, best known for its annual playwrights conference, will now be led by Paula Marchiel, Mallory Metoxen, and Adrian Centeno. The trio succeeds Producing Artistic Director Jeni Mahoney, who is stepping down after 23 years.
Justin Lucero is the new artistic director of Theater Latté Da in Minneapolis. Lucero is the current artistic director of El Paso Opera and an assistant professor of directing at Carnegie Mellon. He succeeds founding artistic director Peter Rothstein, who left earlier this summer after 25 years to assume leadership of Asolo Rep in Sarasota, FL.
the regional theatre game of thrones (involuntary edition)
The Virginia Rep board of directors voted to remove longtime managing director Phil Whiteway. Whiteway, who co-founded the Richmond company in 1975, referred questions to his legal counsel. (American Theatre noted that he is being represented by a firm that specializes in “matters related to employment law, including discrimination, sexual harassment, overtime, retaliation, and whistleblower claims.” Messy!) Virginia Rep adopted a shared artistic leadership model in 2022 and co-artistic directors Rick Hammerly, Todd D. Harris, and Desirée Roots will assume Whiteway’s duties until an interim managing director is appointed.
what i read this week when i wasn’t reading eleanor catton’s birnam wood
Vanessa Thorpe on the burnout, staffing crises, and funding shortfalls causing so many artistic directors of small British regional theatres and arts centres to resign (The Guardian)
Clare Sestanovich’s stunning New Yorker review of my friend Hilary Leichter’s new novel Terrace Story. Hilary is an integral part of my sordid musical theatre past — we co-starred in college productions of The Fantasticks and Godspell together, the very last times I will ever attempt to act — so her literary masterpieces will always receive a newsletter boost. I can’t write a better summation of this gorgeous, devastating book than the Harper Collins/Ecco marketing team: “an intimate exploration of time, a fable about love, an epic daydream for a broken-hearted world…an astounding meditation on loss, a reverie about extinction, and a map for where to go next.” Terrace Story is available for pre-order now or to buy at your favorite bookstore on August 29th.
I spent most of last week consuming Anne Helen Petersen’s IG stories — a Pulitzer-worthy curation of University of Alabama sorority rush content — like it was a graduate-level sociology seminar. It culminated in a fascinating deep dive on the intricacies of #BamaRush and how Greek life often reinforces class and race-based hierarchies in her Culture Study newsletter. (And here’s a gift link to an essential cultural analysis on how elite sororities play into existing systems of power and privilege in the Deep South by NYT columnist and sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom.) All of this obviously isn’t theatre-related, but there is a lot of performance happening here: femininity, wealth, whiteness, out-of-state students engaging in Southern cosplay, etc.
