the week of november 15-21, 2024
your local theater presents a christmas or hanukkah carol
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Morton | Editorial Support: Ryan Adelsheim
world premieres
Milo Cramer’s Business Ideas starts performances November 16th at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. The “cross-generational comedy about getting rich (or not?) and whether money really buys happiness — one cup of coffee at a time” is directed by Matt Torney.
Leah Nanako Winkler’s Thirty-Six runs November 16 - December 22 at Shotgun Players in Berkeley, CA. Michelle Talgarow directs the “hot and loaded experience bringing the new age of dating to life onstage as two opposites who attract answer the NYT’s 36 Questions That Lead to Love.”
Anna Ouyang Moench’s Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again starts performances November 19th at La Jolla Playhouse. The “heartfelt comedy” about a young actor finding himself in the same holiday production, year after year, is directed by Les Waters.
Aaron Kenny, Rob Berliner, and Harrison Bryan’s A Hanukkah Carol, or Gelt Trip! The Musical runs November 20 - December 22 at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD. Marlo Hunter directs and choreographs the “madcap journey through Hanukkahs past, present, and future to help a misanthropic millennial influencer reconnect with her spirit of generosity, her Jewish identity, and an appreciation of her real-life supporters.”
productions
Scarlett Grace McCarthy’s The Betrothed is now playing through November 18th at The Tank in NYC. Sarah Connolly directs the new farce “reshaping Victorian parlor comedies into a sapphic and satirical exploration of gender roles and desires.”
Francesca D'Uva’s This is My Favorite Song runs November 19 - December 8 at Playwrights Horizons in NYC. The “experimental fusion of stand-up and original digital-pop bangers” is directed by Sam Max.
Itamar Moses’ The Ally is now playing through November 17th at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis. Mark Valdez directs the “powerful play centering on a Jewish college professor who agrees to sign a student’s manifesto in response to a lethal case of police brutality…forcing him to confront his identity, faith, and what it means to be an ally.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ The Comeuppance runs November 19 - December 8 at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia in a co-pro with Woolly Mammoth. The “electrifying comic meditation on impermanence, nostalgia, and isolation” is directed by Morgan Green.
Leslye Headland’s Cult of Love starts performances November 20th at Second Stage on Broadway. Trip Cullman directs the dramedy about “four adult children with partners in tow returning to their childhood home for the holidays — but the gathering is anything but harmonious.”
workshops & readings
Madhuri Shekar’s Evil Eye will have a reading on November 17th at Los Angeles Theatre Center as part of Artists at Play’s Salon Reading Series. Katherine Chou directs the “can’t-miss tale about cultural miscommunications, family secrets, and the lingering echoes of trauma told through a series of phone calls and voicemails.”
Adi Hanash and Patrick Vassel’s Nothing Left to Burn will have a reading on November 18th as part of Broadway For All’s Front Door Reading Series at El Barrio's Artspace PS109. The “romantic comedy (you read that right) about the Arab Spring” is directed by Osh Ashruf.
Amy Berryman’s The Treatment will have a reading on November 18th at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. The new work “follows a family through generations in a world where there is a treatment that ends aging.”
Meghan Tyler’s Crocodile Fever will have a reading on November 18th as part of Irish Repertory Theatre’s New Works Fall Festival. Keelie Sheridan directs the “grotesque black comedy celebrating sisterhood whilst reminding us that the pressure cooker of The Troubles is closer than we imagine.”
digital
Black Trans Women at the Center: A Virtual New Play Festival streams November 18 - 22 in a co-production between Long Wharf Theater, The Theater Offensive, and Breaking the Binary Theatre, alongside partner theatres About Face Theatre, National Queer Theater, and Portland Center Stage. Curated by Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, this year’s festival will feature streamed staged readings of Edidi’s Shape Shifter, Venus Kii Thomas’ Enemy In The Water, Dezi Bing’s Things Unknown, Morticia Antoinette Godiva’s Poly Pockets, MJ Rawls’ This Whiskey and Me, Marcela Michelle’s Sali At Work, Elisawon Etidorhpa’s Desperately Seeking Faith, and Javon Q. Minter’s Crowned Jewelz.
2025 season updates
Hudson Valley Shakespeare announced its 2025 season. The line-up includes The Comedy of Errors (directed by Ryan Quinn), King Lear (directed by Davis McCallum), Julius Caesar (directed by Raz Golden), Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker (directed by Davis McCallum), Dave Malloy’s Octet (directed by Amanda Dehnert), Luis Quintero’s The Minotaur, and a four-night cabaret series of new works-in-progress, including a new solo musical from Bryce Pinkham, Zack Fine, Rona Siddiqui, and Kirya Traber.
that’s not a living wage
Here are this week’s featured underpaid job listings, paired with the living wage for a 40-hour work week for one adult with no children in that area and the most recently available 990 data. (You can read more about the methodology here.)
Development Associate at Ford’s Theatre: $46,000 - $48,500
Living Wage for Washington, DC: $60,090
Revenue (2023): $14.2 million / Net Income: -$2.01 million
Executive Compensation:
Director: $678,921 ($627,855 base / $51,066 other compensation)
Education Coordinator, Operations at Roundabout Theatre Company: $50,000 (Full-Time Non-Exempt)
Living Wage for New York, NY: $69,852
Revenue (2023): $69.9 million / Net Income: -$1.89 million
Executive Compensation:
Artistic Director (through 4/23): $1,156,161 ($1,064,254 base / $91,907 other compensation)
Interim Artistic Director: $200,000
Executive Director (through 4/22): $436,585 ($397,077 base / $39,508 other compensation)
Executive Producer: $601,469 ($347,484 base / $253,985 other compensation)
Overtime Calculations:
Difference Between Annual Salary ($50,000) and NYC Living Wage ($69,852): $19,852
Number of Overtime Hours Needed to Reach Living Wage: 550.53, or 10.59/hours per week