The Scene’s Best of 2023!
Plus, your weekly round-up of theatre news you may have missed! Happy New Year!
Welcome to The Scene, your weekly round-up of theatre news you may have missed. In this week's email, we highlight The Scene’s Top Articles of 2023. In addition, we catch you up on the week's most important theatre news and stories, including:
Where this year’s Broadway Creative Teams went to College
How The Gilded Age is Showing the Creation of Broadway's Theatre District
A Look at Box-Office Grosses for Recent Movie Musicals.
All that and more in this week’s edition of The Scene. Don’t forget to check out the video below to discover The Scene Premium!
Big 10: Where the Broadway Creative Teams of the 2022–23 Season Went to College by Playbill | Find out which colleges and universities had the most alumni working in the field of directing, design, playwriting, and composing. Read...
'What Is for You Will Not Pass You': 30 Broadway Artists Share Hard-Earned Advice by Andrew Gans, Playbill | Broadway professionals—including Phillipa Soo, Alex Brightman, Kara Young and more—offer words of wisdom. Read...
In Memoriam: A Look at the Theatre Artists We Lost in 2023 by Margaret Hall, Playbill | Remembering the actors, directors, playwrights, and other familiar faces of the stage who died this year. Read...
Watch the Crew of Broadway's I Need That Clean Up a Cluttered Set in Under 90 Seconds by Molly Higgins, Playbill | Danny DeVito stars in the Roundabout Theatre Company production. Watch...
How The Gilded Age Is Showing the Creation of Broadway's Theatre District by Margaret Hall, Playbill | The New York premiere theatre scene used to be in lower Manhattan, but the HBO show dramatizes how it moved up to Midtown. Read...
For a Times Critic on Deadline, a Dramatic Reversal by Jesse Green, The New York Times | Stories evolve. But a recent review proved to a theater critic that people can change even more. Read...
From Mamma Mia! to Les Misérables: A Look at Box-Office Grosses for Recent Movie Musicals by Andrew Gans, Playbill | With the recent release of The Color Purple, check out how other film versions of Broadway musicals have fared. Read...
The Big Idea
The Scene’s Best of 2023!
As the curtain falls on another extraordinary year in the world of theater, we take a moment to reflect on the highlights and triumphs that have illuminated The Scene in 2023. This special edition is a standing ovation to our top 5 most popular articles from the past year! Here is The Scene’s Best of 2023!
How to Navigate Controversial Show Choices in School Theatre | For theatre educators, choosing a production can feel like a serious predicament. On the one hand, you want to provide Thespians with an opportunity to challenge themselves and explore complex source material. On the other, there’s the very real risk that a controversial choice can put your role and program in jeopardy. Unfortunately, more educators than ever are facing this decision, leaving them with one important question: How do I prepare? Read...
How to Build a Steller Crew of Student Designers and Technicians | Recently, The Scene has been buzzing with inquiries from many theatre educators looking for ideas on how best to build a team of student designers and technicians for their program. In our quest to offer unparalleled insights on all things theatre education, we've turned to woodworker and theatre educator Anthony Arena for his insight. Read...
5 Ideas To Keep Your Students Engaged And Ensure That Your Next Production Runs Smoothly! | School theatre production is an opportunity for students to showcase their talents and creativity, but it can be challenging, especially in a post-pandemic world, to keep them involved and motivated throughout the process. With this in mind, The Scene has together several ways to keep your students engaged and ensure that your next production runs smoothly. Read...
Navigating Casting Drama: A Guide for Theatre Teachers | The theatre world is a place of creativity, collaboration, and personal growth. However, casting decisions can sometimes lead to drama, upset students, and concerned parents. As a theatre teacher, navigating these situations is essential to ensuring a positive and enriching experience for everyone involved. To guarantee a smooth sailing audition process from start to finish, explore the following strategies to help you make casting decisions, best practices to address upset students (and their parents), and ways to foster a supportive theatrical environment. Read...
Mastering the Art of Tech Week: 12 Essential Strategies for High School Theatre Directors | Tech week—the final stretch of a theatrical production—is an exhilarating yet challenging phase for any high school theatre director. It's the moment when countless hours of rehearsals and creative collaboration converge into a seamless, polished performance. But with so much at stake, surviving Tech Week requires meticulous planning and expert leadership. In this week’s article, The Scene explores 12 essential strategies that will help not only to survive but triumph during this critical period. Read...
Playscripts Free Reads
Read entire plays for free! Free Reads titles are perfect for your theatre, school, and competition performances. Click on the Play’s title or image to be taken to the Play’s page; once you are there, click the "READ NOW" button and enjoy!
Free Read of the Week:
Santa Man by Ian McWethy
or, The Year Santa Learned Kung Fu in Order to Save Christmas Only to Realize Violence is Not the True Meaning of the Holiday Season
The Story: In this fast-paced, action-packed yet intelligent comedy, Santa Claus is bullied by powerful Executives (with Ninja skills) into commercializing Christmas. Santa retaliates by quickly learning Kung Fu from none other than Mr. Chuck Norris and fights off the Ninja Executives. Unsatisfied by his victory, he sets out to battle the villains from all of the classic Christmas stories, including Ebenezer Scrooge, Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life, and a certain Green Meanie. But will Santa's Kung Fu tirade lead to a happy ending?
Comedy | 25 - 35 minutes | 7 W, 8 M, 10 Any (4-25 actors possible: 0-25 W, 0-25 M) | Set: None.
