| Show-stopping Broadway strike continues
There were no signs of a settlement on the second day of the Broadway stagehands' strike in New York that has caused the cancellation of several performances. At news conferences Saturday and Sunday, the stagehands' union and the League of American Theaters and Producers accused each other of being inflexible and causing the strike, The New York Times reported. At the league's news conference on Saturday, members said union rules require them to keep workers on the job, even when there isn't enough work for them, a practice called "featherbedding." Union President James Claffey, Jr. said theater owners were insulting his members by using words like "featherbedding." He also rejected an offer of mediation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Meanwhile, Broadway's theaters remained silent as the actors and musicians unions refused to cross the picket line, some even joining the stagehands outside, including celebrities like David Hyde Pierce, who is starring in "Curtains." // Copyright 2007 by United Press International
Publication date: 12 November 2007 Source: Archive .
November 12, 2007
If you read the New York papers, you know that most of Broadway has been shut down by a stagehands' strike. Eight shows remain open, two of which, Pygmalion and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, were praised by me in my Wall Street Journal drama column. (Lincoln Center Theater's production of Shakespeare's Cymbeline is still in previews--I won't see it for another couple of weeks.) Shows playing off Broadway are unaffected by the strike, though The Fantasticks is the only one to which I've given a favorable notice. I plan to see two new off-Broadway shows later this week and review them in Friday's Journal. On Saturday I'll be flying out to Chicago to look at a pair of interesting-sounding productions, a revival of Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw and a new play by Nilo Cruz called A Park in Our House, about which I'll be reporting next week.
Arts Calendar
“Quilombo" Performance and fundraiser for Kim McMillon's play on the Diaspora at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. 836-4649. FILM “Alternative Requirements" Works by Bay Area students at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. READINGS AND LECTURES Tell on on Tuesdays Storytelling at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center. Cost is $8-$12 sliding scale. www.juiamorgan.org “Blood and Belief: The Circulation of a Symbol Between Jews and Christians" with author David Biale at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. “Journey in Ancient Arabia" with photographer Mamade Kadreebux at 7:30 p.m. in the Home Room, International House, UC Campus. Cost is $5. http://ihouse.berkeley.edu Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m.
Globe NorthWest listings
A comprehensive listing of galleries, plays, music, and other happenings in the area. MUSIC Acton: Acton Jazz Cafe at 452 Great Road. Unless noted, performances at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Gwenn Vivian Quartet and pianist Molly Flannery, KGB Trio. Thursdays, 8:30 p.m.-midnight, blues jam with B.J. Magoon. Sundays, 4-7 p.m., jazz jam with rotating hosts. Sunday jazz brunch, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., with Paul Broadnax Trio. Oct. 26, 7-8:30 p.m., dinner show with jazz pianist Patti Wicks, Peter Kontrimas on bass. Nov. 1, 7-8:30 p.m., Sweet Willie D. $5. Nov. 2, Fernando Holz Group, Tony Gallo Band. Nov. 3, Fran Dagostino Band. Nov. 4, 8 p.m., Brazilian Night with Joao Marcos. Nov. 7, Starchild, Bergonzi, Gertz, Kaufman and Guerro. Nov. 8, Mike Williams. Nov.
November 13, 2007
It looks as though Broadway may be shuttered for some time to come--but if you read my Wall Street Journal drama column, you know that's not likely to faze me. I'm the only New York-based drama critic who routinely covers productions all over America. In addition to covering Broadway and off-Broadway openings, I either reviewed or am planning to review three dozen other companies located in thirteen states and the District of Columbia during 2007. I expect to range even more widely next year. As I wrote in my "Sightings" column a year and a half ago: The time has come for American playgoers--and, no less important, arts editors--to start treating regional theater not as a minor-league branch of Broadway but as an artistically significant entity in and of itself.
Jennifer Garner's 'Alias': Broadway Star
Jennifer Garner, also Mrs. Ben Affleck, hit Broadway Thursday night and came out a winner. Garner plays Roxanne in Edmond Rostand's classic, "Cyrano de Bergerac" opposite none other than Kevin Kline and directed by the talented David Leveaux. Known mostly for TV's "Alias," Garner could have fallen on her face. But she triumphed, pulling off a terrific performance in front of a very demanding opening night crowd that included Glenn Close, Kline's "Big Chill" co-star, plus Kathie and Frank Gifford, and, of course, a beaming Affleck and brother, Casey. Garner, in fact, couldn't have been better, and that's something considering her co-stars. Kevin Kline, Oscar- and Tony-winner, is simply spectacular as Cyrano, literally redefining the character and making a play you didn't think you wanted to see again fresh and alive.
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