Category Archives: General

UPDATE: Actors’ Unions to Each Other: Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat

In November, AEA and SAG-AFTRA agreed that AEA will cover work that supplements a live audience and this agreement will last tentatively until December 31, 2020. However, AEA has various lawsuits in the works against some theaters that already have streaming deals with SAG-AFTRA. The resolution of these grievances still remains to be seen. This isContinue reading “UPDATE: Actors’ Unions to Each Other: Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat”

No More: Off-Broadway Theaters Bring Litigation to Obtain the Same New York Reopening Rights Granted to Restaurants and Bowling Alleys

In late October, eight off-Broadway theaters, including The Actors Temple, Soho Playhouse, the Triad, and the New York Comedy Club, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan’s federal district court against Governor Andrew Cuomo, the New York Attorney General, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, seeking an order that would allow them to reopen their theaters with precautionaryContinue reading “No More: Off-Broadway Theaters Bring Litigation to Obtain the Same New York Reopening Rights Granted to Restaurants and Bowling Alleys”

Actors’ Unions to Each Other: Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat

A Tale as Old as Time The work for stage actors in NYC and the US at large has dwindled since the pandemic came to town, but one segment for stage performers has actually picked up: streaming performances. The number of streaming platforms and high profile digital performances or adaptions of stage shows has increasedContinue reading “Actors’ Unions to Each Other: Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat”

The Parks Are Alive With the Sound of Music

The New York City Committees on Economic Development and Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Intergroup Relations recently introduced a bill to the New York City Counsel that would grant free access rights to non-profit cultural groups to both rehearse and perform in outdoor spaces throughout the City, including parks, pedestrian plazas, public parking lots, andContinue reading “The Parks Are Alive With the Sound of Music”

Waving Through a Window: Precautions for Live Theater During the Pandemic

Broadway may still be dark, but theater with unionized actors is slowly coming back to life in parts of the U.S. With some extra precautions, like seating further from the stage and actors performing behind Plexiglas, audiences are now in fact witnessing performances live and in person at a few select theaters. Earlier in theContinue reading “Waving Through a Window: Precautions for Live Theater During the Pandemic”

Out of Town Tryouts: What Theater Reopening Looks Like in Europe

A month ago, I posed the question, “What will it take for Broadway to reopen?” We were nowhere near the mark for that then, and we’re still not. But, as I discussed last month, theater in Seoul was open—specifically, the city had reopened a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera withContinue reading “Out of Town Tryouts: What Theater Reopening Looks Like in Europe”

The Great White Way

Recently, more than 300 Black and Indigenous artists and other people of color (BIPOC) who are theater professionals published a statement addressed to “White American Theater” denouncing racial injustice in the theater community. Among other things, the statement decries the absence of BIPOC individuals involved in theater programming, including playwrights, directors, actors, choreographers, designers, dramaturgsContinue reading “The Great White Way”

Another Op’nin, Another Show: What Will It Take for Broadway to Reopen?

Broadway has been dark since mid-March. New York has entered Phase 2 of its four-part reopening plan, and Broadway, along with other entertainment venues, is slated to reopen at the tail end of the plan. Recently it has been reported that the sun will not come out again for Broadway until 2021. Specific productions thatContinue reading “Another Op’nin, Another Show: What Will It Take for Broadway to Reopen?”