SOUNDBITES 2023 seeks 10-minute musicals
Theatre Now defines a 10-minute musical as any piece that can be performed in
max. 10min, has a beginning, middle, end story arch, and includes music. Having
produced over 70 pieces, we want musicals that are diverse, current, test the
musical form and communicate a well-crafted story. We accept musicals across
all styles and genres, as well as consider foreign language and/or bilingual
scripts. We strongly encourage submissions from female writers, BIPOC and
LGBTQ+ writers.
***
The Phoenix Theatre Company’s 25th Annual Festival of New American Theatre will
run April 7, 2023 – April 23, 2023. The 2023 Festival will feature both curated
and submitted works including: one play reading, two musical readings, one
musical workshop, the Composer Lyricist Cabaret featuring two artists, and the
Choreography Lab which will set movement to musical material featured in the
festival selections. All eligible submissions are welcome and we are actively
seeking submissions from artists with an Arizona connection.
***
The Stonecoast Review: A Multi-Genre Literary Journal
We seek work from both emerging and established writers. The goal of the
Stonecoast Review literary journal is to publish innovative and deeply resonant
literature that embodies our core values of justice, awareness, and
exploration. Just like the Stonecoast program, we promote work that runs the
gamut from poetry to popular fiction, including everything in-between. We pride
ourselves on placing the work of writers from all backgrounds, genres, and
styles, onto the same stage. The Stonecoast Review is edited by students and
alumni from Stonecoast’s low-residency MFA Program in Creative Writing through
the University of Southern Maine.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site
at https://www.nycplaywrights.org
***
*** BRITISH ROYALTY ON STAGE ***
As embodied by an unimpeachably authoritative Ms. Mirren, this second Elizabeth
II is betraying just enough emotion to make her embraceably human but not
enough to embarrass anyone, not even the woman she’s playing.
And for those whose sympathies are troublingly divided between the monarch and
the common people, this production suggests that the Queen may at heart be “a
good Labour woman.” That at least is the conclusion of Prime Minister Harold
Wilson (a folksy Richard McCabe, an audience favorite), who says, “Deep down,
you’re not just happier with the normal folks, you’re one of us.”
Directed with restrained flair by Stephen Daldry, and designed with a
voyeuristic elegance by Bob Crowley, “The Audience” seems destined to reign in
the West End as an exercise in reassurance for uncertain times. It’s a sort of
starched-bosomed nanny of a play, offering the artistic equivalent of nursery
food and equally digestible history lessons.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/theater/reviews/the-audience-in-london-stars-helen-mirren.html
***
The play that provides the springboard for Mr. Hawthorne's triumph is by Alan
Bennett, who is arguably the best playwright in England whose major works
remain unproduced in the American theater. "The Madness of George
III" is not one of those major works, but it would be silly to complain
too much about a play that gives audiences a chance to savor an unforgettable
performance. And it's easy to see why "George III," in its original
Royal National Theater production directed by Nicholas Hytner, has been sent on
American tour while tougher Bennett works like "Single Spies" and
"Talking Heads" have been limited to piecemeal presentation on public
television. With its 18th-century pomp and circumstance, large cast, flourishes
of Handel and opulent rustle of costumes, "George III" is more
readily marketable as the sort of Broadway entertainment the Colonies are
thought to prefer.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/17/theater/review-theater-the-madness-of-george-iii-creating-a-lovable-george-iii.html
***
In Hamilton, King George terrifies his servants, laughs maniacally, and
threatens to "kill your friends and family to remind you of my love."
However, the real George III was not nearly as bumbling or evil as the musical
depicts. Despite experiencing relatively slow mental development as a child,
George III was precocious as a teenager. At 12, he suddenly became heir
apparent to the British Crown after the death of his father, George II, and he
was coronated at the age of 22.
More...
https://screenrant.com/hamilton-musical-king-george-changes-differences-missing/
***
Most of Shakespeare’s history plays surround the Plantagenet Kings: Richard II,
Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, Henry V, Henry VI Part 1, Henry VI Part 2,
Henry VI Part 3, and Richard III. I learned early on three important concepts
for success in reading these plays: First, a character could be referred to by
his name or his title, so in the case of Richard, a character might refer to
his first name, or to his title of “Gloucester”–the land where he ruled as
Duke. Secondly, medieval England operated under primogeniture, which
meant that the estate and titles passed to the oldest male heir in the family.
Finally, English ruling families reused names a lot–there are Richards, Henrys,
and Edwards all over this family tree! With these rules in mind, let’s dig into
Shakespeare’s Plantagenet kings. (And a disclaimer: This is not meant to
embrace all of the intrigues and nuances of English history or Shakespeare’s
plays, but it is a starting point for understanding the complex history
Shakespeare was working with.)
More...
https://blog.stageagent.com/shakespeares-history-plays-unraveling-the-kings/
***
To Washington's National Theatre one night last week Anna Eleanor Roosevelt took
Secretary of the Treasury & Mrs. Henry Morgenthau Jr. to see Helen Hayes as
Victoria Regina. So charmed was Mrs. Roosevelt by Actress Hayes' performance
that when the play ended, she stood up in her box, clapped for five curtain
calls. Next day she had Miss Hayes in to the White House for luncheon and at 3
p. m. Actress Hayes hurried back to her hotel suite in high excitement,
canceled half a dozen appointments, summoned a beautician to fix her bobbed
hair. That evening by special invitation she went back to the White House for 8
o'clock dinner and the glittering Diplomatic Reception which followed. Clearly
Helen Hayes had made a profound impression upon the Presidential family. And
critics who watched her Washington tryout forecast another hit for her when
Victoria Regina opens on Broad way this week.
Victoria Regina, For those who make a hobby of Actress Hayes' career, Victoria
Regina can be considered a sort of retrospective exhibition of some of the
memorable parts she has played on her way up to the top during the past 17
years. Scene 1 represents the entrance hall at Kensing ton Palace early one
morning in 1837. Lord Conyngham, the Prime Minister and the Archbishop of
Canterbury have come to rouse William IV's niece out of bed, tell her of her
uncle's death and her succession to the Throne of England. Suddenly Actress
Hayes appears, long locks falling to her shoulders, a night dress sweeping the
floor. She receives the news without a word, but by some alchemy of gesture and
expression, manages to convey in full the young queen's terrific bewilderment,
anxiety and delight. Those who saw Miss Hayes a good 16 years ago as the
extraordinary dream-child in Dear Brutus could almost hear the echo of her
plaintive cry, "I don't want to be a might-have-been!"
More...
https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,848403,00.html
Helen Hayes and Vincent Price in Victoria Regina
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/helen-hayes-as-queen-victoria-and-vincent-price-as-prince-news-photo/526899010
***
“On the eve of the beheading of her court favorite and rumored lover, the Earl
of Essex, Queen Elizabeth was entertained with a royal command performance by
Shakespeare and his company (of Much Ado About Nothing). Longing for
distraction, the Queen visits her stables where the actors are lodged for the
night. There she finds the man who plays Shakespeare’s leading ladies (here as
Beatrice), and in their passionate confrontation, the actor and his Queen come
to shocking revelations about sexuality, identity and love.” (from the press
notes)
That simple summary thrives as we meet the quirky 17th Century thespians led by
William Shakespeare (played understated by Kevin Gudhal) and the rag-tag actors
that included a drunkard, an old man living in the past and a quirky seamstress
and a dying actor more woman than man. When the queen arrives, Ned is her
outspoken opponent since his eminent death from the pox allows him the freedom
to say whatever comes to his mind. The debate rages on as the two engage in
verbal debate. Elizabeth hides her female side as a mechanism for sovereign
survival – ruling as a man works for her. Ned has played woman all his life in
Shakespeare’s plays and as a gay man feels more comfortable as a woman.
More...
https://chicagocritic.com/elizabeth-rex/
***
Everyone likes secrets, especially dramatists. So it’s no surprise that the
unraveling of the mysteries of the current Queen Elizabeth’s famously
undocumented weekly meetings with her prime minister proved audience catnip in
Peter Morgan’s fictional “The Audience” starring Helen Mirren. But playwright
Moira Buffini got there first with “Handbagged,” a 2010 short about the queen
vs. Margaret Thatcher, since expanded into a full-length comedy that just
bagged an Olivier Award. Pin-sharp performances and Buffini’s fleet and
delicious script ignite Indhu Rubasingham’s highly enjoyable West End transfer.
Not content with mere neat impersonations of the two stateswomen who were
heavily rumored to have had a difficult relationship, Buffini upsets
expectations with a smart dramaturgical trick. Audiences settle into the
opening niceties of Marion Bailey’s devastating embodiment of the queen (the
grim set of her mouth, the arm held tight to the waist with fluttering fingers)
meeting Stella Gonet’s braying and loftily hair-sprayed Mrs. Thatcher. Then up
pop younger, contrary versions of themselves, played, respectively by firmly
well-bred Lucy Robinson and, with uncanny precision, a magnificently
patronizing, breathy Fenella Woolgar.
More...
https://variety.com/2014/legit/reviews/west-end-review-handbagged-1201158243/
