THAR 281 1st Edition Lecture 23 Outline of Last Lecture I. American Post-War Theater Continueda. Arthur Millerb. Death of a Salesmanc. Tennessee WilliamsII. Broadway in the 60’sa. Background of the 1960’sb. A Raisin in the Sunc. Neil Simond. Jerry Hermane. Off Broadwayf. Off-Off BroadwayOutline of Current Lecture I. Broadway in the 1960’s Continueda. Avante Gardeb. Joseph Papp c. The Fantasticks d. Regional Theaters e. Hair II. Theater in the 1970’s - Growing Disillusionment a. Broadway’s Declineb. African American Theatersc. Latino Theaters Current LectureBroadway in the 1960’s ContinuedI. Avante Gardea. A group of people leading the wayb. Artists push boundaries of theater forwardc. Emergence of performance art during this periodi. Performance Art = performance that doesn’t fit full definition of theater d. Happenings come abouti. Happenings = usually single performances or a single run (3-4 in a row); somewhat improvisational; usually boundaries were unclear between audience and performers e. Founding of many theater groupsi. Living Theater = founded by Julian Beck and Judith Malina;ii. heavily influenced by Artaud’s Theater of Cruelty (shattering of audiences false reality)iii. sought to move society from competitive to communal experience; continues to produce but not popular anymore II. Joseph Pappa. Fosters the Off Broadway movementi. Does so by mentoring up-and-coming theaters b. Works to create sense of communityc. 1954= founds New York Shakespeare Festival (Shakespeare in the Park)d. 1967= founded the Public Theater i. Both things he founded are Off Broadway Entities e. One of first directors to aggressively seek out color-blind casting i. Ethnicity didn’t matter; gave role to the best actor f. Worked hard to increase visibility of colored people on stageIII. The Fantasticks a. Showed up in 1960; written by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones b. Played at Sullivan Street Playhouse in lower Manhattan during its Off Broadway timec. The longest running musical EVER (ran for 42 years)i. Had small castii. Simple to produce and runiii. Simple show in plot and settingd. Takes advantage of theatricality which is why it’s often performed IV. Regional Theatersa. Due to the creation of the NEA (NEA = National Endowment of the Arts)b. Cities across America had access to topical, professional theater as a resultc. Regional theaters became proving grounds for shows that might eventually go to Broadwayd. Run into increasing trouble as a result of cuts to funding on the national/state levelse. Notable regional theaters, The Guthrie, The Alley, Arena Stage, Actors Theater of Louisville V. Haira. Put on Broadway in 1968; musical; about young peopleb. Full of Rock&Roll and soul music c. Very flimsy plot d. Very critical of the war in Vietnam; controversiale. Has exclusive references to sexual practices and drug use; nudity appears; there’s audience participation for singing and dancing f. Sang a bunch of radio songs; revival in 2007Theater in the 1970’s – Growing Disillusionment VI. Broadway Declinea. Broadway is less relevant and less attendedb. TV is now very popular c. Blue Hairification = older audience, which is main Broadway audience, begins to die offd. White Flight and Urban Decay cause declinei. White Flight = White people move out of cities and into the suburbs ii. Urban Decay = times square becomes dirty and dangerous e. Less shows are being produced VII. African American Theatersa. Focused on giving opportunity for black communities to become more visible b. Classical Theater of Harlem, The Black Rep, and Ensemble Theater in Houston got national press along with many othersVIII. Latino Theaters a. Chicano Theater Movementi. Emerges in Southern Californiaii. Starts off as political protest theater b. Cuban American Theater Movementi. Began in Miami ii. Nilo Cruz is prominent playwrightc. Puerto Rican Theateri. Takes place in New Yorkd. Deal with combining/clashing
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