Cara Joy David News

MFA programs in performing arts face challenges in adapting. Tony eligibility decisions and Drama League nominations revealed. 2023 Tony Awards Live Pre-Show to be streamed for free on Pluto TV. Easter Bonnet Competition raises over $3.6 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Read on for more.

The Performing Artist Tax Parity Act reintroduced provides tax relief for artists. AMC partners with Black Theatre Coalition to support diversity. Broadway struggles with ticket resellers, but official ticket sellers like Telecharge, Ticketmaster, and Broadway Direct help customers find direct box office tickets.

Tim Sanford, former artistic director of Playwrights Horizons, and Aimée Hayes, former producing artistic director of Southern Rep, have launched The Tent Theater Company.

Top stories: We're bringing you more coverage from The Phantom of the Opera's closing night, plus watch an exclusive video message from Charlotte St. Martin in honor of BroadwayWorld's 20th anniversary!

Actors' Equity Association and the Broadway League have come to an agreement on touring contracts. In addition, President Biden appointed a number of high-profile artists to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Furthermore, a recent ruling on Tony eligibility has raised questions about Tony nominators and nonbinary performers.

Top stories: Kimberly Akimbo will embark on tour next year, Prima Facie begins previews, plus check out an exclusive message from Denee Benton in honor of BroadwayWorld's 20th anniversary!

SHUCKED, a musical that debuted in Utah, has raised questions about the use of non-profit venues for regional tryouts, which allow producers to develop shows with less media attention and at lower costs.

AEA forms PAC to support members. Biden admin mulls higher visa fees for international artists. Playwright Sarah Mantell wins Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for 'Futurity'. Lucille Lortel Theatre expands, buys building in Chelsea for new works; Caridad Svich and Michael Heitzman named Artistic Directors.

Top stories: Check out our coverage from opening night of Sweeney Todd, plus watch a video message from Rachel Brosnahan in honor of BroadwayWorld's 20th anniversary!

Governmental funding shifts continue around the globe as governments reveal their latest budget proposals - often with some form of a decrease of support for the creative economy as these countries wind down the support they offered at the height of the pandemic.

While the UK grapples with unruly audiences (not an issue unique to the West End by any means), one critic makes the case that the way we are discussing unruly audiences doesn’t have the best interest of the art form in mind - that it gives it a sense of snobbishness that doesn’t invite more audiences in to enjoy a show.

Top stories: Lea Michele joins Ragtime benefit, MJ finds a new Michael Jackson, complete casting for The Cottage, and more!

Dance news, lawsuits, and J.J. Abrams is coming to the stage all featured in this week's newsletter, along with a surprisingly strong report on the state of the creative economy in California. If California is any indication, there is reason for hope even as the bounceback is slower in other parts of the country as we re-emerge from the pandemic.

A24 is entering the live theatre realm - the revered production and distribution company has acquired the Cherry Lane Theater. We’ve long seen media companies make their way toward Broadway, but A24 entering the off-Broadway space comes after Audible successfully did so a few seasons ago.

The growing threat of antisemitism in our culture spilled onto Broadway last week as a group of neo-Nazi’s protested outside preview performances of Parade. Cara Joy David dives into that, and how it fits into the wider cultural conversation and what we should be doing in our day to day lives to further combat this alarming growth of antisemitism.

Happy first preview to Parade, which begins previews on Broadway tonight! Top stories include photos from the National Tour of 1776, and more!

Earlier this month, the Box Office of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Kimmel Center became tied up in a cyber attack - not unlike the attack that tied up the Met’s box office for weeks - offering everyone a reminder that cyber security vulnerabilities should be examined by institutions of all shapes and sizes.

Recent reporting from the UK has many, anecdotally at least, convinced that post-pandemic shutdown audiences are significantly worse behaved than they were before the pandemic. While we don’t have hard data to back up that claim, the stories in the linked article below about the audience behavior are certainly eyebrow raising.

Top stories include casting for Miscast23, including Josh Groban, Annaleigh Ashford, LaChanze, André De Shields, and more! Plus, Chlöe Bailey, Olivia Colman, Woody Harrelson, and Tosin Cole will star in the film adaptation of Girl From the North Country. 

In both the US and the UK government funding decisions have shifted the way that many companies are able to go about their business - in England, the massive shift in Arts Council England funding has left many major stages looking to fill huge gaps in their books.