ABROAD/WAY BULLETPOINTS FOR MARCH 26, 2024
An investment ruling reversal in the U.K., a cultural voucher for young arts patrons in South Korea, a new role for a longtime Disney vet, and more
Happy World Theatre Day Eve and welcome to Jaques, your guide to the global theatre industry. If you’re new around here—Hello and nice to see you! Learn more about what’s up with Jaques over this way, and check out last week’s SPOTLIGHT STORY, all about the U.K. theater that transatlantic producers are flocking to, right here:
Theater headlines from around the world, coming right up.
ABROAD/WAY BULLETPOINTS
In a move that broadens access to West End investment opportunities, the U.K. government reversed a recent ruling that raised the earnings threshold for individuals legally permitted to invest in British theater productions and start-ups. As detailed in writer Marc Hershberg’s story in Forbes, the rule that went into effect last month required investors to earn £170,000 (~$215,000) instead of £100,000 (~$125,000) in the last year or have net assets of at least £430,000 (~$545,000) instead of £250,000 (~$315,000). Producers worried the higher bar would adversely limit the pool of potential West End investors from either side of the Atlantic, as well as negatively impacting emerging producers. In the wake of calls from the British theater industry and other sectors, the ruling has now been reversed and the investor thresholds will be dialed back down to their previous levels.
The South Korean government launched a new “cultural voucher” program that has the potential to get more young audiences into the theater. Available to all 19-year-olds starting March 28, the voucher, worth 150,000 Korean won (~$112), can be used for cultural performances including musicals, classical music and theater productions, as well as exhibitions. As quoted in the Korea Times, Yu In-chon, the minister of culture, sports and tourism, said, “The government hopes the 19-year-olds can experience various culture and arts and become active participants in the future culture-arts market.”
Longtime Disney veteran Felipe Gamba will exit Disney Theatrical Group next month after a tenure there of 15 years. As the VP of International Strategy and Licensed Partnerships, he’s worked in more than 30 countries forging relationships with new markets and new producing partners. He leaves for a role producing creative content at international ticketing platform Fever, one of the producing partners with whom Gamba worked on the launch of the new Disney stage property The Magic Box. In his new position Gamba will continue to oversee the expansion of The Magic Box (which he co-wrote) and develop content across other Fever events. Gamba’s last day at Disney is April 5, with decisions about a job search or organizational shifts at DTG still to be made.
In Brazil musicals are popular enough that Dia do Teatro (World Theater Day) inspired a local radio station to roundup five notable shows in São Paulo right now, ranging from stagings of Cabaret (unrelated to the West End revival opening next month on Broadway) and Beetlejuice to original musicals about Elvis (O Rei Do Rock), artist Tarsila do Amaral (Tarsila: a Brasileira), and the actress-singer-TV host considered the queen of Brazilian TV, Hebe Camargo (Hebe, Uma Revista Musical).
Four Ukrainian actors who survived the bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theatre in 2022 are performing in a play about their memories of the deadly siege. Reporter Shaun Walker interviews the four performers in a story in the The Guardian that also highlights the divide between the Mariupol Drama survivors who have continued to resist the Russian forces and those who haven’t. According to Walker: “Of nearly 200 theatre employees before the war, only about 50 have left Mariupol, joining various Ukrainian theatres or moving abroad. The rest have stayed behind and some joined a new theatre established by Russian occupation authorities, named the Mariupol Republican Order of the Badge of Honour Russian Drama Theatre.”
The CBC has an enlightening feature on the growth of Indigenous theater in Canada. “This spring alone, stages in Montreal, Whitehorse, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Toronto are all hosting plays written by Indigenous artists,” says writer Laura Beaulne-Stuebing. She goes on to spotlight the role theater education has played in the expansion as well as the recent trend in Indigenous works that introduce more humor as a shift away from earlier plays that tended to focus on darker subjects. “It won’t all be residential schools or racism or abuse,” says playwright Drew Hayden Taylor in the story. “There'll be … more positive stuff that’s allowed us to survive those darker aspects and are more of a broader reflection of the many, many facets of our Indigenous culture.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald is so hot right now. In addition to the tale of two Gatsbys playing out on Broadway and at A.R.T. this spring, another of the writer’s public-domain tales, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is heading to stages around the world in two different versions. Just as a London-born adaptation of the Fitzgerald short story, officially titled The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and created by writer Jethro Compton and composer Darren Clark, set the dates for a West End run, South Korea’s EMK Musical Company announced its own version, Benjamin Button, gearing up for an April premiere in Seoul. That one features puppetry and is created by writer-director Jo Kwang-hwa and composer Lee Nao. (Hat tip to fellow Substacker
who also clocked the concurrent Button adaptations in her own newsletter, an excellent survey of theatrical licensing news from around the world.)A 2022 Indian film that became an award-winning hit across the globe, RRR is now a stage play presented by Japan’s Takarazuka Revue and S.S. Rajamouli, the film’s director, recently stopped by to see it. (Takarazuka is the high-profile Japanese company that’s also been in the headlines lately when the company acknowledged harassment within the troupe following the death of a company member.)
Madrid’s Broadway, the Gran Via, turns 104.
IN NEXT WEEK’S SPOTLIGHT STORY
Greening global theater: A look at environmental sustainability initiatives around the world—including a show entirely powered by cyclists.