Pulitzer Prizes Expand Eligibility to Noncitizens

This post was originally published on NY Times - Theater

Written by: Alexandra Alter

The jury for the memoir category had raised concerns that the citizenship requirement was excluding a large part of American culture.

The board that administers the Pulitzer Prizes announced on Tuesday that it would expand eligibility for the awards to authors, playwrights and composers who are not U.S. citizens.

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The Playwright Who Changed the Face of American Theater

This post was originally published on NY Times - Theater

Written by: Patti Hartigan

Since 1965, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, tucked away in the bucolic seaside town of Waterford, Conn., has lured theater professionals every summer for the National Playwrights Conference. Named for the Nobel Prize-winning playwright who spent his childhood summers nearby, the O’Neill was initially informal and heady, but Lloyd Richards, who directed the 1959 Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” brought a sense of gravitas when he became artistic director in 1969.

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Mind Over Matter

In the blink of eye July has ended and August has begun. As time flies by, people like me are attempting to keep up with the fast-pace of the world while also simultaneously  trying to get ahead of the curve, and remembering how important it is to slow down and take time for yourself. Trying to do three conflicting things at one time proves to be a bit difficult. Imagine playing catch up, working to get ahead and also remembering to take a  pause all at the same time. You probably do it, too, without realizing it. Sometimes it’s better that way.

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American Theater Is Collapsing. The Federal Government Must Save It.

This post was originally published on NY Times - Theater

Written by: Isaac Butler

The American theater is on the verge of collapse.

Here’s just a sampling of recent dire developments: The Public Theater announced this year that the Under the Radar festival, the most exciting of New York’s experimental performance incubators, would be postponed indefinitely and later announced it was laying off 19 percent of its staff. The Humana Festival of New American Plays, a vital launching pad for such great playwrights as Lynn Nottage and Will Eno over the past four decades, was canceled this year.

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In between

I was listening to my music on shuffle the other day while driving and I came across an older country song that I hadn’t heard in a few years. Instead of pressing skip, like I normally do if I can’t sing a-long word for word, I decided to give the old song a re-listen. Wow, am I glad I did. It may sound dramatic to some that a song, or lyrics in a song, can resonate so personally to different individuals lives. But, that is definitely the reason I love music as much as I do. Anyways, as I was humming a long to the tune I really listened to the words and it got me thinking. 

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‘Newsies’ Try to Seize the Day

Concluding its 2022-2023 season, Slow Burn Theatre Company finaled with Newsies the Broadway Musical at its usual stomping grounds, on the stage at the Amaturo Theater of the Broward Center in Ft. Lauderdale. This musical is famous for its almost all-male cast and its balletic choreography, telling the story of the newspaper boy strike of the late 19th century. With love, brotherly camaraderie, action and a moral compass, Newsies has something for just about everyone. South Florida Theater had the privilege to see two different performances of this production’s run, specifically on the first night of their closing weekend, Thursday, June 22, for this review.

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Brooklyn Academy of Music Lays Off 13 Percent of Its Staff

This post was originally published on NY Times - Theater

Written by: Matt Stevens

The organization, which made Brooklyn a destination for pathbreaking performances, is reducing programming next season as it seeks to rebound from the pandemic. The Brooklyn Academy of Music, one of the most important cultural organizations in New York, has laid off 13 percent of its staff members and reduced its programming as it seeks to plug a “sizable structural deficit” during a challenging time for the arts, officials confirmed on Monday.

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