That Face, a play by a 23 year-old British playwright (who wrote it when she was even younger), just snagged a 2010 production at Manhattan Theater Company, in an announcement where the New York Times ArtsBeat blog trumpeted her as a “wunderkind.” Elizabeth Marvel, who was in the stellar MTC revival of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls, is to star. British critics compared her to Tennessee Williams. Should you be excited? Is this going to be next year’s hot ticket? And is there a British Invasion of New York’s theater scene on the rise? An insider’s take, below the cut.

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As the geek in us waits with bated breath for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, we find ourselves in desperate need of a wizardly fix. (Seriously, did you see this post? We’re obsessed.) We remember hearing a while back about a University of Michigan group putting up a Harry Potter musical, but now you can watch the whole thing (complete with Lord Voldemort’s tap number!) online. If you’re a Potter purist who’s freaking out right now, don’t worry. It’s not a page-to-stage kind of thing; it’s more of a homage/parody with awesome results.

Watch the opening scenes above, or we’ll put a Cruciatus curse on you! [via Popsense]

It seems that “in this economy” (we’re going to start putting that in quotes from now on. Apparently it’s now a requisite lead to any cultural news story), theatre-goers are looking for more perks on Broadway than just an overpriced souvenir program to take home at the end of the night. So why not get them sloshed? Perhaps in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day (erm, or not), producers of Rock of Ages have announced that they’re starting to serve drinks to patrons during the show. We can foresee just a few problems with this. Read More »

We just came across a post on the New York Times Arts Beat blog that explained that due to a ruling by the Tonys committee, the three boys who rotate the role of Billy Elliot “would be considered jointly for a single nomination for leading actor in a musical.” They are not eligible as individuals.

Our reaction? Well, that just doesn’t seem fair. There’s no way David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish — aka the three Billys — deliver the exact same performances, even if they are treated as equals by the producers and the creative team. Note: if they win all three will get their own statue.

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Theatre is one of the toughest industries to break into, for playwrights, actors, and even audiences. Not everyone takes the time to enjoy it, even here in New York City, one of the theatre capitals of the world. While we don’t feel this way, we’re aware that some people consider it to be too expensive, esoteric, and tedious. Especially if they’re under the age of 50.

So when we heard about The Serious Theatre Collective, their inaugural show, One Allotted Hour of Entertainment and its inventive concept, we were intrigued. The group writes plays collaboratively by passing scenes among each member to contribute to, one after the other, until the scene and dialogue are completed. The last performance of the show is tonight at the Knitting Factory. Hear from the company’s Artistic Director, Terry Selucky, after the jump.

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When we read the New York Times review of Slava’s Snowshow, we weren’t surprised it was pigeonholed as another family show for kids — something that brings out the kid in every adult, but more importantly, a distraction over the holidays. While it may be the perfect choice for a holiday show (as opposed to this one), not once did it occur to us that it was but a “handmade diversion” to keep transfixed kids at bay. It’s easy to peg it as such, but one shouldn’t underestimate the artistic and theatrical value of the production.

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Ronan Noone’s The Atheist, co-produced by Culture Project and Circle in the Square Theatre, is a one-man show starring Campbell Scott as Augustine Early, an unscrupulous Kansas journalist determined to snag himself a full-time position at a newspaper. When the perfect story falls in his lap, Augustine uses any means necessary to expose it for his own gain. Means of choice: blackmailing, leaking pornography on the internet, and seducing widows. He recounts the methods behind his conniving stride to success; the enabler being his lack of belief in anything.

Of course, there’s much more to it than that — see for yourself at the Barrow Street Theatre until January 4th. It plays every other week, so there are only three weeks left! After the jump, Flavorwire snagged a quick Q&A with Scott to entice you further.

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“Often enough, the three boys sharing the role will have only recently received the news themselves, as the schedule is constantly being rejiggered based on their health and readiness. However nervous this makes them — and just before curtain they are sometimes nearly hyperventilating — onstage they give startlingly confident, and different, performances: one suave and beamish; one brooding and heartbroken; one blisteringly angry, dancing as if his limbs were bats cracking baseballs out of the park.” [NYM]

According to a group of 0ff Broadway playwrights headed up by SARAH SCHULMAN (aka, the writer RENT ripped off) and JULIA JORDAN, it’s harder to get work produced in New York when you’re a woman — that’s why they convened for a town hall meeting last night to discuss gender bias.

This article in the New York Times has the numbers to back up their claims. When you look at what’s being staged at the 14 largest Off Broadway theaters, shows by men are mounted at four times the rate of those by women.

Also important to note: There are currently no plays on Broadway by female playwrights.

Lincoln Center Theater artistic director Andre Bishop told the Times that the gender divide might be due to the fact that “most artistic directors are men and they don’t relate to or connect with women as much as men.”

We’re not going to even touch that.

After the jump read what downtown playwright SHEILA CALLAGHAN, whose show CRAWL, FADE TO WHITE is currently playing at IDEAL GLASS GALLERY, has to say regarding the great gender divide.
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SPRING AWAKENING to sleep: After nearly 900 performances, the award-winning pop musical is set to close January 18th, cast members learned yesterday. The production won eight Tony awards last year, including ones for BILL T. JONES’s choreography, DUNCAN SHEIK and STEVEN SATER’s original score, best musical and best direction of a musical. The announcement comes close on the heels of news that Tony-winning HAIRSPRAY and MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT will also close early next year. [NYT]

MARTHA GRAHAM’s CLYTEMNESTRA celebrating 50-year revival: The Martha Graham Dance Company is reviving Clytemnestra after letting the production lay dormant for 50 years. The world premiere launched yesterday at the Athens Concert Hall in Greece and will run through Saturday before reopening in Washington D.C. The original 1958 production starred Martha Graham herself, and her company’s revival uses her costumes and the music of Egyptian composer HALIM EL-DABHH. The Clytemnestra world tour will include Berlin, Paris, London, Sydney, Melbourne, Beijing and Tokyo. [Xpat Athens]

What is that dance world queen TWYLA THARP up to now?

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