I sincerely believe that for the New York theatre to remain relevant, all our major producing institutions should be presenting new American plays.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Is the American theatre allowing itself to become irrelevant? The problem isn't that playwrights aren't being paid enough. It's that theatres all over America are looking towards New York to tell them what new plays to do.
If an American audience is given a serious musical theater piece that is well produced, dramatically gripping and wonderfully acted, they'll respond to it.
We need theatre that is contemporary, lively and relevant, and the only way to do that is to take care of our playwrights and produce their plays.
I don't think theater is dying, and musicals are a great American art form. We've got apple pie, jazz and musical theater.
Denver's commitment to giving contemporary storytellers the stage is crucial to the American theater. That's something embraced by 'Smash.' We should be telling our own stories.
What is needed in the theater, in fact for all our art forms, is a vibrant critical tradition.
But, you see, the theatre is not always art in America.
New York is not conductive to theater. New York does not encourage its young. It does not encourage experimentation.
Theatre, when it is at its best, takes a lot of beating - the live experience and the shared collective experience of live storytelling is really special when it is good. Particularly here in New York because the audiences are amazing, very vocal and very engaged, and that makes theatre very exciting.
It's funny, oftentimes the really great roles that I enjoy are in classic plays, and there aren't many theatres in New York who will do them, aside from Roundabout.