CMU School of Drama


Monday, September 15, 2008

War Zone: A Preview of the Fall 2008 Off-Broadway Season

Playbill News: "War and politics, two of the main things on the American public's minds this fall, will also be mulled by the Off-Broadway theatre this fall."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been thinking about this subject a lot recently. Since there are so many young people fighting for our country right now, I would expect there to be a greater response to this in the arts. Sure, country music responds to this, but I haven't seen much reaction in the film and theater industries. Maybe this will be a tide of the turns.

Ethan Weil said...

This sounds like a good line of new shows. It's nice to hear of more shows that seem to originate from a message, rather than from a marketing scheme.

David Beller said...

New York is known as an amazing place for theatre, and I believe that this is because of the balance of Broadway and off-Broadway. Looking at the seasons this year we see a huge discrepancy between big name fluff, and what has the potential to be powerful theater. Now don’t get me wrong, Broadway is a one-of-a-kind place that is irreplaceable, but off-Broadway provides a venue to “play with the issues facing the world and presenting them.

Anonymous said...

Off-braodway is known as the testing grounds for all the hit mainstream sholws on broadway. Even if these shows are actively trying to get significant messages across, ones that truly have a real meaing directed towards America, then they obviously should be hits, right? Doubt it. ?Being honest, most people dont want to see a show based on war, killings, dark. The hit scene on broadway right now are the huge, loud, dressed up, sparly musicals!! The ones the big industries want to take their wife and children too... So I think that this is something that needs to happen, these shows, but something that might not get enough recognition to launch them.

aquacompass said...

Interesting this posted as this question arose in our conservatory hour with Mr. Rapp yesterday. A student asked Anthony if comparing the time that RENT came onto the scene and its commentary on AIDS and homosexuality primarily, what he felt this periods theater should be talking about. His immediate reaction was the current administration and the war in Iraq. Just like RENT took the unsaid and un-dramatized and turned it into a bold and amazingly political statement for a broadway show in the '90s, it seems as though we are ripe for that kind of piece to make a bold and constant statement against our times.

Anonymous said...

Its nice to see that there is still some good theater coming out as opposed to the stuff on Broadway like Shrek and Legally Blond. Also, tying back to another post on the blog about the arts at CMU, this is proof that art is relevant. It is how we look at our society and politics. One of these shows might even make it to Broadway and make a bigger impact... but time will only tell. I think that the comment made by jlechterman below hits the nail on the head. It is definitely time...