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      Drama Book Shop, Backed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, to Open in June

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      The quirky bookstore, which sells scripts and other theater-related work, was acquired by a team of “Hamilton” alumni after years of struggle.The Drama Book Shop, a quirky 104-year-old Manhattan specialty store that has long been a haven for aspiring artists as well as a purveyor of scripts, will reopen next month with a new location, a new look, and a new team of starry owners.Those new owners — the “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as the show’s director, Thomas Kail, lead producer, Jeffrey Seller, and the theater owner James L. Nederlander — said Wednesday that the store will have its long-delayed reopening on June 10.The opening, at 266 West 39th Street, is a sign of the team’s confidence in Times Square, which has been largely theater-free since March 12, 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic forced Broadway to close. Broadway shows are not planning to resume performances until September, but the new store owners say they are ready for business.The “Hamilton” team bought the Drama Book Shop, most recently located on West 40th Street, in early 2019 after years in which the store had struggled to survive the challenges of Manhattan real estate, e-commerce, and even a damaging flood. Kail had a particular passion for the bookstore, where he had run a small theater company in his early years as a professional; Miranda joined him there to work on “In the Heights,” a musical Kail directed. “In the Heights” has now been adapted into a film which is being released on June 11, the day after the bookstore opens.The new owners had initially hoped to reopen the store in late 2019, and then in early 2020, but the project was delayed, first by the vicissitudes of construction, and then by the pandemic. The new shop has been designed by David Korins, the “Hamilton” scenic designer, and includes a cafe.The store is encouraging visitors to make reservations online; capacity will be limited. More

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      For West End’s Return, Cleansing Spirits and an Aching for Change

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      On May 17, after two failed tries, London’s theaters hope to reopen for good. Meet a director, a producer, an actor and a costumer, nervously raring to go.LONDON — At 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Maureen Lyon will be murdered at St. Martin’s Theater in London, her screams piercing the air.Her death is a moment many in London’s theater industry will welcome for one simple reason: It’s the opening of “The Mousetrap,” Agatha Christie’s long-running whodunit, and it will signal that the West End is finally back.For the last 427 days, the coronavirus pandemic has effectively shut London’s theaters. Some tried to reopen in the fall, only for England to plunge into a new lockdown before they even got to rehearsals.They tried again in December, and several musicals, including “Six,” about the wives of Henry VIII, reopened to ecstatic audiences. But just days later, the shows were forced closed once more.This time, the comeback is meant to be for good. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said theaters can reopen with social distancing on Monday and without it on June 21, provided coronavirus cases stay low, thanks to the country’s rapid vaccination drive. Vaccine passports might be required by then — a measure many major theater owners back.A host of shows are scheduled to reopen this month, with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new “Cinderella” musical coming June 25 and a deluge of others soon after. “Hamilton” reopens in August. What happens to these shows will likely be a bellwether for Broadway’s reopening in September.But what’s it actually like for the theatermakers who are starting work again after 15 months? Has the pandemic shaped the way they think about theater? We visited four to find out.Ian RicksonDirector, ‘Walden’“Work that engages with who we are now.”The director Ian Rickson, right, rehearsing the new play “Walden” with the actors Lydia Wilson, left, and Gemma Arterton.Johan PerssonWhen Ian Rickson walked into a London rehearsal room in April — to start rehearsals for the play “Walden” — he decided he had to perform a ritual to show just how grateful he was to be back in work.So he got some palo santo — a wood shamans use to cleanse evil spirits — and burned it in front of his cast. He’d only performed a ritual like that once before, he said, as he’d been afraid of “feeling like an idiot.”But the actors also wanted to mark the occasion. “Every day now they’re saying, ‘Can we burn some more?’” Rickson said.One of Britain’s most in-demand directors, Rickson’s Broadway triumphs include “Jerusalem” and the 2008 revival of “The Seagull.” (“The finest and most fully involving production of Chekhov that I have ever known,” wrote Ben Brantley in The New York Times.)The night the shutdown hit, he was in a dress rehearsal for the play “All of Us” at the National Theater, while his revival of “Uncle Vanya” was attracting sellout crowds in the West End. Suddenly, he was without work or a sense of purpose. During lockdown last spring, he walked round the West End and cried while looking at all the shut theaters.He kept himself busy by filming “Uncle Vanya,” but said he spent most of the time reflecting on what he wanted theater to be when it returned. His answer: “New work, work that engages with who we are now, courageous work.”“Walden,” by the largely unknown American playwright Amy Berryman, is the first example of that. He came across the play — about two sisters with contrasting views on how humanity should deal with climate change — last summer, while searching for scripts with the producer Sonia Friedman.“It’s kind of dazzling in its imaginative scope,” Rickson said. “It’s like a play by a writer who’s written 20 plays, not a debut.”In the rehearsal room one recent Thursday, the three actors — Gemma Arterton, Fehinti Balogun and Lydia Wilson — lounged and laughed on a sofa together. They all had regular coronavirus tests, so they didn’t have to distance from each other or wear masks. It was almost as if the pandemic never happened.Near them sat piles of props, while the walls were covered with inspirational quotes (“When one does not have what one wants, one must want what one has,” read one).Rickson smiled happily as he took in the scene. He had an almost religious calm to him; the main difference between rehearsing now and before the pandemic, he said, was just how thankful everyone was to be there.At one point, Rickson recalled, he asked the actors to dance, to explore how their characters would behave at their most exuberant. Halfway through, Arterton stopped. “God, I’ve missed this, sweating and dancing with other people,” she said.Rickson said he appreciated that moment, but hoped to see bigger changes to London theater than grateful rehearsals.“The pause has allowed us all to think, ‘How do we want to work?’ ‘Who’s the work for?’ and ‘Who’s part of it?’” he said. “Perhaps even the West End, which can sometimes be the more traditional end of theater, can also be progressive and be pioneering.”“It hasn’t been like that for a while, has it?” he added.Nica BurnsChief executive, Nimax Theaters“We’re not going to make a profit but we’re better off than closed.”A leading British theater newspaper named Nica Burns “producer of the year” for her efforts to reopen West End theaters.Suzanne Plunkett for The New York Times“This time, we feel it’s for real,” Nica Burns said recently, leaning over a table in her West End office, widening her eyes as if to prove it.Britain’s vaccine rollout was “fast by any measure,” she said. “Of course, if we weren’t selling any tickets, I wouldn’t feel so jolly.”Burns, the chief executive of Nimax Theaters, is one of the unsung heroes of the West End’s comeback. Over the past year, many figures in Britain’s theaterland have grabbed headlines for trying to support workers during the pandemic.Lloyd Webber continually harangued the British government to let theaters reopen, even hosting a government-sanctioned experiment in July to prove it could happen safely. The “Fleabag” star Phoebe Waller-Bridge set up a fund to support freelance theatermakers, as did the director Sam Mendes.But Burns did something else: She tried, repeatedly, to open her six theaters with social distancing and mask mandates.In October, she managed to open the Apollo for 14 performances by Adam Kay, a comedian and former doctor, before England went into a second lockdown. In December, she opened several more for just over a weekend, before England went into lockdown again.Her moves were “a landmark moment of genuine hope for the industry,” The Stage, Britain’s theater newspaper, said when naming her its producer of the year. “In the face of overwhelming odds this year, she has consistently tried to make it happen, when some other established commercial producers didn’t.”Now, she’s planning to open them all once more. “Six,” the musical about the wives of Henry VIII, will play at the Lyric. “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” a musical about a boy dreaming of being a drag queen, will be right next door at the Apollo.“Six” and “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” are reopening in Nimax theaters in May.Suzanne Plunkett for The New York Times“We’re not going to make a profit, but we’re better off than closed,” Burns said. “And on the human side, we’re a million times better.”She is bringing back 150 staff members to run the front of house operations. “I can’t wait for the first payday,” she said. “They’ve had to wait a long time for it.”Burns said a key moment in her decision to reopen came in August when she saw a concert version of Lloyd Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” in a park. The night was such a joyful, communal experience, she said; it rammed home what makes theater special. “I sat watching and went, ‘I’ve got to get my theaters open. If he can do it, I bloody can,’” she added.Burns is looking for other ways to help this city’s theater industry. In April, she announced a Rising Stars festival, letting 23 young producers host shows in her venues this summer. The shows include “Cruise,” a one-man tale of gay life in London, as well as an evening of magic acts.She’s also setting up a coronavirus-testing hub for actors and crew at the Palace Theater, normally home to “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” which has not yet announced its reopening date.In an hourlong interview, she didn’t dwell on fears that anything, like a new variant of the virus, could jeopardize these plans and plunge Britain into a fourth lockdown. That might partly be because she’s in the West End for the long haul.Stuck to the walls of her office are architectural plans for a new theater — the seventh with Max Weitzenhoffer, her business partner — that’s meant to be built down the road from the Palace.It doesn’t have a name yet, she said. How about the Burns Theater? “No, no, no, no, no,” she replied. She’s naming a bar inside after herself. “That’s enough,” she said.Noah ThomasLead Actor, ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’“I’ve learned that I don’t need to change to please anyone”Thomas, right, had only two months in the title role of “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” before London locked down.Matt CrockettLast year was meant be Noah Thomas’s big break.In January, he made his West End debut as the lead in “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” a hit musical about a gay teenager who dreams of becoming a drag queen.His dressing room was adorned with art from fans, and months after dropping out of drama school to take the role, he had become used to seeing his face plastered on London’s buses. Then the pandemic forced his theater shut, and he found himself at home with his mum, dad and sister.“I went through every stage of emotion,” Thomas said in a video interview. “Frustration, boredom, appreciation for having a rest because I legit haven’t had one since I was five. Then frustration again, then boredom again.”Last June was a particularly low point. He tweeted a picture of a full airplane, alongside one of an empty theater. “It just made me think, ‘Why’s that one OK, and the other isn’t?’” he said. “Every other industry was talking about getting back to work, and we were all sitting at home.”During lockdown, he read a host of scripts and learned to cook pasta dishes and curries (“I’m going to be the meal-prep queen when we go back”). And he spent a lot of time reflecting on who he wanted to be as an actor.“I see the world through a different gaze now,” he said. “I’ve learned that I don’t need to change to please anyone.”Thomas said he thought that attitude would help when the musical returns May 20. Jamie “is so unapologetically himself, and he’s calling for the world to adapt to him and his fabulousness and his queerness,” Thomas said. “He’s not changing.”The show, which has a cast of 26 and a nine-person band, is the largest to reopen next month, thanks to a government grant. Thomas said he knows what to expect in terms of coronavirus precautions, as his show was one of the few to briefly reopen in December.“It was weird,” he said, “but the rules and the mitigations and masks are such a small sacrifice in order to be able to do our jobs.”He had one more task before rehearsals started: to dye his hair blonde. “A lot of people flirt with you when you’re blonde,” he reported. That doesn’t stop even with social distancing.Janet Hudson-HoltHead of wardrobe, “The Mousetrap”“We’ve been going so long. If we can survive this, others can.”Janet Hudson-Holt, the head of wardrobe for “The Mousetrap,” at the St. Martins Theater. She has worked on the long-running show for 20 years.Suzanne Plunkett for The New York TimesJanet Hudson-Holt, the long-serving head of wardrobe at “The Mousetrap,” was trying to do a costume fitting for the actor Sarah Moss — without touching her.It started well. Inside a cramped room at the St. Martin’s Theater, Hudson-Holt handed Moss a heavy black wool coat, then stood back to admire the fit. But within seconds, she had leapt forward, grabbed the rumpled collar and adjusted it.“Sorry!” she said, realizing she’d broken the rules. “It’s just instinct.”“The Mousetrap,” which has been running in the West End since 1952, is scheduled to reopen on May 17, the first play here to do so.“We’ve been going so long,” Hudson-Holt said. “If we can survive this, others can,” she added.Hudson-Holt, who’s been with the show for almost 20 years, had spent most of the past year at home. “We were lucky, as the very good management kept us furloughed,” she said, meaning the government paid a chunk of her salary. “But for a lot of freelancers — costume makers, propmakers, actors — it’s been just devastating.”To lessen coronavirus risks, two casts will now alternate in the eight roles. The show’s website makes that move sound like a canny piece of marketing, encouraging audiences to see both sets of actors. In reality, it’s in case illness strikes; if one cast has to isolate, the other can step in.The extra cast members means Hudson-Holt had spent her first days back sourcing hats, coats and cardigans for them all. Shop closures had impacted that effort, she said. One of her favorite sources for old-fashioned men’s wear is Debenham’s — all its stores have closed.Her daily routine changed in other ways. Rather than taking measurements in person, she called the actors, politely inquiring if they’d gained weight or muscle in lockdown and would be needing a bigger size.“I was having to ask people, ‘Oh, have you been doing any sport lately? Or maybe some baking?’” she said.Despite the no-touching rule, the fittings went according to plan. Hudson-Holt had found a hat for Moss, new to the role of Miss Casewell, one of many potential murderers stuck in an English guesthouse after a snowstorm.Only a lime green silk scarf caused problems. Hudson-Holt tried showing Moss how to fold, then tie it, but Moss was flummoxed. “Can you slow down a bit and show me again?” she said.“Today’s a fun test for everyone,” Hudson-Holt said.Once the fitting was over, Hudson-Holt put Moss’s outfit aside. It would be steamed later to kill any potential viruses. “I know it seems hyper vigilant,” she said, “but who wants to be the one that mucks this up?” More

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      ‘Lilies’ Review: A Queer Romantic Drama That Wilts Quickly

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      Michel Marc Bouchard’s melodrama, about an illicit gay love affair in 1912, displays a lot of kookiness and little self-awareness.“Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.”So says Genesis 19. And so goes a recitation by a devout young man traumatized by his repressed homosexuality in “Lilies, or the Revival of a Romantic Drama.” Staged at the Theater Center with a limited audience, this aimless production by the Drama Company NYC depicts a confrontation between two men that reveals how an illicit gay love affair of decades past brought hellfire — and literal fire — to a small Canadian town.It’s the spring of 1952, and an ex-inmate named Simon Doucet (J.J. Miller) has requested a meeting with Bishop Jean Bilodeau (Marc Verzatt). They’re former schoolmates, but this is no cordial reunion; threatening Bilodeau with a knife, Doucet forces him to sit through a staging of the past, watching younger versions of themselves act out something that happened when they were teenagers in the fall of 1912.Bilodeau scoffs and occasionally interjects with protests of the performance, which shows the ill-fated love between young Doucet (a well-cast Hartley Parker) and his best friend, Count Vallier De Tilly (a sensationally anguished Florimond Le Goupil-Maier). Bilodeau uneasily witnesses the sins committed by his younger self (Grant Hale, sanctimonious and perfectly weaselly), a closeted God-fearing boy whose obsession with and jealousy of the couple ultimately destroys them.Under Andrew Benvenuti’s unsteady direction, the majority of the play, written by Michel Marc Bouchard in French and translated by Linda Gaboriau, takes place as a flashback. First performed in 1987, “Lilies” quickly sloughs off realism to present the play not as a true performance but as a kind of living memory. (The simple set, dressed with nine chairs and occasionally tables, leaves it all to our imagination, though Benvenuti’s ungraceful blocking obscures even that view.)It’s a different approach from the director John Greyson’s in the pulpy 1996 Canadian film adaptation, in which Bilodeau visits Doucet in prison and all the actors in Doucet’s play are gay fellow inmates. There, we had a clear perspective and consistent stakes: Though the film’s cinematography blurs the line between the performance in the jail and a fluid recollection of the past, the action is anchored in the present, with the camera alternatively following and mimicking Bilodeau’s gaze.This “Lilies” lacks a clear perspective. It’s less interested in the present-day confrontation between Doucet and Bilodeau and even loses its focus on Bilodeau altogether. The adult Bilodeau spends 90 percent of the play silently sitting in the audience watching his younger self — a waste of an actor and character who is at the center of the tale.It’s a shame, too, that Bilodeau remains so removed because moralistic characters are often candy for performers, who can play with the contradictions that often come with the holier-than-thou archetypes hoping to pray away the skeletons in their own closets. The script doesn’t allow for much introspection. In fact, the writing feels gleaned from a mix of gay fan fiction and daytime soaps. At one point, a Parisian baroness magically appears via hot-air balloon; there are also two murders, a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style escape and a whole lot of arson.Then there’s the all-male cast of 11. Like the film, the men perform the female roles in drag. The move is intentionally subversive, as a way to normalize queer relationships within a story setting where such relationships are taboo. The effect is campy, à la Edna Turnblad, but how much of that is overtly drawing from the performative tradition of camp and how much the production is stumbling headfirst into hyperaffected melodrama is unclear.Bill Morton, left, as the delightfully odd Countess Marie-Laure de Tilly, with Le Goupil-Maier. The roles of women are performed by men in drag. Andrew Daniel DickThere is a parade of queer tropes that seems to escape critique or interrogation: the Christian boys’ school with the obviously closeted priests; the self-hating gay boy; a homophobic father; a fiancée who is actually a beard; a tragic queer death.Bill Morton as Vallier’s mother, the Countess Marie-Laure de Tilly, is a delightful wise fool, floating across the stage with a performance as flowery and bonkers — and occasionally knowing — as a Canadian Blanche DuBois. But this performance is an uncomfortable contrast with Miller’s stiff and unconvincingly threatening Doucet, as though they’re characters taken from two totally different plays. At what point does a crazy countess play too closely to the tired role of the histrionic gay diva? And when does J.P. Ross’s snooty Baroness Lydie-Anne de Rozier, with her arch purrs and snide remarks, become a performance of the catty gay man stereotype?In this way and others, “Lilies” seems to be attempting a balancing act without consciously knowing it. In one scene, a character is given a pearly white clawfoot tub for his birthday, and two boys end up in the bathtub kissing and embracing. The scene feels objectifying, and a cheesy piano accompaniment exacerbates that impression; it isn’t as much about the love between the boys as it is about the novelty of their sex, which would be fine if the scene — and the rest of the play — were more clearly filtered through the shame and desire of Bilodeau’s gaze, but as it is, there’s just a clumsy bit of fully naked splash time.How seriously does “Lilies” take its melodrama, how earnestly does it wear its clichés? The baroque turns and flourishes of the script indicate some level of self-awareness (as when one character theatrically crashes an engagement party dressed as Julius Caesar), yet the deadpan declarations and rebuttals of love suggest austere intentions.Once “Lilies” reaches its conclusion — which is so predictable and pat, and in this production so abrupt that there was an unsure beat before the audience’s applause — the impression it leaves is of an old theme with a few flamboyant variations. Doucet’s play within the play ultimately persuades Bilodeau to confess his misdeeds — but the play I saw? Much less persuasive.Lilies or The Revival of a Romantic DramaThrough June 14 at the Theater Center, Manhattan; tdcnyc.org More

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      Interview: Louise Breckon-Richards uncloaked

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      The Space Arts Centre is always a great place to venture if you are looking for exciting, fresh new writing. Even better now, if you can’t actually get there in person, you can watch all their shows streamed online via their upgraded webcam equipment, opening up a whole new audience to this wonderful old building.

      To welcome audiences back in person, they have announced a jam-packed new season. Included in that schedule is Antandre Productions‘ The Cloak of Visibility. This play explores the pressure society places on a woman to be seen to ‘have it all’. As if she didn’t already have enough on her plate as the show goes through final rehearsals, we caught up with writer Louise Breckon-Richards to chat about its central themes and whether it’s really possible for anyone to have it all?

      Hi Louise. We’ve touched briefly on what the play is about, but do you want to give us a more in-depth description?

      The play centres around a woman Amy, who on the surface seems to have it all, and is living a full, balanced life, but as we follow her story, we realise that all is not what it seems. It explores themes of loss, visibility, disappointment and hope, in a society where she is feeling like she is being slowly erased.

      Amy is a more mature woman; do you feel there is generally a lack of writing focusing on older women?

      I do. There is still some lazy storytelling written for women over forty, where we are often a stereotype, or a vessel for other characters to have a more fun, interesting journey. I like to put my older female characters at the centre of the story, where they lead the action rather than just react or sidestep it.

      Are there any autobiographical elements within the play, or is it based on women you have met along the way?

      No, there aren’t any autobiographical elements in the play, but I have met and talked at length with women who have experienced some of the more traumatic parts of the piece. I can relate more to the themes of the play rather than what happens. I have felt deep grief and loss, lack of hope, and have many times felt invisible as I’ve got older, but I also wanted to show the fun, more anarchic side of Amy too, which is definitely in me.

      As well as a playwright, you’re also an actor. Did you ever consider playing Amy yourself?

      No. I performed a one woman piece not so long ago called Can You Hear Me Running and it was a great, empowering experience, but I’m happier acting with others on stage for now. I would like to write something for myself soon though.

      The play is being put on by Antandre Productions, a female-focused production company. Was that important to you when deciding on who to give the play to?

      Yes, it was definitely important. Marie (Marie-Elena Nash), who runs the company, put a call out initially, and I sent her the play, which happened to fit with what Antandre’s intentions and goals are. I knew after the first time we did it that I wanted to develop it further with the company and her determination has managed, throughout a very difficult year, to get us this far. I love that she is giving a voice to unheard stories and works hard to be the most supportive producer to everyone involved.

      As the writer, do you have much involvement with rehearsals, or are you politely ushered out of the room?

      It’s been tricky with Covid, as normally I’d love to be in the same room as the actor, in case there are any questions or alterations needed in the moment. We have, however, done well to have meetings online to talk through the play and any changes that may be needed. I like to get my plays as near to ready for rehearsals, especially as this was a one woman show and I knew Sally (Vanderpump) would need to cement learning it without me throwing anything in at the last minute.

      So finally, what do you hope people will take away after watching the play?

      I hope they will take away a better understanding of what can easily happen to anyone when faced with a huge loss or trauma. I also hope, however, they will have managed to find the humour and entertainment in the piece. And on another level, after the year we’ve had, I hope the audience achieve a feeling of having been taken somewhere else for a moment, in the way only theatre can: a welcome reunion, sitting with others in an auditorium, finally experiencing live theatre…together.

      ============================================================================

      Our thanks to Louise for finding time to chat to us. You can see The Cloak of Visibility at The Space Arts Centre between Tuesday 1 and Saturday 5 June, with an additional matinee on the Saturday. The show is also available to live stream on Thursday 3 June.

      Louise will be taking part in a live Q&A after the show on 3 June, which is available to book for free along with a ticket to the show, either live or online. Full details can be found on The Space’s website via the below link. More

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      Playlist: ET radio show 12 May 2021

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      Author: Everything Theatre

      in Features and Interviews, Radio playlist

      14 May 2021

      10 Views

      The following shows are those mentioned during the show. (Links are for reviews unless noted otherwise.)

      Music playlist

      Badly Drawn Boy – Tony Wilson SaidIndian Queen’s – BubblewrapSophia Anne Caruso – Life on Mars (taken from Lazarus soundtrack)David Bowie – Five YearsJulian Cope – TrampolineIsobel Campbell – Running Down A dreamBelle & Sebastian – Seeing Other PeopleThe Anchoress feat James Dean Bradfield – The ExchangeGreen Day – American IdiotDoves – CarouselsAlfie Templeman – Film Scene DaydreamNick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Into My ArmsKae Tempest – FiresmokeEyre Llew – BlocSuede – Still LifeModerate Rebels – Perfect Grey DayThe The – That sinking FeelingBeck – Devil’s HaircutGoat Girl – BadibadaMetronony – Love Letters More

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      ‘Woman’s Party’ Review: At War With Inequality, and Each Other

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      In Rinne B. Groff’s historical comedy, the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1947 looks awfully familiar today.Clubbed Thumb is a small New York theater company committed to “funny, strange and provocative” new plays, no more than 90 minutes long, by living American writers whose “questioning, formally inventive, theatrical” work features “substantial and challenging roles for all genders” as well as — here’s the killer — “a sense of humor.”A tall order, yet Clubbed Thumb has hit that sweet spot astonishingly often, in works like “Men in Boats,” “Of Government,” “Wilder Gone,” “Lunch Bunch” and “Tumacho,” to name just one in each of the past five years. Alas, “Tumacho,” a horse opera featuring a chorus of cactuses, was the last we heard from the company. The show opened on March 2, 2020, and closed, with the rest of the theater world, 10 days later.Now, like some kind of belated dramaturgical groundhog, Clubbed Thumb returns with “The Woman’s Party,” by Rinne B. Groff, to predict more funny-strange theater ahead. Directed by Tara Ahmadinejad and available online through Aug. 31, it checks off every item on the company’s wish list, and then one more: It’s historical.I don’t just mean that it’s momentous, though in some ways it is, if something so nearly silly can also be nearly profound. I mean that it is based closely — and yet imaginatively — on the true story of an important turning point in the American struggle for equal rights. In 1947, the National Woman’s Party, which almost three decades earlier had secured passage of women’s suffrage in the United States, stood on the brink of an even bigger victory: the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.In 1947?Yes, and as Groff unpacks the reasons such a victory did not pan out, we quickly come to recognize the internal conflicts that have painfully delayed, and in some cases undone, so many breakthroughs ever since.Clockwise from top left: Rosalyn Coleman, Connie Winston, Emily Kuroda and Marceline Hugot in the Clubbed Thumb production.via Clubbed ThumbIn the case of the National Woman’s Party, founded in 1916 by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, part of the conflict was generational. By 1947, with Paul long ensconced as the organization’s center of power — even if her power was nominally delegated to others — a struggle had broken out between her supporters and those who felt that new strategies and new blood were required to win the E.R.A. battle. How a progressive like Paul (who actually wrote the amendment) came to be perceived as a reactionary is one of the many paradoxes Groff neatly sets up.That setup is engineered into the play’s three-part structure. In Part One, we meet most of the relevant characters — all women over 50 — who are either planning a “coup” at the organization’s headquarters in Washington or looking for ways to foil it. The plotters want the party to embrace a broader agenda than just equal rights and a broader population than just wealthy white women; Paul’s cadre wants to limit their efforts to winning, at whatever cost to coalition building and diversity.Though the casting is mostly colorblind, it remains notable that Doris Stevens, Paul’s protégée and the leader of the uprising, is played by Rosalyn Colman, a Black actor. Groff introduces her as a noir antiheroine blowing smoke rings while jazz plays, suggesting a challenge to the establishment both of its time and beyond it. In Colman’s canny performance, Stevens is also complicated enough to undermine the authenticity of her stated motives; though a fan of Freudian analysis, she fails to notice that she has scheduled the takeover on her mentor’s birthday, Jan. 11.In Part Two, the coup occurs, to some degree based on the actual events of that night, including the singing of hymns, an emergency call to the Pinkertons and the repurposing of ironing boards as battering rams. Groff, juggling 10 characters, sometimes creates a blur, but the fine cast (including Alma Cuervo, Laura Esterman and Lizan Mitchell) corrects for that problem with stylish semi-caricatures.In any case, as seen in Zoom-like boxes representing various rooms in the headquarters — the ingenious virtual dollhouse set is by the design collective called dots — the women are perfectly clear in their allegiances, even if they are hopelessly divided within them.Groff’s dialogue, tying and untying ideological knots as she sketches their positions, keeps what could be leaden exposition bubbling. (So does Ahmadinejad’s sprightly pacing.) Gradually the knots coalesce into one giant tangle as the story builds to Part Three and the final confrontation between Stevens and Paul, played by the fantastically dry Rebecca Schull in a bathrobe.Here the play expands in several useful directions. One leads to a Shavian orgasm of argumentation, with its Jenga-like pileup of rhetoric that dares you to agree, and then deconstruct that agreement, at every turn.“Shouldn’t the organization we create recapitulate the principles we stand for?” Stevens asks.“No,” Paul answers. “The organization we create should achieve the principles we stand for.”Another direction, speaking to the “strange” and “formally inventive” parts of Clubbed Thumb’s agenda, extends the play’s metatheatrics and anachronisms into haunting new territory. Earlier in the story, when characters slyly acknowledged that they were actors in a play, the excuse for it seemed to be humor — a good enough excuse in my book.But now, as Stevens and Paul divulge to one another what will happen deep in the future, the effect is more biting. Paul, who as she lay dying in 1977 assumed the E.R.A. would soon be law, is crushed to be given a premonition of the truth in 1947. And Stevens, learning of her own subsequent dabblings in red-baiting and nativism, must look at her attempted overthrow of the party in a new, less flattering context.To the extent “The Woman’s Party” asks us, too, to re-examine our activist strategies in light of our societal goals — and vice versa — this is bracing political theater. But it is also theatrical politics, in the sense that it asks us to consider the role of drama in a time of upheaval.That’s why Groff, who in plays like “The Ruby Sunrise” often uses historical change to examine current conflict, is such a good fit for Clubbed Thumb. Over the last decade, and particularly over the last year, playmakers have been struggling to balance the traditional values of dramatic beauty and entertainment with the need to address, in radical terms, a radical moment.“The Woman’s Party” not only tells a story about that struggle but also, with its wit and light hand, and even its occasional raggedness, is a fine new example of it.The Woman’s PartyThrough Aug. 31; clubbedthumb.org More

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      As Broadway Plans Its Return, ‘Hamilton’ Will Require Vaccines Backstage

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      With 23 shows setting Broadway reopening dates, audiences can expect full crowds, masks and flexible ticketing policies. But not lower prices.As Broadway prepares for a fall reopening, the “Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller said he will mandate that all of his show’s employees, including the cast and the backstage crew, be vaccinated against the coronavirus.Seller is the first producer to make such a declaration publicly, and it is not clear whether any of Broadway’s many labor unions could or would challenge such an effort. Brandon Lorenz, a spokesman for the Actors’ Equity Association, said of a vaccination requirement, “That would be something we would find acceptable, as long as the employer complies with the law.”Broadway’s cast and crew work in very close quarters in tight backstage spaces, and actors onstage are extensively exposed to one another’s exhalations because they are unmasked, speak and sing loudly in proximity, dance in partnered and group configurations, and in some shows kiss or fight.Seller’s plan comes as many American colleges and universities say they will require students to be vaccinated, and employers are wrestling with whether to do the same.Broadway producers, many of whom announced resumption plans over the last week, are still figuring out details, including what safety measures will be necessary come fall. But social distancing is not expected, and ticket prices, from early reports, are not going down.Seller, who said he does not plan to require vaccination for patrons, disclosed his intentions in a joint interview with Thomas Schumacher, who as president of Disney Theatrical Productions is the producer of “The Lion King,” and David Stone, the lead producer of “Wicked,” in which the three discussed their decision to reopen their productions — all popular juggernauts — on the same night, Sept. 14.Neither Schumacher nor Stone said whether they would require vaccinations for cast or crew.The trio said they and others started talking a week or two after Broadway shut down, trading tips and comparing coping strategies. Those periodic check-ins continued for more than a year, slowly pivoting to reopening plans. Then Stone made a suggestion in a call with Seller and Schumacher: What if, instead of jockeying for position, their shows all opened on the same night?A fan photographing the display outside “Hamilton,” which is one of four Broadway shows that will raise the curtain on Sept. 14. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York Times“The three of us recognized that by joining together, the sheer announcement would get more play, and that’s good for everybody,” Schumacher said. Seller took the idea to his creative team, which, he said, “were so strongly in support of us holding hands and going together.”So on Tuesday, “Hamilton,” “The Lion King” and “Wicked,” which are regularly among Broadway’s biggest box office draws, jointly announced that they would open on a single night — a date they chose in consultation with industry leaders and government officials and based on an assessment of when vaccination rates will be high enough, and infection rates low enough, to do so safely.They are planning staggered curtains — 7 p.m. for “Wicked” (Glinda’s opening line: “It’s good to see me, isn’t it?”); 7:30 p.m. for “The Lion King” and 8 p.m. for “Hamilton” — to allow dignitaries and journalists to stop by them all.“It made sense, and it frankly was a very effective way to communicate,” Schumacher said. “It said Broadway is coming back.”Their plan became the focal point for Broadway’s reopening, as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declared Sept. 14 the date on which Broadway shows would start to return at 100 percent seating capacity.But not everyone was ready to defer to the troika.“The Phantom of the Opera,” with bragging rights as Broadway’s longest-running show, barged out of the gate with the first post-Cuomo reopening announcement, slated for October. “Chicago,” which touts itself as the longest-running American musical (“Phantom” originated in Britain), crashed the Big Three party, declaring it would open on the same night, but announcing it four days earlier.“Come From Away” opted to seize some of the attention, buying a TV ad spot during the “Good Morning America” segment in which the bigger shows announced their plan. And at least one musical is still hoping to get a jump on “Hamilton,” “The Lion King” and “Wicked” by opening even earlier.But there’s no question that the trio’s collective action drew national attention to Broadway’s planned return. As the delayed 2021-22 theater season starts to take shape, 23 shows have already announced performance plans, and more are expected soon.The nine shows that have chosen to start performing in September are well-established brands confident that they can find an audience even at a time when tourism is expected to be soft. They include “Six,” which has a strong tailwind coming out of London; “American Utopia,” a return engagement for David Byrne’s sold-out dance concert; as well as “Come From Away,” “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” and another Disney production, “Aladdin.”The long-running revival of “Chicago” announced its Sept. 14 reopening ahead of three other major shows whose producers had agreed together to return on that date.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesRiskier shows and those with more niche audiences are holding off a little longer. The nonprofits that present on Broadway are waiting at least until October to get started, as are many of the new commercial productions.Even some big draws are opting to give consumers more time to get comfortable with the idea of gathering in indoor crowds: “Dear Evan Hansen,” for example, is waiting until to December to resume, and two big-budget new productions, a Michael Jackson biomusical called “MJ” and a starry revival of “The Music Man,” are aiming to open in February, although both are planning to start performances in December.What do the first round of announcements tell us about post-pandemic Broadway?Ticket-buyers are being told they will be required to wear face masks (although it’s not clear how changing advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might affect that expectation). Theaters will have upgraded HVAC systems with virus-trapping filters. Most ticketing will be digital. And theaters are reserving the right to impose a variety of safety protocols — in an explanatory note similar to that posted by other shows, “Ain’t Too Proud” says “protocols may include mask enforcement, increased cleaning and ventilation/filtration enhancements, vaccination or negative test verification, and more.”Prices, at least so far, are similar to what they were prepandemic, although premium prices are somewhat lower. The priciest seat at “Hamilton,” for example, is now $549, down from $847 before the pandemic.But it will be far easier to cancel or exchange tickets.Disney, in particular, has taken steps to make ticket-buying less onerous: The company said it would pay all Ticketmaster fees for performances through Aug. 7, 2022. (High service fees often irk consumers; a $99 ticket to “Tina,” for example, costs another $14.70 in fees.) Disney said it would also allow free ticket exchanges and refunds, and would offer package deals for those who buy seats at both “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.”How often will shows perform? The Broadway League and labor unions, concerned about the possibility of soft demand for some productions, have been discussing whether to allow shows to come back with fewer than eight performances a week, and prorated salaries.The issue remains unresolved, but a few shows are now marketing a reduced schedule. “Chicago” and “Dear Evan Hansen,” for example, are offering tickets to just five shows many weeks; “Six” is listing mostly, um, six.For the big shows, early sales have been strong, producers said. “Yesterday, we had hope,” Seller said. “Today we have confirmation.”Among the early purchasers: Claire Grimble, 51, of Belmont, Mass., who bought tickets to “Jagged Little Pill” as soon as that show, featuring the songs of Alanis Morissette, went back on sale. She said the cast album had helped her teenage daughter, who had seen the show in 2019, get through the pandemic.“We booked tickets for the first weekend it is open,” she said. “We can’t wait.” More

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      When Does the Curtain Rise on Your Favorite Broadway Shows?

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      Here are the plans for 23 productions so far, including old favorites, brand-new musicals and some that were just getting started.After being closed for more than a year, Broadway is showing signs of life. Several long-running musicals, including “The Lion King” and “Wicked,” have recently announced when they will reopen this fall. Shows that were just beginning their runs, and had not yet opened, when the pandemic struck — like “Six,” “Diana” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” — have also released their plans for resuming performances. The revival of “Caroline, or Change” and the new Michael Jackson biomusical “MJ” have taken their first steps toward welcoming audiences, as well.Here is a list of announced first performance dates, and how you can buy tickets. We will update it as more announcements are made.“Chicago” at the Ambassador TheaterSept. 14; tickets on sale at Telecharge.com“Hamilton” at the Richard Rodgers TheaterSept. 14; tickets on sale at Ticketmaster.com“The Lion King” at the Minskoff TheaterSept. 14; tickets on sale at Ticketmaster.com“Wicked” at the Gershwin TheaterSept. 14; tickets on sale at Ticketmaster.com“American Utopia” at a theater to be announcedSept. 17; tickets on sale at Americanutopiabroadway.com“Six” at the Brooks Atkinson TheaterSept. 17; tickets on sale at Ticketmaster.com“Come From Away” at the Gerald Schoenfeld TheaterSept. 21; tickets on sale at Telecharge.com“Aladdin” at the New Amsterdam TheaterSept. 28; tickets on sale at Ticketmaster.com“Moulin Rouge! The Musical” at the Al Hirschfeld TheaterSept. 24; tickets on sale May 19 at Seatgeek.com“Caroline, or Change” at Studio 54Oct. 8; non-subscription tickets on sale July 28 at Roundabouttheatre.org“Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” at the Lunt-Fontanne TheaterOct. 8; tickets on sale at Ticketmaster.com“Ain’t Too Proud” at the Imperial TheaterOct. 16; tickets on sale at Telecharge.com“Jagged Little Pill” at the Broadhurst TheaterOct. 21; tickets on sale at Telecharge.com“Mrs. Doubtfire” at the Stephen Sondheim TheaterOct. 21; tickets on sale at Telecharge.com“The Phantom of the Opera” at the Majestic TheaterOct. 22; tickets on sale at Telecharge.com“Trouble in Mind” at the American Airlines TheaterOct. 29; non-subscription tickets on sale July 28 at Roundabouttheatre.org“Flying Over Sunset” at the Vivian Beaumont TheaterNov. 4; ticket sales date not yet announced“Diana” at the Longacre TheaterDec. 1; tickets on sale at Telecharge.com“MJ” at the Neil Simon TheaterDec. 6; tickets on sale May 18 at Ticketmaster.com“Dear Evan Hansen” at the Music Box TheaterDec. 11; tickets on sale at Telecharge.com“Company” at the Bernard B. Jacobs TheaterDec. 20; tickets on sale at Telecharge.com“The Music Man” at the Winter Garden TheaterDec. 20; ticket sales date not yet announced“Birthday Candles” at the American Airlines TheaterMarch 18, 2022; ticket sales date not yet announced More