Friday, June 6, 2008

ATW NewsClips - National, Industry Print

Associated Press

Edward Albee looks for the real Louise Nevelson in off-Broadway play

Back Stage

Robert Russell Bennett: The Man Who Gave Broadway Its Sound
Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981) was lucky enough to have worked during that golden era of Broadway musicals when the credit "orchestrated by" implied an actual orchestra in the theatre.

Stephen Sondheim: Musical Icon Wins a Lifetime Achievement Tony
It has been 14 years since a new musical with a Stephen Sondheim score premiered on Broadway. Yet the presence of the beloved composer-lyricist remain inescapable.

Edward Albee's Occupant reviewed by David A. Rosenberg
Judging from Occupant, Edward Albee is still angry and adamant, but this time he closes off the dramatic conflict.

Frequency Hopping reviwed by Ronni Reich
There's a sex symbol, a secret weapon, and forbidden romance. Then why is Frequency Hopping so frequently uninteresting?

The Framer reviewed by Ron Cohen
Playwright Edward Allan Baker, known for gritty depictions of the lower-middle-class denizens of Providence, R.I., doesn't hesitate to pile on the drama in The Framer.

Variety

Knightley eyes Columbia's 'Fair Lady'
Update will retain musical's score and setting

Playwrights Horizons signs stars
Maura Tierney, Annette O'Toole to perform

Stars to present Tony Awards
Lily Tomlin, John Waters added to show

Roundabout schedules 'Trees'
Alex Timbers will direct limited engagement

'Fantasticks' returns to Snapple
Terzetto, Addiss, Mars to produce show

Edinburgh Fringe Fest sets '08 slate
US shows 'Architecting,' 'In Conflict' included

O'Neill Theater selects directors
Dorsen, Berger, Gay chosen to helm plays

Review: Alexandros
Three generations of the Cuban emigre experience are intertwined in this colorful but awkwardly conceived sitcom, set in 1974 Miami, on the eve of President Nixon's Aug. 8 resignation. Helmer David Ellenstein pushes the pacing and the performances to the level of high farce, which provides a few laughs, but fails to conceal the lack of thematic veracity in "Alexandros." An uneven ensemble works hard to enliven the proceedings, but is ultimately defeated by the material.

Review: Occupant
With any luck you turn into whoever you want to be, and with even better luck you turn into whoever you should be. No, you got somebody in you right from the start, and if you're lucky you figure out who it is and you become it." That contorted philosophy of identity, articulated by sculptor Louise Nevelson, is as good a summation as any of Edward Albee's enigmatic character study, "Occupant." Delving again into the vast blur between truth and illusion, the playwright investigates the complex process of self-invention, reflecting on the way artists create their work and themselves.

Review: The Framer
Edward Allan Baker should stop trying to be a poet. He's got the seed of a good play in "The Framer" -- about a dying man trying to reconcile with his wife -- but he smothers it with awkward attempts at lyricism.

The Revenger's Tragedy, National, London
Considering the blood-soaked Jacobean drama "The Revenger's Tragedy" calls for the slaughter of at least seven characters in the final scene, it should be impossible for a production to be accused of overkill. Alas, no. Melly Still's over-produced, under-directed staging is so busy underlining its zeitgeist credentials that much of the play's depth is lost. Although Rory Kinnear is wholly arresting in the central role of Vindice, the flurry around him risks being -- to misquote the exactly contemporaneous "Macbeth" -- full of sound and fury but signifying dangerously little.

Bloomberg.com

Mercedes Ruehl Gives Edward Albee's `Occupant' a Second Chance: John Simon
"Edward Albee's Occupant'' -- a play whose title advertises its author is already in trouble -- is revived by Midtown Manhattan's Signature Theatre Company, where its 2002 premiere may have been handicapped by Anne Bancroft's prolonged illness. This time round, with those troupers Mercedes Ruehl and Larry Bryggman, the only handicap is the play itself.

Patrick Stewart, $251 Premium Seats Helped `Macbeth' Profit on Broadway
Playing just 63 performances on Broadway, an acclaimed production of ``Macbeth'' starring Patrick Stewart earned its producers a cauldron full of money.

Wall Street Journal

'Passing' Along His Favorites
Singer-songwriter Stew is the star and co-creator of the musical "Passing Strange." Stew has eclectic musical tastes, and he shares five of his favorites with us. Plus, a debut novelist talks about coming of age in "Mexican High."

A 'Lion' Roars in Chicago
The Writers' Theatre production of "The Lion in Winter" is one of the finest shows in recent seasons, not just in Chicagoland but in all of America. In New York, Edward Albee's "Occupant," falls somewhat awkwardly -- if interestingly -- between balancing history and creativity.

WNYC

Port Authority on 'The Leonard Lopate Show'

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