"To Grow as a Dramaturge"

Not a New Year's resolution you read every day, but it's one of my favorites at today's American Theatre fan page thread. Blogging will be slight through the holidays, but I must second Isaac's recommendation to read David Byrne's rant and I congratulate some extremely deserving fellow bloggers for this.

St. Nick's on an Off-Day

My niece Eavan, at right, with a Santa who might want to think about a new line of work--indeed, a Santa who looks like he is contemplating something far, far away from the cares of the day. Ho ho...ho?

Great Signature News

Just in time for the holidays: As if the reviews for the Signature Theatre's Orphans Home weren't good enough, here's news, at last, of a new Gehry-designed space for the company, to go up as part of a residential building and hotel on 42nd St. and 10th Ave. More details:

The building will provide more than 800 new housing units, including more than 160 that will be targeted to low-income families. The performing arts center will feature three intimate and distinct theatres, rehearsal studios, a café, bookstore and administrative offices and will allow Signature to more than double its audience, with anticipated attendance of more than 80,000.

Devil May Care

Posting is light and likely to remain so for a time; holidays and whatnot. So I pass this on with best wishes, from my favorite macabre New York puppeteers, Phantom Limb (Erik Sanko & Jessica Grindstaff), and Ping Chong & Company, who are joining forces for The Devil You Know, a new adaptation of The Devil and Daniel Webster for the Under the Radar festival, Dec. 30-Jan. 24.

A Lot of Meetings Today

...which means I had a few moments to kick around ideas for holiday play "titles" for a very, very serious upcoming project at work (hint: coming to a TCG twitter feed near you, a la this historic series).

A sampling...

12 Angry Menorahs
Three Days of Reindeer
Death of a Snowman
Speed-the-Sled
'nog, Mother
The Santasticks
Snow Angels in America
A Long Egg’s Journey Into Nog

E Pluribus Backstage

My old employer changes hands again. Not included in that news piece: the decision to shutter the venerable Editor & Publisher and Kirkus Reviews.

From the Samovar to the Wheelchair

So many gems in New York's Sondheim/Lansbury dialogue. One of my favorites is this, from Lansbury:

Now, I’m not a big audience-chaser. I don’t try to please them; I force them to pay attention to what I’m doing, and get them that way.

And there's this instructive insight into Gypsy's Rose:

I said to Arthur, “What you’re writing is so strong, I don’t know why it needs songs at all.” He said, “Oh, no, if I were writing this as a play, she’d be much more complex. When I write a musical it’s in broad strokes.”

The final Hermione Gingold anecdote is a corker, and there's also a great bit of trivia about the origin of the original Sweeney Todd illustration (pictured above, the British "Happy Families" card game).