ATW NewsClips - National, Industry Pubs

Wall Street Journal

Partnership Goes On
John Kander on the unfinished projects he's been completing on his own after the death of song-writing partner Fred Ebb.

Associated Press

Parents fret as even toddlers love 'High School'
Talya Appelbaum recently had a ''High School Musical'' birthday party. She got special balloons and a slice of cake decorated with the spoiled Sharpay, her favorite character because ''she's with Ryan.''.

Back Stage

Some Kind of Bliss reviewed by Gwen Orel
Briers, helped by nuanced work from director Toby Frow, shows us many facets of a complex, occasionally irritating woman.

Safe reviewed by Andy Propst
The worlds of three unhappy souls tragically collide in Ron Fitzgerald's Safe, a trio of interconnecting monologues filled with pungent lyricism.

All Kinds of Shifty Villains reviewed by Ronni Reich
Villains takes the 1930s crime-fiction world of femme fatales, conniving evildoers, and hardboiled, whiskey-drinking heroes and follows it with the most unlikely chaser: clowns.

The Raven reviewed by Paul Menard
While The Raven may ultimately prove unsatisfying, Stewart proves she still has plenty of multicultural tricks up her sleeve.

The Honest-to-God True Story of The Atheist reviewed by A. J. Mell
Dan Trujillo's playful but only semicoherent comedy defies easy pigeonholing, but I suppose "theological sketch-comedy cabaret with sock puppets" more or less covers it.

Variety

Ticket sales heat up for 'August'
Tony-winning play sees 29% B.O. bump

The Chalk Garden, Donmar Warehouse, London
It has been a long time since anyone wrote a line like "Maitland, bring the creme de menthe and two glasses." The line was consciously old-fashioned in 1955 when Enid Bagnold wrote it, and, what's more, she was using it with malice of aforethought....

Scarlett O'Hara at the Crimson Parrot in Melbourne
Australia's foremost contemporary dramatist, David Williamson, has fashioned a lightweight star-vehicle for popular and versatile local thesp Caroline O'Connor (who did stints on Broadway as Velma Kelly in <"Chicago") ... Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage in Berkley
At a point where "Anything: The Musical" is pretty much the operative principle, "Beowulf" nonetheless raises eyebrows as obscurantist by pop-culture standards, nevermind the recent "performance capture" action pic....

The Sweepers in Long Beach
...This overstuffed calzone of a melodrama -- part of a projected 10-play cycle -- is tailored to audiences who like their plots heavy and characters outsized, at whatever cost to plausibility.

A Very Brady Musical in L.A.
... This world premiere at Theater West should entertain those who grew up watching the titular tots, though the risque nature of the humor makes it surprisingly inappropriate for young children now.

Vendetta Chrome at the Ohio Theatre, NYC
Summer festival fare doesn't have to be silly, lightweight fun -- but it's nice when that turns out to be the case, as with "Vendetta Chrome," a spoof on the inane mannerisms (and innate worthlessness) of Victorian education for young ladies. There's a pointed feminist message underlying ...

Beyond Therapy in Williamstown
...Yet Durang's deranged comic voice, the sudden mood pivots and his fickle characters are still distinctively amusing. Its last-minute existential ambitions notwithstanding, however, the play only adds up to a loopy trifle wedded to its period of narcissistic self-examination.