Comments on Wait—What?
Newsflash: nobody cares about theater.
Breaking: nobody cares about Disney theater.
Include pictures of yourself to attract attention! rarr
I can't believe it ...
Non is right ...
I have seen over 5 plays directed by B. Sher at Intiman and I have to say, I'm less than thrilled. I think I liked one of them. I gave up my membership because it just wasn't working for me. Clearly many people think he's great and I'm happy for them. Personally, I think he's overrated.
@3 Agreed. Last thing I saw there was "A Prayer for my Enemy" on opening night. We got out of there as quickly as we could afterward so as to avoid running into anybody we knew working on it and having to pretend we liked it. Intiman on the whole is totally overrated.
theater is over in america.
there. i said it. now everybody go home.
More significant, I think than the Intiman-Disney connection (isn't this sort of thing more appropriate for a company that actually produces, um, musicals, like, say, The 5th Ave?), is the second sentence of the first paragraph: "Although he recently moved from SEATTLE TO NEW YORK..."
I mean, WTF?!? Not only do our major LOCAL theatres have to job-in actors FROM NYC, but now their Artistic Directors aren't even obliged to LIVE here anymore?
theater is over.
there, i said it.
now everybody go home.
maybe he was misquoted (it was misha, after all).
maybe he said "a big, business-y musical"
or "a pig hissing musical"
or "a dig in sri [lanka] musical."
really, these are far more likely.
They're re-imagining "Song of the South" for today's hip, young audiences...
Oh don't be obtuse, Comte. Everybody saw that coming from a million miles away—it's not "artistic directors," plural, it's just this one artistic director.
We'll call it The Sher Exception.
Next up ... Show Boat!
Man, how relevant will that be ...
There's a missing or in your post that is turning the rest of Slog into italicized text.
It's not being obtuse in the least Brendan.
The notion of Sher EVENTUALLY moving to NYC to pursue a freelance directing career was most definitely foreseen. But, that he would do so, while SIMULTANEOUSLY running a major REGIONAL theatre company - via remote-control apparently - I don't think WAS expected, particularly not since Intiman just announced he's "staying" in the position for at least another year.
Must be a great contract he's got - can you point to any other examples wherein the head of a major local arts organization gets to draw a fat, cushy salary, while spending most of their time moonlighting on the other side of the continent?
At least Dan Sullivan had the decency to step down as Seattle Rep AD BEFORE making his move.
Maybe we should now expect the next AD to be hired at one of the major local companies to not even bother to move to Seattle at all.
There's an open ITALICS tag in here that's translating all the way down the page, into other Slog posts.
I heard the Disney musical is from "Pink Flamingos". Jack Nicholson will sing the part that Devine played.
The thing is, Comte, he flies back and forth so often, working on projects here and there, that it barely matters (to the public, at least) where he calls home. The arrangement is a little odd, but I really don't think it'll change how that theater is run for the next few months, or however long Sher will stay AD.
And Intiman will keep Sher as long as it can for the star power—which, if you have a decent development director, can always be parlayed into money. (And, given Intiman's debt, they need it.)
Maybe I'm just lazy, but I'm finding it hard to get too worked up about it.
I'm more concerned about this Disney musical...
@13 it's pretty common for the music directors of orchestras. Gerard Schwartz probably would spend more time out of town if anyone else wanted to hire him to do so.
Ah, but that's sort of the point, isn't it Brendan? Sher's been doing this pretty much since he came on-board at Intiman eight years ago, starting with, I believe his production of "Cymbeline" for Theatre for a New Audience. So, yes, it's not like he's setting any precedent directing out-of-town; lots of Seattle A.D.'s have done that before him. But, all of them at least kept residence in Seattle while double-dipping; Sher now has clearly decided even that tenuous of an attachment to the local community is no longer necessary, which frankly is appalling.
If he wants to freelance in New York, or Salzburg, or wherever, that's perfectly fine. But, he should at least have the decency to relinquish his position as Intiman A.D., if he isn't even going to keep up a pretense of residing here.
And as for his "star power" - if eight years A.D.ing and directing shows at Intiman (which includes a Tony nom for "Light In The Piazza" in 2005, and their 2006 Regional Theatre nod) hasn't been sufficient to retire the company's high six-figure debt, I seriously doubt his moving to NYC is going to do much to convince local funders to open their wallets for a theatre that can't even keep their own Artistic Director from leaving town.
Um, what about the seven Tonys that were just dumped on him and his latest show? You don't think that's going to stir some new attention and support for the theater? It's precisely that six-figure debt that makes it important for Intiman to hold onto Sher for as long as they can.
@17:
I get your point. I'm not terribly familiar with how things work in the Classical/symphonic world, but I do seem to recall that Schwarts has simultaneously held directorships at several orgs, no?
Still, it's a very rare occurance in theatre, or, when it does occur, it's because there's very little overlap in the schedules between the companies, as for example, if an A.D. at a regional theatre also heads up a summer-stock program that operates when their other company is not in-season. But generally, once an artistic director starts spending more time away from their home company than with it, either they or the board will elect to terminate the relationship.
What Sher is doing now, and what Intiman's board appears to be sanctioning, is highly unusual, and IMO sets a terrible precedent in terms of the relationship between organizations and future A.D.'s both here and elsewhere.
The "Best Musical" Tony for "Piazza" didn't help; nor did the Regional Theatre Tony, so why would Sher winning a Best Director Tony - for a show that Intiman had absolutely NOTHING to do with (as his notable non-mention of Intiman in his acceptance speech made abundantly plain) - be of any more help?
The only one who's going to be helped by the passel of Tony's for "South Pacific" will be Sher himself; I've no doubt the statuette will look FABULOUS on the fireplace mantel in his new home, so I would certainly not expect to see it gracing a place of honor in Intiman's lobby anytime soon, if that's what you're thinking.
Sher mentioned working on a new musical adaptation of "The Huncback of Notre Dame" in Seattle on KUOW last week. Could that be the Disney musical?
So that's why Laurence Ballard moved.
i'm disappointed that no one liked my "big, business-y musical" line enough to say so.
you know, a musical with lots of stage business-- tea cups everywhere, bales of hay to be lifted, books to be stacked, whatever...
this stuff is wasted on you guys.
I vote for "pig hissing musical."
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