TheaterWeek

Last updated
TheaterWeek
TheaterWeek.jpg
Front cover from February 5, 1996
EditorMike Salinas, Bob Sandia and John Harris
Categories Theatre
FrequencyWeekly
Publisher Charles Ortleb
Total circulation
(1997)		56,000 [1]
First issue1987
Final issue1997
CompanyThat New Magazine, Inc.
Country United States
Based in New York City
LanguageEnglish
ISSN 0896-1956
OCLC 16987637

TheaterWeek was a national weekly magazine catering to artists and lovers of theater and cabaret. [2] [3] It covered Broadway, off-Broadway, regional and educational theater with articles that included profiles and interviews of actors, directors and designers, reviews, theater news and behind-the-scenes looks at shows. The magazine was founded and first edited by Mike Salinas. [4] Later, Bob Sandia and then John Harris edited the magazine. [5] Columnists as Peter Filichia, [6] Alexis Greene, Charles Marowitz, [2] Ken Mandelbaum, [1] Davi Napoleon, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, and Michael Riedel were featured. The New York Daily News called the magazine "influential". [7]

Contents

History and legacy

The magazine was published from August 1987 [1] to January 1997, when it closed amid financial struggles. [2] [7] Its columnists went on to write for such other magazines and internet sites as Playbill, InTheater, TheaterMania.com and Broadway.com.[ citation needed ]

The publication was known for having "a heap of wisdom ... by the devoted denizens of Shubert Alley and off-Broadway" and often commented that other theater reviewers had the ability to "make or break" a production, seeing itself as a neutral source in the theater world. [8] The magazine was recommended (along with New York Magazine ) as an essential guide for tourists to theater in New York City. [9] Long-time reviewer Peter Filichia's columns often appeared in the publication. [10]

In 1992, the magazine "blasted" New York Times theater critic Alex Witchel. The editor at the time, John Harris, was aiming for Witchel's job when it was announced she was leaving the newspaper. Harris had tried to get Witchel to work for TheaterWeek years before but was not successful. The pair had reportedly been feuding for some time, and the tone of the article was seen as unfair, with talk of potential legal action over the claims made. [11] The penultimate issue of TheaterWeek reportedly "infuriated a lot of Broadway people" when the publisher, Chuck Ortleb, ran an article for his own not-yet-completed play about the AIDS pandemic; Ortleb would use TheaterWeek and his other publications to "[lampoon] a new enemy and [publicize] a new theory, no matter how implausible". Ortleb was reportedly using TheaterWeek to prop up his other two publications (The New York Native and Christopher Street). Ortleb did allow staffers at the magazine a wide degree of freedom compared to his other publications, but Week was in decline near the end; the magazine's circulation fell below 20,000 at that time, and they had difficulty paying their bills and making payroll (some staff members recall not getting paid in over a year or rarely seeing a paycheck clear). [12]

After the magazine closed, its assets were purchased by Playbill . [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Krakowski</span> American actress (born 1968)

Jane Krakowski is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as Jenna Maroney in the NBC satirical comedy series 30 Rock, for which she received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Krakowski's other notable television roles have included Elaine Vassal in the Fox legal comedy-drama series Ally McBeal (1997–2002) and Jacqueline White in the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020). For the latter, she received another Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Patrick Shanley</span> American writer

John Patrick Shanley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film Moonstruck. His play, Doubt: A Parable, won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play; he wrote and directed the film adaptation and earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

John Ivan Simon was an American writer and literary, theater, and film critic. After spending his early years in Belgrade, he moved to the United States, serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and studying at Harvard University. Beginning in the 1950s, he wrote arts criticism for a variety of publications, including a 36-year tenure as theatre critic for New York magazine, and latterly as a blogger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolee Carmello</span> American actress

Carolee Ann Carmello is an American actress best known for her performances in Broadway musicals and for playing the role of Maple LaMarsh on the television series Remember WENN (1996–1998). She is a three-time Tony Award nominee and a five-time Drama Desk nominee, winning the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her role in Parade.

Richard Greenberg is an American playwright and television writer known for his subversively humorous depictions of middle-class American life. He has had more than 25 plays premiere on and Off-Broadway in New York City and eight at the South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa, California, including The Violet Hour, Everett Beekin, and Hurrah at Last.

Max von Essen is an American stage and screen actor, and vocalist.

Well is a play by Lisa Kron. It concerns relationships between mothers and daughters and "wellness", among other themes. It ran Off-Broadway in 2004 and then on Broadway in 2006.

Robert Cuccioli is an American actor and singer. He is best known for originating the lead dual title roles in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, and the Fany Award for outstanding actor in a musical.

Judy Kaye is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in stage musicals, plays, and operas. Kaye has been in long runs on Broadway in the musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, Mamma Mia!, and Nice Work If You Can Get It.

<i>Newsical</i>

Newsical is a musical with music, lyrics, and book written by Rick Crom. In ever-changing songs and sketches, it lampoons current events, hot topics, celebrities, politicians, and other well-known entities. New songs are added on a continual basis to keep up with the headlines.

Francis Edward Paxton Whitehead was an English actor and theatre director. He was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Pellinore in the 1980 revival of Camelot. He had many Broadway roles. He was also known for his film roles and was well known, especially to U.S. and television audiences in general, for his many guest appearances on several U.S. shows such as portraying Bernard Thatch on The West Wing and often appeared in recurring roles and guest appearances on major sitcoms of the 1990s, such as Frasier, Caroline in the City, Ellen, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Drew Carey Show, Mad About You, and Friends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LaChanze</span> American actress, singer and dancer

Rhonda LaChanze Sapp, known professionally as LaChanze, is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical in 2006 for her role as Celie Harris Johnson in The Color Purple. In 2023, LaChanze received two more Tony Awards, this time as a producer. She served as co-producer on Kimberly Akimbo, which won the Tony for Best New Musical and Topdog/Underdog, which won for Best Revival of a Play.

Isabel Keating is an American actress and singer. She is known for her performance as Judy Garland in the original Broadway production of The Boy from Oz, which earned her a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award.

Ken Mandelbaum is an American columnist, critic, and author whose primary field of expertise is musical theatre.

Richard John Nelson is an American playwright and librettist. He wrote the book for the 2000 Broadway musical James Joyce's The Dead, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, as well as the book for the 1988 Broadway production of Chess. He is also the writer of the critically acclaimed play cycle The Rhinebeck Panorama.

Peter Kellogg is a musical theater book writer and lyricist. He wrote the lyrics and the book for the 1992 production of the Broadway musical Anna Karenina, for which he received two 1993 Tony Award nominations, one for Best Book of a musical and one for the Best Original Score. He also wrote the lyrics and book for the musicals Chasing Nicolette, Desperate Measures, Lincoln In Love, Stunt Girl, Money Talks, and The Rivals which have been read and produced regionally. Kellogg also received the New York Musical Theatre Festival 2006 award for Excellence in Musical Theatre Writing (Book) for Desperate Measures. On June 3, 2018, Kellogg won the 2018 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics for Desperate Measures.

Thomas Kail is an American theatre director, known for directing the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, garnering the 2016 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for the latter. Kail was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018.

Matthew Murray is an American theatre critic and technology writer, best known for his reviews of New York theater on TalkinBroadway.com and his articles for the Ziff-Davis family of computer magazines. He is a nominator for the Theater World Awards and at one time also for the Drama Desk Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattan Ensemble Theatre</span>

Manhattan Ensemble Theatre ("MET") was an award-winning, nonprofit, theatre company based in New York City from 1999 to 2007. The company was founded as an Off-Broadway, Equity repertory company in 1999 by writer-producer David Fishelson with the stated mission of creating theatrical adaptations of stories found in fiction, journalism, film, biography and memoir.

Andy Propst was an arts journalist, theater critic, and writer living in Peachtree City, Georgia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Simonson, Robert. "TheaterWeek Folds After Ten-Year Run", Back Stage , January 1997, updated November 5, 2019
  2. 1 2 3 Viagas, Robert and David Lefkowitz. "TheaterWeek Ceases Publication", Playbill , January 7, 1997
  3. ↑ Evans, Greg. "TheaterWeek ends its run", Variety, January 7, 1997
  4. ↑ Simonson, Robert. "Journalist and TheaterWeek Founder Mike Salinas Remembered Sept. 25", Playbill, September 25, 2003
  5. ↑ McEntee, Billy. "'A Renaissance Man of Gay Theater': An Ode to Terry Helbing", American Theatre Critics Association, August 2023
  6. ↑ Walker, Jeffrey. "A look at Larry, the Big-Time Broadway Producer in hectic rehearsal", DC Theater Arts, October 14, 2023
  7. 1 2 "News: This Just In...", New York Daily News, January 7, 1997
  8. ↑ Smith, Liz (April 27, 1992). "Times' critic wins magazine's criticism". The Toledo Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  9. ↑ Bernardo, Melissa Rose (February 3, 1994). "A user's guide to Broadway". The Michigan Daily. Ann Arbor, Michigan. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  10. ↑ Walker, Jeffrey (October 14, 2023). "A look at 'Larry, the Big-Time Broadway Producer' in hectic rehearsal". Dc Theater Arts. Retrieved November 6, 2023. [Filichia's] columns and reviews appeared in newspapers, Playbill, TheatreMania, (the now defunct) TheaterWeek magazine, and DC Theater Arts
  11. ↑ "Weekly v. Wetchel: theater of cruelty?". New York Magazine. August 10, 1992. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  12. ↑ Istel, John (February 10, 1997). "HIV-Negative". New York Magazine. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Playbill Buys TheaterWeek Assets", Playbill, September 5, 1997


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.