Casting and News: Show Business Weekly

Off-Broadway learns to think like off-off

Established theaters take risks to bring edgy work to larger audiences

New York theater is traditionally a medium of sharp distinctions. First, there is the Broadway variety, characterized by bloated budgets, commercial tie-ins and ever-increasing Disneyfication. Next we have off-Broadway, which, while not as glitzy as the Great White Way, is still quite polished and prone to producing safe, familiar choices by well-known playwrights. Finally, there is the unsung, often under-funded world of off-off-Broadway, a world punctuated by tiny theaters, obscure artists and edgy fare.

Theater artists generally prefer not to blur the lines between these theatrical sub-genres, as doing so involves the sort of risk taking that can spell doom for an unproven show. A recent article in The New York Times, however, has illustrated how that has begun to change — particularly this spring, with a group of off-Broadway theater companies that are taking a cue from their more brazen off-off-Broadway counterparts. The result is an off-Broadway season of cutting-edge shows that might otherwise have been limited to smaller audiences.

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Jenny Schwartz’s critically acclaimed play God’s Ear is a prime example of such a show. The surreal and stylistic drama made a splash last year when it was produced by the ambitious, but small, theater company New Georges. This season, the show has been picked up by off-Broadway’s Vineyard Theater where it is enjoying a solid run. The Times’ Charles Isherwood heralded Vineyard’s decision to mount the virtually unknown play. Voices like Schwartz’s need to be heard more often, if, as Isherwood put it, “off-Broadway is to retain a reputation for groundbreaking theater.”

The Vineyard is not the only off-Broadway venue taking risks this season. Other such ventures include New York Theater Workshop’s gutsy adaptation of William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury (which marks the off-Broadway debut for the fledgling theater company Elevator Repair Service), and the Classic Stage Company’s Old Comedy — a world premiere produced by Target Margin Theater.

While seeing more unknown productions on off-Broadway stages is a hopeful sign for New York’s legions of emerging artists, one question still looms large: Will theatergoers turn out to support them? -Christopher Zara

Does Anyone Watch TV?

As networks struggle with an ongoing ratings slump, cators on both coasts pay the price

With the effects of the 100-day writers’ strike still lingering, the entertainment industry is confronted with another looming enemy: Digital Video Recorders.

The popular devices could spell trouble for actors on the small screen, experts fear, as consumers continue to shun live TV for recorded programs. According to a recent report by Nielsen Media Research, all the major broadcast networks, other than Fox, saw a significant decline in viewers during April and May of 2008 compared to last year. The report proves even more alarming with May being known as the sweeps season, when networks compile their ratings to pitch to advertisers. While the writers’ strike certainly didn’t help, most of the drop is attributed to DVR and TiVo, which are now available in 25 million American homes. Nielsen does not yet account for live recordings in its ratings.

With low ratings and less dollars pouring in, the margin for error in production of new shows is slimmer than ever. Factor in rising production costs for pilots, and networks are signing off on fewer and fewer of them. This year the networks, instead of holding glamorous upfront presentations for advertisers to market their new series, are opting for smaller affairs, while pitching fewer shows, resulting in fewer shows being produced for the fall. This equates to fewer small-screen jobs for the acting communities on both coasts.

A senior network executive, who chose to remain anonymous, told as much to The New York Times, saying, “As a result of [DVR use], the biggest shows are getting bigger and some of the smaller shows are getting negatively impacted.” -Nick Breault

Broadway’s Not-So-Glory Days: With the economic downturn worsening, Broadway is beginning to feel the crunch. Crain’s New York Business last week reported that 18 of the 37 shows currently on Broadway have less than 70 percent attendance, resulting in a 4.5 percent decline in gross earnings. “The economy is making people think that instead of seeing three shows, they’ll see one,” Daryl Roth, a Broadway producer, told Crain’s. Expensive flops like Glory Days, which closed after opening night, have exasperated the problem. Meanwhile, current shows are counting on the summer tourist season more than ever for a major influx to boost revenues, placing a lot of hope on foreigners coming to New York to take advantage of the weak dollar.

Leaving Los Angeles: Less than a month after New York expanded its film production tax credits to a whopping 30 percent, the state has already begun to lure California-based productions to its own turf. ABC’s “Ugly Betty” was the first to announce moving, and last week Daily Variety reported that Fox’s new show “Fringe” and ABC’s new drama “Life on Mars” are considering coming to New York as well. The Golden State, however, was quick to respond. According to The Los Angeles Times, California Gov. Schwarzenegger has proposed boosting the state’s own tax incentives on production. Still, given Califorina’s dire fiscal situation, prospects for the proposal look grim. -Nick Breault

INSIDE INK
By John Rowell

THE WORLD IS YOURS

The Theatre World Awards are given annually for striking debut performances in the New York theater, on or off-Broadway. The winners are prominently featured in the annually published summary of the theater season in New York and all over the country, Theatre World, which was launched in the mid-1940s by the great theater historian and journalist John Willis. And this year’s list of winners, awarded last week, represents a marvelous cross-section of performers in a variety of some of the past season’s best shows: de’Adre Azizza for Passing Strange, Cassie Beck for Drunken City, Daniel Breaker for Passing Strange, Ben Daniels for Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Deanna Dunagan for August: Osage County, Hoon Lee for Yellow Face, Alli Mauzey for Cry-Baby, Jenna Russell for Sunday in the Park With George, Mark Rylance for Boeing Boeing, Loretta Ables Sayre for South Pacific, Jimmi Simpson for The Farnsworth Invention and Paulo Szot for South Pacific. A hearty Inside Ink congrats to all the winners. For more info: www.theatreworldawards.org.

FOR STRAPHANGERS EVERYWHERE

Most of us in New York take the subway daily — we don’t even think about it, we just whip out our yellow MetroCards, slide them in the turnstile slot and... wait forever for the train to come. Now from Coffee Cup Theater Company — or Coffee Cup (a theater co.) — comes the world premiere of Standing Clear, a comedy about the distance we put between ourselves and others on the subway, a show that attempts to dig deep into the personalities we commute with each day. Written by Ishah Janssen-Faith and Jack McGowan, Standing Clear is directed by Barbara Karger, and performances begin May 29 at Access Theater (380 Broadway.) For more info: www.CoffeeCupTheatre.org.

A YEAR WITH PROFESSOR AND TOAD(S)

Fickle scientist Professor Harold Roth travels the world to isolated research stations where he conducts unusual field studies — such as digging up toads under a dry lake bed in Arizona. The professor’s traveling posse includes his wife, a once successful but now crazed poet, as well as a crew of misfits and his delinquent son Matt and Matt’s pregnant girlfriend. And then a bizarre stranger enters all their lives... that’s the quite loaded set-up of The Site, a new drama by Al Schnupp which is being given its World Premiere staging courtesy of Ivy Productions, which opens May 22 at Walkerspace Theater on Canal Street. For more info, call 212-352-3101.

ALL A-LONE

It’s a common enough pick-up line: “What are you doing standing there all alone?” But it’s precisely the point for the actresses participating in Coyote REP Theatre Company’s Lone Wolf Series when they take to the stage all by their lonesome in one-woman shows offering unique takes on the theme of “isolation.” The Coyote REP members represented are Andrea Caban, Lavinia Grays, Jeanne LaSala and Heidi Tokheim, and performances take place through May 25 at the June Havoc Theatre (the actress who was the real-life Baby June, sister to Gypsy Rose Lee, whom we all know best, of course, from Gypsy.) Check out these lone wolves (wolverines?) at the company’s website www.coyoterep.org.

VIVA TEATRO

I’m happy to report that, after a great debut, New York’s premiere Latino Theater Festival will return for a second season, beginning June 2. The festival is called TeatroStageFest, and it’s all about celebrating and spotlighting great theater from New York, Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain, making the Big Apple the capital of Latino theater nationwide. Ola! And this year, the festival will feature eight full-length local and international theater productions, an intimate concert and comedy series, artist panels, a TeatroStageFamily show for children, and a playwriting competition for high school students. Scheduled to appear are such celebrated Latino performers and theater icons as John Leguizamo, Graciella Daniele, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chicago star Bianca Marroquin, Grammy nominee Bobby Sanabria and many others. Performances take place in various venues around town; for a complete schedule, log on to www.teatrostagefest.org.

Call Your Friends: Mark Rylance took home a Theatre World Award for his work in Boeing Boeing

SHORT CUTS
By Sarah Ricard

CO-OP DOC

Gearing up for the big election, independent film company Looking Back Films is making a documentary about the top issues on the minds of voters the season — perhaps with your help. For its so-called “Co-op Documentary,” Looking Back is accepting video submissions through July 1 to include in the film, which means anyone with a video camera and a computer can take part. The project asks contributors to supply answers to the following questions in their submissions: 1. What issue do you feel is the most important one this election season? 2. How would you propose change? 3. Will race, gender or age be a deciding factor for your vote? 4. Do you think this election will further divide this country? The film will premiere for free on the Web — right before the election, no less. On premiere night, the presidential candidates and their running mates will be asked for a candid reaction to the film. Of course, just because they’re asked for candid reactions, doesn’t mean they’ll give candid reactions. For more info, visit www.lookingbackent.com.

Barack and a Hard Place: Before Senator Obama becomes president, he may have to answer to some documentary filmmakers.

MOST USEFUL SITES

Last week, FILMdetail.com — a British online magazine — posted what it called “the list of useful movie Web sites to help guide you to the best film content on the Web.” There are some obvious choices in the lot — the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com), the review aggregator Metacritic.com, and Web staples YouTube and Wikipedia. Some lesser known sites include C.H.U.D. (“Cinematic Happenings Under Development,” not “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers”), Bloody-Disgusting (an online guide to horror films), Devil Dusky (a guide to viral video), and Creative Screenwriting Magazine — a Podcast by Jeff Goldsmith, in which he posts Q&As with successful screenwriters. For the complete list of useful sites, or just to throw out at your next film collective meeting, visit www.filmdetail.com

WERNER WERNER EVERYWHERE

Werner Herzog, the highly regarded German director who, these days, is best known for “Grizzly Man,” has been popping up in the news lately. For one, he’s rumored to be teaming up with David Lynch in what promises to be one of the weirder collaborations in recent history (and not weird like ‘unexpected’ — more weird like ‘can you imagine how weird their movie is going to be?’) with a film called “My Son, My Son.” The horror flick is based on actual events involving a San Diego man who, after becoming heavily influenced by the ancient Greek dramatist Sophocles, kills his mother with a sword. Meanwhile, Variety reported last week that Herzog is also involved in another project — a remake of “The Bad Lieutenant” (which, if I’m not mistaken, isn’t that old). What’s more? The film is rumored to star Nick Cage. I know what’s on everyone’s mind at this moment: Will he or won’t he do the full frontal? I’m thinking no. I’m also thinking Nick should have learned his lesson about remakes after “The Wicker Man.”

From ‘Bad’ to Worse: Werner Herzog’s upcoming remake of “The Bad Lieutenant” has everyone asking: How can Nick Cage possibly upstage Harvey Keitel?