Cara Joy David

There has been a lot of press about the NYC Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit, but so much remains unclear. I continue to get regular questions about it, months after any major news hit. I can report now that Empire State Development (ESD), which administers the credit, is taking applications from shows with a first paid performance on or prior to December 1, well over a month after the previously reported deadline. This article will also cover a frequently asked question regarding nonprofit eligibility for the tax credit.

All over social media in recent weeks have been complaints about the fact that Actors’ Equity members in Mamma Mia! and Beetlejuice are not getting paid Broadway minimum. This started even before the news that Trisha Paytas was stepping into Beetlejuice on Broadway, which further stirred up chatter.

It is bad for the state if Broadway falters. Broadway will falter if investment dries up. It is as simple as that. (I’m not sure how the “backfill” idea is in keeping with the idea that the credit is designed to stimulate investment, as that investment will have already occurred, but I also see the argument that folks who decided to invest in shows opening later in the fall were expecting the credit, and they may not invest in the future if they feel they were shafted this go round.)

In this interview, Margolin and Randall, who did not know each other previously, discussed what drew them to write about the bond between women, how important it was to work with female directors, what they think it took to get their work to the stage, and more.

I’ve been writing about the lack of female representation in creative teams for at least 15 years. When I wrote a series on female playwrights a couple of years back, there was a sense that things were getting better. Indeed, when Julia Jordan handed off leadership of the Lillys in December 2023, she proudly reported that gender parity had been reached on off-Broadway stages dedicated to new plays. There was even talk of sunsetting the organization, which has been a driving force in the fight for gender parity.

Theater makers have a “show must go on” spirit. So it is no surprise that the vast majority of the over forty artistic leaders I spoke to in the last two weeks believed they would find a way to survive even without promised National Endowment for the Arts funding. But it won’t be easy.

I was raised on television. So, it is no surprise that my first exposure to Linda Lavin was Alice, the reruns of which ran on a local New York channel when I was little. But when I grew older, I realized that as good as Lavin was on television, she was really a creature of the stage. I have trouble believing Broadway has not yet dimmed the lights for this Tony-winning Theater Hall of Fame member.

Buyers of tickets to live performances sometimes feel like they should get their money back, but it’s usually when a star drops out, after seeing a show, or at least after the reviews come out. All In: Comedy About Love instead had several people requesting refunds when they simply heard more about it.

It’s a season of merriment and tourism, when Broadway producers hope to make enough extra money to compensate for the dark days of winter ahead. But just how much extra are Broadway stars working?

When the wild project launched its do-or-die capital campaign a couple of weeks back, an industry reeling from several hits to the off-off-Broadway community braced for another one. However, even though the downtown arts community had suffered several losses, the news that the non-profit needed to raise $1 million in only three months caught many by surprise.

Rumors of the death of off-off-Broadway have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (the organizing entity, such that there is one, of off-off-Broadway companies) will tell you it has more members than it did twenty years ago. However, there is no doubt that things feel dire.

Theater tickets are famously known as non-refundable. But there are sometimes insurance options out there, they just aren’t well publicized. As expected, the industry not having a centralized buying platform leads to a more confusing purchasing experience in terms of insurance. Different forums offer different insurance or none at all. This, even though, everyone asked believes clear insurance offerings are a plus for the consumer.

We are officially done with the Broadway season. And, this season, there have been a lot of complaints about the spring crush.

This week for the award show series, I look at two award shows that do not consider Broadway: the Lucille Lortel Awards and the Obie Awards. 

In this column, I write about the development of one of this spring’s jukebox musicals, The Heart of Rock and Roll. My old friend, Gordon Greenberg (represented off-Broadway earlier this season with Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors), is directing it, and I recently chatted with him about his decade-long involvement with the show.

Two groups of critics (or, more precisely, one group of critics and one group of mostly critics) give theater awards each season. In this continuing series on theater’s awards, I look at the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards and Outer Critics Circle Awards. 

It is award season. And every year newcomers to the industry ask what most of the awards are. In this series, I’ll hopefully explain that. I'll be looking at many of the major awards other than the Tony Awards. First up today: the Drama Desk Awards and the Drama League Awards.

Every once and a while I see a performance and wonder if there is some stage magic involved. That is how I felt while watching Dead Outlaw. Andrew Durand—giving what The New York Times referred to as a “wow of a performance” —stays so still for such a large portion of the musical that I wondered if a beta blocker was utilized.

Throughout my career, I’ve tried to stay attuned to the ticket-buying experience. I walk through the process online at the major retailers. I’ll stop by rush lines or in-person lotteries to talk to folks. And, last week, I woke up early a few days to talk to people on/participate in the standing-room-only line for Hadestown.

In the summer of 2022, Canadian-based producers David Galpern and Charles Roy launched ArtsDistrict Brooklyn in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. But I’ve spoken to over a dozen people—some only on background because of potential legal implications—who allege they are owed money related to work they performed for the venue.