Saturday, April 25, 2015

Episode 2: Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Theatre Critic

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with Judith Newmark, theatre critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, about her process of reviewing theatre, all the details, from deciding which shows to review, writing differently in the internet age, writing about a bad show, all the way through getting the review online and in the paper.



Check out Judy's 2007 coffee table book, The Muny: Songs of St. Louis Summers. Also, listen to the STAGE GROK interview with Adam Feldman, theatre critic for Time Out New York and president of the New York Drama Critics' Circle, on many of these same topics.



STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.


               

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Episode 1: Denny Reagan, The Muny

On this episode of STAGE GROK, I talk with Denny Reagan, president and CEO of The Muny, the largest and oldest outdoor musical theatre in the country, about his job, his long tenure there, details about long-range planning, managing the huge summer staff, about working with artistic director and executive producer Mike Isaacson, and about the Muny itself and its next hundred years.



Read this article about the Muny's Second Century Plan.

For more about the Muny, check out Judith Newmark's 2007 coffee table book, The Muny: Songs of St. Louis Summers; and also Mary Kimbrough's 1978 book The Muny: St. Louis' Outdoor Theater; and if you want even more Muny, you can also check out Marvin Holderness' 1958 book, Curtain Time in Forest Park: A Narrative of The St. Louis Municipal Opera 1919-1958.


STAGE GROK host Scott Miller is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis, and the author of six books on musical theatre, nine musicals, and the musical theatre blog The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre. Opening and closing theme music: Overture from Cry-Baby the Musical by Adam Schlessinger and David Javerbaum, from New Line Theatre's 2012 production. Used by permission. Logo designed by Matt Reedy. Stage Grok is available on iTunes.