Biggest Showtowns Outside NY- Page 3

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 10:07am

menken, ah, I see, a workshop. Not exactly the same thing as an actual production. Yes, I realize that it played in Chicago earlier this year. The show played off-Broadway at Playwright Horizons before moving to the Lyceum. Was Jeff Mays in the workshop?

[pndmnd]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 10:18am

toodramatic--I agree completely. I like Chicago, and while it has a lot of theatre, the big things aren't cast out of Chicago (even the sitdown of Wicked moved people in for it, and I'm not just talking about the principles). While there are a lot of smaller there are a lot of smaller theatres here, I feel that the overall focus of this city is sports. It's maybe second to New York for theatre people, but it's not the main energy here.

Even with the tours and pre-broadway runs--a lot of that audience is coming in from the suburbs or out of town for a vacation. The "off-loop" theatres are pretty much attended by other theatre people.

I think that, to me, it's a question of Quality vs. Quantity.

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 10:16pm

erinrebecca - Yes, Jefferson Mays was in the About Face production here. I think it played for about a week as part of a new plays festival.

Chicago theatre rocks!

[Pinguin]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 10:24pm

LA is a great town for playwrights 'cause our 99-seat rules are very flexible and allow for fairly cheap runs. There isn't a lot of good musical theatre by any means, but when it comes to straight theatre there is a lot of good stuff going on and a ridiculous number of theatres (numbers-wise probably enough to rival Chicago). There's definitely something for everybody and a lot of community based theatre, the hard part is getting people to see the work :0)

The bad thing is LA has a really bad critical community -the LA times does not have a staff lead theatre critic anymore. What the hell is THAT about?

[HamletWasBipolar]

Posted: 8/20/05 at 12:08am

Philadelphia is a huge theatre town with over 30 professional theatres in a small radius. For many years the Forest Theatre was the definitive tryout spot for pre-Broadway. Philadelphia also has the Walnut St Theatre which is the oldest regional theatre in the country having housed performances by all the Barrymores. Currently, most of the large theatres use the NY talent pool for most of their casts. Just in the last year we had Bill Irwin, Thom Sesma ( oneof the engineers on Bway Saigon) in Sweeney Todd, NY veteran Austin Pendleton in Bosie, William Finn showed up for a meet and greet for Elegies ( which starred Michael Rupert of Falsettos fame) Next to Chicago, Philly is at the top of the list! Not to mention the Philly fringe and the Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival!

[chrissly]

Posted: 8/20/05 at 12:44am

LA is a "great" theatre town because the 99 seat plan allows actors to be bent over. Know why there isn't a 99 seat plan in other cities? 'Cause Equity learned from the mistake of LA. There are theatre companies out there that require actors to PAY THEM to be members, and of course there's no guarantee of being cast. Not that there can't be great theatre made in any adverse environment. Just don't confuse a large number of store-front companies producing sub-standard productions with a "great" theatre town. LA is a great theatre town like the clap is a great venereal disease.

[alterego]

Posted: 8/20/05 at 12:58am

I was surprised to read touchmeinthemorning's inclusion of Sydney over Melbourne as a major theatre town.

As an Australian (from Melbourne) I'd question that either was a'major' theatre city. If you are measuring theatrical activity per capita then yes, but local shows that travel internationally, no. Melbourne probably has the edge over Sydney as it is the home of Australia's oldest resident company the Mebourne Theatre Company, where such talents as Zoe Caldwell and Barry Humphries were born. Melbourne is usually the launching city for many of the major musicals that tour Australia. THE PRODUCERS, MAMMA MIA, WE WILL ROCK YOU (THE PRODUCERS opened here 6 months before London, MAMMA MIA before Broadway).

Though more often than not the decision to open a show in Melbourne or Sydney is based on theatre availibility and competition from other shows rather than bigger audience share. Though Sydney is a little larger than Melbourne, Melbourne is recognised as having a larger theatre going public.Talk to anyone from Sydney and they will tell you Sydney is Australia's theatre capital, and anyone from Melbourne will tell you it's Melbourne. But I really doubt that either could be called major showtowns.