Time Out Critiques the NY Theatre Scene

Time Out New York's theatre editor, David Cote, just published his 9 wishes for the New York theatre scene in the upcoming season. Now, I realize we are in San Francisco, with the entire country separating us from that theatre mecca, but let's face it: what happens in New York disseminates all the way out here--and pretty quickly at that.

In his article, Cote tells theatres everything from "you need to expand" to "you need a new, young artistic director." I really can't comment on most of this stuff, not being a New York resident. That said, there are some things that I had a very strong reaction to. My breakdown:

-Cote recommends that the Public Theater expand, putting up more productions more consistently and including events like art exhibitions and parties to attract a younger audience. Translation: Spend money you don't have to do what every theatre in the country is trying to do. Why is it only the Public Theater he recommends this for, and where does he expect anyone to find the money for it in the recession?

-Cote issues a call to arms to the blogosphere, telling it to get more angry and more exciting. He wants to "generate heat." What I find interesting is that he nowhere mentions traditional media. What about asking the few remaining theatre critics to imbue their words with more passion? In Chicago at least, Chris Jones, the Chicago Tribune's theatre critic, is still a force to be reckoned with. In a recent issue of Theatre Bay Area, associate editor Sam Hurwitt wrote about blogs as a niche medium, having less of an ability to attract wide audiences than the general interest newspapers. The niches are already passionate enough; it's the mass populace that should be reading diatribes and "noise." I refuse to believe that traditional media is dead--not yet.

-What has proven (thus far) to be the most controversial of his points on the article's comment thread is his #7: Architects should build new theatres to replace the "musty...antique jewel boxes." Those musty antique jewel boxes have so much character, though. Broadway theatres, at least, are big. Big modern spaces have a tendency to appear cold and austere. While that may suit big business just fine, it will only detract from the vibrant performing arts. And there is so much history in those theatres. Theatre as an art is ephemeral; the spaces in which it is performed should not be. It is all we have to remember the great productions of yesteryear--at least in the absence of archival video.

-Finally, Cote bemoans the sorry state of new pop-infused musical scores. He longs for lush orchestration and complexity. There is a whole school of composers producing invigorating and challenging work today, like Adam Guettel, Michael John LaChiusa, and Jason Robert Brown. It's not the music that's the problem, here, I think. It's the lack of originality in new musical books. Everything these days is an adaptation, a cash cow meant to capitalize on a franchise. We certainly do need more Next to Normals and fewer Legally Blondes, to use Cote's example, but the music is not the primary offender. Often, these big-budget knockoffs are written by very talented composers, but there's only so much you can do with something that's so blatantly profit-driven and pandering.

Take a look at the article and let me know what you think. What would you recommend for Bay Area theatre? Let's chat.

Image from blogwaybaby.com/mt/mt-search.cgi?tag=Writing.