Grace Dudley News

This week’s stories highlight a theater landscape in motion, with notable leadership shifts, community celebrations, and major institutional changes shaping the field. Helen Shaw’s appointment as Chief Theater Critic at The New York Times marks a significant moment in arts journalism, while audiences worldwide engage with the newly opened voting for the 2025 BroadwayWorld Regional Awards. Onstage, Broadway prepares for star-studded fundraising at Red Bucket Follies, and regional companies navigate both exciting transitions and unexpected setbacks. Internationally, major UK institutions confront financial challenges and ambitious renovations, reflecting a moment of both reckoning and renewal across the global arts community.

Helen Shaw has joined The New York Times' Culture desk as chief theater critic. She will begin the position in mid-January. Helen was previously the theater critic and a staff writer at The New Yorker.