Obies and Grammys. Lady Gaga kicked out of her government job. Stageworthy News of the Week
“Yes, the darkness is loud, but the light is brighter y’all,” Brandon Victor Dixon shouted while accepting the Grammy for Best Musical Theater album for “Hells Kitchen,”
That’s somewhat of a summary of the past week, a mini midwinter awards season at the beginning of a new month, offering temporary relief from a two-week blast of aggressively cold politics.
Adam Blackstone, one of the producers of the album, also thanked “all the open minds and the DEI programs that allowed a little kid from church to live out my dreams on Broadway.” Later “Hells Kitchen” creator Alicia Keys, accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Grammy Award, repeated the sentiment: “This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices.We’ve seen on this stage talented hardworking people from different backgrounds with different points of view and it changes the game. DEI is not a threat. it’s a gift. And the more voices the more powerful the sound.” (see video below)
Lady Gaga, in accepting her Grammy, said: “Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up.” Two weeks ago, somebody who disagrees, the new president of the United States, gave her the axe. (See below)
Theater Quiz for January 2025
February 2025 New York Theater Openings
The Week in Theater Reviews
Not everything is offensively fabricated in “Kowalski,” an account of the first time Marlon Brando ever met Tennessee Williams, to audition for “A Streetcar Named Desire,” the play that would make him a star….But Gregg Ostrin’s often clunky script ultimately depicts the encounter as a homoerotically-tinged, menacing cat-and-mouse game. This is not backed up by any of the numerous historical accounts…In this way “Kowalski” becomes self-sabotaging, undermining a well-designed, well-acted production, and especially the charismatic performance of Brando by Brandon Flynn.
Sadie is an actress who so hates motherhood that she put together a one-woman show about how her daughter ruined her life; it is one of the reasons her daughter Jude feels Sadie ruined hers. Heidi Reimer’s debut novel is not just a great read; it’s one to which I responded personally from the very first paragraph…it’s no stretch to call it a theater book.
The Week in New York Theater News
The 68th annual Obie Awards,
honoring Off and Off-Off Broadway.
Complete list of honorees
Sample:
Lifetime achievement awards for Charles Busch, Kristin Marting and the members of Talking Band and 600 HIGHWAYMEN
For performance: Cole Escola, Oh, Mary! Gabby Beans, Jonah; Dianne Wiest and Johanna Day, Scene Partners’ Nathan Lee Graham, Orlando
Another artistic director steps down to make room for the next generation: In June, Ars Nova’s Jason Eagan will become an adviser to new co-artistic directors Andrew Neisler and Anna Morton Stacey
·
The Trump administration has quietly dissolved the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, part of rolling back Biden’s policies on art, culture and historical commemoration. (recent co-chairs Lady Gaga & producer Bruce Cohen (NY Times)
Theater Blog Roundup: Assessing 2024, Avoiding 2025.
Some theater bloggers are responding bluntly to the alarming political moment. Don Shewey lists sources of news that haven’t been corrupted by billionaire owners, George Hunka posted “Republic of morons”attacking Trump and his supporters: “I’m still not sure about how I plan to spend the next four years, but I think it’s obligatory on all of us to stand against it.”
But most haven’t faced 2025 yet. Their latest posts are their assessments of 2024, personal or theatrical or both.
The new year does feature some new — and newly relevant — interviews with theater artists, and a few glimpses of (in the words of the Grateful Dead song) trouble ahead, trouble behind.
The Week’s Theater Video
The musical theater album Grammy (should start at 3:45:40)
Source: View source
