CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

On the heels of ‘Really Really,’ could D.C.’s next export be theater?

The Washington Post: From the outset, the box-office appeal of “Really Really” astonished actor-turned-playwright Paul Downs Colaizzo. He was surprised when Eric Schaeffer, Signature Theatre’s artistic director, green-lighted his play, about irretrievably self-absorbed and entitled college students, for a world-premiere run in Arlington County, and startled again when it became the most successful nonmusical the company has ever produced. “It was a delightful start, the reception in D.C.,” Colaizzo said recently, over lunch at Bond 45, a restaurant just off Times Square. “But in New York, I didn’t want to take that as acceptance.”

2 comments:

Brian Alderman said...

The DC theater community is really very robust, as this article demonstrates! I am glad it is getting some attention as a place to go for theater. This article didn't go into the reasons why the DC theater community is doing so well, so I'll make some suggestions: DC is the center of national debate. Every hot button issue in the country ends up being debated there, so naturally this is a place for theater to end up and have a part in those discussions. Second, the community around DC tends to value the arts in ways that other cities do not have, so from a business perspective they are more stable and able to venture from the crowd pleasing faire. I'm very excited to move to Arlington in just a couple months to take part in this DC theater renaissance.

Brian Alderman said...

The DC theater community is really very robust, as this article demonstrates! I am glad it is getting some attention as a place to go for theater. This article didn't go into the reasons why the DC theater community is doing so well, so I'll make some suggestions: DC is the center of national debate. Every hot button issue in the country ends up being debated there, so naturally this is a place for theater to end up and have a part in those discussions. Second, the community around DC tends to value the arts in ways that other cities do not have, so from a business perspective they are more stable and able to venture from the crowd pleasing faire. I'm very excited to move to Arlington in just a couple months to take part in this DC theater renaissance.