the week of september 6-12, 2024
the week of september 6-12, 2024
i don't feel that i need to explain my art to you, warren
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Morton | Editorial Support: Ryan Adelsheim
This newsletter rivals the length of that Sylvia Plath biography I need to read because 1) every theatre in America is opening a show next week (only a mild exaggeration) and 2) I went long on living wage methodology at the end. Your email provider may truncate this round-up, but as always you can read it on the full site.
icymi: bills, bills, bills
This month’s money diary is from a dramaturg with a day job and a dog-sitting gig:
It is not written by me, even though that describes my life last month. One of my most recent canine wards, Jenna’s beloved late pitbull mix Roz Doyle, inspired this month’s BBB honorarium donation to Beyond Fences.
world premieres
Zoe Sarnak and Carol Heikkinen’s Empire Records starts previews September 6th at The McCarter in Princeton, NJ. Trip Cullman directs and Ellenore Scott choreographs the musical adaptation of the 1995 film “overflowing with optimism, ‘90s counterculture, rooftop dancing, and the spirit of punk rock telling the story of a band of idealist misfits fighting to save their beloved record store from a corporate takeover.” (The most difficult editorial decision I made this week was which iconic line to use as the subhed.)
Cathy Tagnak Rexford’s Cold Case runs September 6-22 at Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, AK. The “heartbreaking story of an Iñupiaq woman in rural Alaska as she fights to recover her aunt’s body from an Anchorage morgue” is directed by DeLanna Studi. (The production will also run October 11-22 in Anchorage.)
Kaley Ronayne’s The Last Podcast on Earth runs September 6-15 at NYC’s The Tank. Jess Barbagallo directs the new work “exploring the deterioration of friendship when commodified, podcasting during the apocalypse, and tries to answer the question — is anyone listening?”
Matthew Freeman’s The Ask starts performances September 6th at wild project in NYC. Jessi D. Hill directs the comedic dissection of “a tense visit between a struggling young fundraiser and an affluent liberal donor, as they navigate the treacherous power dynamics at the heart of charitable giving.”
Mark Clements’ Women of Rock starts previews September 6th at Milwaukee Rep. The “ultimate celebration of the legendary women who changed rock music forever — from Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Joan Jett, Debbie Harry, Alanis Morissette, Brandi Carlile, P!nk, and more” is directed by Dan Kazemi.
Craig Lucas, Sean Hartley, and Daniel Messé’s Prelude to a Kiss: The Musical runs September 10 - October 19 at Milwaukee Rep in a co-pro with South Coast Rep. Kenneth Ferrone directs the adaptation of Lucas’ 1988 Pulitzer finalist romantic fantasy. (The idea of opening two world premiere musicals in one week makes me head spin — my best to the Milwaukee Rep production department.)
productions
The North American premiere of S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack’s Counting and Cracking runs September 6-22 in a co-presentation between The Public Theater and NYU Skirball. The “sweeping, episodic play featuring nineteen performers from across the globe on a multi-generational journey of a Sri Lankan-Australian family from 1956-2004” is a co-production from Australia’s Belvoir St Theatre & Kurinji.
Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja's African Hair Braiding starts previews September 6th at DC’s Arena Stage in a co-pro with Berkeley Rep and Chicago Shakes. Whitney White directs the “comedic gem unraveling the complexities of cultural identity, assimilation, and the pursuit of the American Dream within the African immigrant community in Harlem.”
Casey Jay Andrews’ Oh My Heart, Oh My Home. runs September 6-22 at Studio Theatre in DC. The Fringe First-winning storyteller’s “delicate fable about sanctuary, belonging and loneliness” is directed by Dominic Allen & Steve McCourt with musical compositions by George Jennings & Jack Brett.
Eugene Lee’s East Texas Hot Links starts performances September 6th at Court Theatre in Chicago. Ron OJ Parson directs the Pulitzer finalist that’s “simultaneously a gripping character study, a lyrical masterpiece, and a juggernaut of suspense.”
Melinda Lopez and Maurice Emmanuel Parent’s Mr. Parent runs September 7-October 6 at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Parent’s solo performance based on his own real-life adventures “careening from urban public school teacher by day to serious thespian at night” is conceived with and directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian.
Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express starts performances September 7th at The Old Globe in San Diego. Peter Amster directs the classic whodunit, as “world-famous detective Hercule Poirot must navigate a train full of suspects and solve a murder before the killer strikes again.”
Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s Spring Awakening runs September 7-28 at Rec Room Arts in Houston. The “intimate and powerful restaging of the groundbreaking rock musical” is directed by Matt Hune with musical direction by John Amor and choreography by Julia Krohn.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ The Comeuppance starts performances September 8th at DC’s Woolly Mammoth in a co-pro with The Wilma. Morgan Green directs the “mesmerizing new play” about the self-proclaimed ‘Multi-Ethnic Reject Group’ gathering to pre-game for their 20th high school reunion as “an otherworldly presence forces these former classmates to face the past head-on and reckon with an unknowable future.”
Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors runs September 10 - October 13 at Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC. The “raucous reflection of families lost and found, topsy turvy love, and the utterly human desire to belong” is directed by Simon Godwin.
Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust starts performances September 10th at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. Taylor Reynolds directs the Pulitzer-winning “touching and funny story of finding connection and moving forward.”
Mfoniso Udofia’s Sojourners runs September 11 - October 6 at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD. The first play in Udofia’s epic nine-part Ufot Cycle depicting the Nigerian-American experience is directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton. (A consortium of Boston theatre companies is producing the entire cycle over the next two years.)
Jez Butterworth’s The Hills of California starts Broadway previews on September 11th. Sam Mendes directs the new ensemble drama, toggling between the 1970s and 1950s, about a group of sisters reuniting at their mother’s deathbed in their English seaside hometown.
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun runs September 11-29 at Theatrical Outfit in Atlanta. The 1959 classic that “fearlessly interrogates the American dream in the face of racial and economic strife” is directed by Robert John Connor.
Selina Fillinger’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive runs September 12 - October 6 at Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia. The “all-female farce about the seven brilliant and beleaguered women risking life, liberty, and the pursuit of sanity to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble” is directed by Jennifer Childs.
Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj starts performances September 12th in a co-pro between Seattle’s ArtsWest and Pratidhwani. Samip Raval directs the two-hander about “best friends and Imperial Guards of the newly built Taj Mahal questioning beauty, loyalty, duty, and friendship during their worst shift ever.”
Sun Mee Chomet’s one-woman show How to Be A Korean Woman runs September 12-22 at Theater J in DC. Zaraawar Mistry directs and dramaturgs the “hilarious, heartfelt, and personal telling of a Korean-American adoptee’s search for her birth family in Seoul, South Korea.”
Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt starts performances September 12th at Boston’s The Huntington in a co-pro with Shakespeare Theatre Company. The “stirring and epic story of love, family, and enduring bravery” is directed by Carey Perloff.
Noel Coward's Private Lives runs September 12 - October 6 at A.C.T. in San Francisco. KJ Sanchez directs “the hysterical classic tale of the tempestuous dance that is marriage, reset to 1930s Argentina and featuring sensual tango dancing.”
Michael Frayn’s Noises Off starts performances September 12th at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company in a co-pro with Geffen Playhouse. The “dizzying play-within-a-play that writes an ingenious, slapstick and zany tribute to theatre-people everywhere” is directed by Anna D. Shapiro.
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog runs September 12 - October 20 at The Gift Theatre in Chicago. Shanésia Davis directs the “darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity.”
workshops & readings
Jesse Jae Hoon’s I've Got a Sinking Feeling in the Pit of my Stomach will have a reading on September 10th at NYC’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center as part of Rattlestick Theater’s Terrence McNally Incubator Presentations. Tea Alagic directs. Rattlestick’s new initiative provides “early-career playwrights with financial resources, mentorship with a veteran playwright, and a 29-hour workshop with professional New York talent.” (Contact boxoffice@rattlestick.org for more details.)
2024-25 season updates
Constellation Theatre Company announced its 2024-25 season. The line-up includes Nick Payne’s Constellations (directed by Nikki Mirza) and Jeff Whitty, James Magruder, and The Go-Go’s musical Head Over Heels.
happy labor day
Portland Center Stage’s production staff is now unionized with IATSE. The company is the “first producing theater in Portland, OR to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local-28.”
the nyc theatre game of thrones
Founder Jeffrey Horowitz is retiring from Theatre for a New Audience at the end of the 2024-25 season. Horowitz has served as artistic director, CEO, and president of the NYC theatre for 45 years.
what i read this week
John Moore on the dwindling Colorado theatre scene (Denver Gazette):
“When the world shut down for the pandemic in March 2020, Colorado had 117 active theater companies of varying sizes and scopes. Heading into the traditional start of the new fall theater season in September, only 73 companies have at least one announced upcoming title, and that includes the eight new troupes that have been launched since the pandemic…In all, 53 companies that were active in 2020 have gone at least temporarily dormant. That’s 45% of the 117 companies that were operating four years ago.”
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.)
House Manager/Usher at New World Stages & Stage 42: $44,000 - $48,000 (Full-Time, 35 hrs/week, “must be able to work a flexible schedule including holidays, weekends, and overtime”)
Note: New World Stages is not a non-profit, as it is owned and operated by The Shubert Organization, so no 990 data. This job listing appeared in a mailing list and was forwarded to me by multiple people. (Thank you, comrades.)
I’m including both the EPI & MIT living wage calculations on this one because I’m tired of people grumbling (in my inbox and to my face) that it’s “unfair” that I use the higher EPI calculations.
I regret to inform you that 95% of the positions featured in That’s Not A Living Wage list salaries that are also under the MIT calculations. (I’m loath to make even the slightest Mamet allusion, but A-B-C: Always Be Cross-Referencing.) The majority of these jobs are not entry-level, i.e. require years of work experience or specialized expertise. (The fury of the many dramaturgs who contacted me about the Atlantic’s underpaid Literary Associate posting could power a solar system.)
A few years ago, not long after I launched this feature, my friend Sarah Cooke forwarded this essay about calculating living wages for Singaporean hawkers from TW Lim’s let them eat cake, a newsletter about the culture and business of food. These paragraphs — essentially “what we talk about when we talk about living wages” — validated my decision to use the EPI calculations and now permanently rattle around my brain:
A “living wage” is “the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs”. A needs-based approach and the commitment to meeting a minimum standard are key differences between a living and a minimum wage. However, the term “basic needs” introduces flexibility and uncertainty, because there is no standard list of basic needs. What constitutes a “basic need” is influenced by location, household type, cultural mores and other factors. There’s also the question of whether non-physical needs should be considered “basic” – is feeling like a part of society a basic need, or do we just care about whether people can feed, clothe and house themselves?
To illustrate this dichotomy, it’s instructive to consider the difference between the living wage campaigns in the US and the UK. The MIT Living Wage Project, on which many American living wage campaigns are based, calculates a living wage purely based on market prices drawn from databases compiled by governments and NGOs. According to their documentation1:
“The living wage model does not allow for what many consider the basic necessities enjoyed by many Americans. It does not budget funds for pre-prepared meals or those eaten in restaurants. It does not include money for entertainment nor does it does not allocate leisure time for unpaid vacations or holidays.”
The project’s documentation actually states that what they calculate might better be thought of as a “minimum subsistence wage”. It’s enough to live on, but not enough to feel like a full and equal member of the society around you, let alone a valued one. Living on such a “living wage”, in other words, tends to make people feel like members of some lower caste, whose greatest dream is that their children need not follow in their footsteps. This is the kind of existence that leads to people leaving the trade as soon as they can.
This excerpt is from 2021. The most recent (February 2024) text from MTI’s Living Wage Methodology reads, “The Living Wage Calculator’s estimates are based on the costs of eight components, each of which represents a basic need: childcare, civic engagement, food, health care. housing, internet & mobile, transportation, and other necessities. It also includes relevant income and payroll taxes, but how they are determined will be covered in the following section. In general, it is assumed that families select the lowest cost option that enables them to meet each of these basic needs at a minimum but adequate level. As such, the living wage does not budget for eating out at a restaurant or meals that aren’t prepared at home; leisure time, holidays, or unpaid vacations; or savings, retirement, and other long-term financial investments.”