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.

Assessing 2024

Ken Davenport’s Top (7) Theatrical Moments in 2024 (Merrily We Roll Along comeback, the Wicked film, Gavin Creel’s death, a year with “the most female directors on Broadway ever, with 16 of the 39 plays and musicals featuring a woman at the helm”); Adam Szymkowicz’s My 2024 Year in Review a recounting of his personal achievements (“I made a living this year!  A modest living….but I was able to be only a playwright all year because my wife brought home the health insurance”); The Bad Boy of Musical Theater’s ‘Twas a Year Full of New Line, 2024 , a summary of Scott Miller’s theater company during the year, put into verse (The truth, it’s not easy, especially now/To keep us afloat and to hold to our vow/Making musicals that entertain and inform…) Josh Feye of The Dionysian Dream offers his “top theatrical experiences of 2024.”

In Broadway and Me, Jan Simpson looks back — 10 Shows That Spoke to Me in 2024 – but also ahead — 5 Shows I Most Want to see in 2025.

Jeff Kyler of JKTheaterScene catalogues his Favorites of 2024., and then his Theatrical Resolutions for 2025, which aren’t much different from his past resolutions: See as much theater as possible in as many platforms, and keep his average ticket price down (Last year, his average ticket price was $95.19; he saw 23, and paid a total of  $2,189.45)

Like clockwork, Kevin Daly offers his two end-of-year posts – his only blog posts each year – listing all the records he listened to and all the movies he saw. It’s bracing to see his blogroll of almost 50 theater bloggers, only a handful of whom are still at it.

Interviews 

One of those that has persisted is Aisle Say.   David Spencer dug into his archives recently to reprint an interview from 2000 with Linda Lavin (1937–2024), conducted by dramatist Frank Evans (1946–2017), “as a fitting tribute to both of them.”

A memorable paragraph from it: “The story about me, apocryphal or not, is that I could sing before I spoke. My parents went into bedroom one day and there I was standing in the crib singing God Bless America. ‘Oh my god, she’s singing! She’s singing! Come listen.’ (That’s what I should call my next club act: “She’s singing, she’s singing, come listen.)

Current interviews: 
On Call Me Adam, Adam Rothenberg interviews Debbie Gibson (about to appear at 54 Below) Bitch (whose new show is B*tchcraft: A Musical Play), and mentalist Vinny DePonto (whose new show is Mindplay)
Marks and Vincentelli chat with Marjan Neshat, who just made her Broadway debut in “English.”

Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind

The David Desk 2 posted Off-B’way Update: A Sale, a Strike and a Scary Balance Sheet, summarizing news involving Second Stage, Atlantic and Signature. The information about Signature’s financial troubles derives from one of Philip Boroff’s latest exclusives in Broadway Journal, Signature Auditor Raises “Substantial Doubt” about Nonprofit’s Survival

OnStage Blog began the new year with a snarky post headlined “The Broadway League Announces New Year’s Resolution to Raise Ticket Prices To Record Levels” (“Editor’s note: Yes, this is satire”)

But subsequent posts on this prolific blog reflect a hint of optimism peaking through its dour take on the state of theater:
 What will “TheatreTok” do if TikTok is shut down? It Will Be Fine  

and

Celebrating the First Black Elphaba on Broadway While Questioning the Wait

Source: View source