ABROAD/WAY BULLETPOINTS FOR APRIL 23, 2024
"Terrorist and extremist" Russian theatermakers, AI-generated reviews, a hidden camera in a Seoul dressing room, and more
Happy seasonal Broadway logjam to all who celebrate and welcome to Jaques, your guide to the global theater industry. New to Jaques? Get the details over at this handy explainer, and in honor of Earth Day yesterday, let me direct you to my recent SPOTLIGHT STORY about sustainability initiatives around the world — including a guide to the biggest resources out there for creators, producers and organizations on Broadway, on the West End, and all over the globe.
And now: the latest in international theater headlines.
ABROAD/WAY BULLETPOINTS
Russia has officially classified a theater director and a playwright as “terrorists and extremists” as the pair, arrested in May, wait to be tried on charges of “justifying terrorism.” Reuters reports that the charges against director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk “relate to an award-winning play about Russian women who married Islamic State fighters.” The two artists, whose names have been added to an official register, “are among many thousands of people and entities who have been similarly designated in a crackdown on perceived subversive activity that intensified after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.”
Pull-quotes for two recent Toronto productions have raised concerns over AI generated theater reviews. As detailed in Aisling Murphy’s story in the Toronto Star, advertisements for recent productions from local companies Soulpepper and Theatre Passe Muraille included quotes from reviews taken from a Hong Kong-based new aggregator long thought to generate content through AI; an investigation by the Star “confirmed that these reviews are almost certainly AI-generated.” Neither theater company knowingly used AI-generated quotes, according to statements from the two organizations, but as Murphy points out, the situation makes for one more potential pitfall for marketers to navigate as theater criticism declines at outlets across the country. “In Canada, there are only two salaried theatre critics — Joshua Chong from the Toronto Star and J. Kelly Nestruck from the Globe and Mail — while the rest of the country’s theatre coverage is cobbled together by a small network of freelancers and volunteer bloggers,” Murphy notes.
The former manager of a Korean idol group is suspected of planting a hidden camera in a dressing room backstage at the Seoul production of Next to Normal. The camera was discovered in the changing area used by the actor Kim Hwan-hee, who plays the teenage daughter Diana in the show, and other cast members. The suspect, identified a few days later, was immediately fired from his position at WM Entertainment. As reported in the Korea Times, Kim’s agency “noted that the case is currently under police investigation and said its focus is on helping Kim return to her scheduled activities without further distress.”
Meanwhile, Korean producer Library Company is making moves overseas as a producer of the new musical Two Strangers, which recently moved to the West End following a successful run at the Kiln Theatre in London. Meanwhile, the company held a New York reading earlier this month of a new musical by Fred Ebb Award winner Julia Riew. According to The Musical (via Google Translate), the reading is the first step to a planned production of the musical in Seoul in 2025. On Broadway, Library Company is involved in & Juliet and also was a co-producer and investor in Some Like It Hot.
Broadway and West End shows are becoming sites of climate protest just like arts museums: Not long after the Broadway production of An Enemy of the People was interrupted by climate activists, five protestors from the organization Just Stop Oil were found guilty of aggravated trespass for invading the stage of a West End performance of Les Misérables in October. “Two of the activists were also found guilty of criminal damage after standing on the theatre’s orchestra pit netting,” the BBC reports. “The estimated cost to the theatre of cancelling the performance was £60,000.” Sentencing for all five protestors will occur at a later date.
Sean Foley is stepping down as artistic director of Birmingham Rep, the U.K. theater where his programming turned heads with high-profile productions and transatlantic collaborators. He’ll exit after the run of Withnail and I, the upcoming show he’ll direct. As noted in The Stage, the news comes after the Birmingham City Council announced it will cut its entire arts budget, but Foley, who joined the Rep in 2019, is quoted as saying: “My decision was made before the announcement of the city council cuts to the arts budgets, and is unrelated to them.” There’s been no announcement about what’s next for Foley, whose roots lie in the commercial theater.
Read more about why transatlantic producers are flocking to Birmingham Rep:
Local producers canceled an upcoming São Paolo production of Kinky Boots after failing to secure full funding support. The news comes less than a month after the actor announced to headline the production, TV and film star Thiago Fragoso, cut ties with the show over what he said was the premature announcement of his involvement in the project. “In a statement published on its social networks, the producer argued that it had not been able to find a sponsor for the production … [Producer] Bacana Realizações e Ideias still maintains the rights to Kinky Boots, and intends to continue in the fundraising process throughout this year,” reports Observatório da TV (via Google Translate). Tickets had been on sale since February for the production, which would have opened May 29.
The immersive, indoor/outdoor redo of The Lord of the Rings — A Musical Tale will launch an international tour kicking off at Chicago Shakespeare Theater this summer (July 19-Sept. 1). The reimagined show, initially a flop that originated in Toronto (2006) and London (2007), played the U.K.’s Watermill Theatre last year and will announce dates and stops for the international tour in June. Kevin Wallace Limited leads the list of commercial entities involved in the project.
Shanghai’s new AIA Grand Theatre announced its upcoming slate with musical theater, both old and new, prominent on the schedule. As reported in China Daily: “While original musical productions from abroad, such as Chicago from the U.S. and Anna Karenina from Russia, are widely anticipated, AIA Grand Theatre plans to introduce new Chinese musical productions too. Lost in the Stars, directed by Wang Yixun, was adapted from the 2023 movie of the same title, with a new twist of the plot. It will premiere at AIA Grand Theatre in August.” Also of note: a series of budget performances “with each ticket price capped at no more than 80 yuan ($11.08) to encourage more people to come and experience live theater.”
A trio of updates from Madrid’s bustling theater industry:
Busy local producer of homegrown musicals Beon Entertainment is developing a new Spanish-language musical called Patria, based on the 2016 novel by Fernando Aramburu about two families in the Basque region affected by Basque nationalist violence.
LetsGo’s production of The Phantom of the Opera will extend into a second season that starts Sept. 27.
El Confidencial has the details on the popular local staging of The Book of Mormon, with a cast of 33 and eight musicians in the pit. The translation for SOM Produce’s production is by the show’s director David Serrano, a busy director-writer of theater, film and television, with his brother Alejandro Serrano.
Stage Entertainment’s upcoming production of & Juliet attracted twice as many auditioners than the norm for other musicals, according to the show’s casting director.
Proactiv Entertainment is bringing Broadway and West End alum Life of Pi to Abu Dhabi in November. The company has also lined up a stop for Matilda there in June.