Block party after first performance of "Pass Over" August 4, 2021. Photo: Jeenah Moon/The New York Times via Redux Journalist Kiara Alfonseca spoke with advocates, artists of color, journalists, and others on the re-opening of Broadway and theater's engagement many dimensions of diversity. Her piece "As...
NEW YORK--The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) and Foundation ATCA have announced the creation of a mentorship program for LGBTQIA+ writers. Named for the late Terry Helbing, a pioneer in Gay Theater during the 1970s and 1980s, the program has been designed to encourage the...
Past ATCA Executive Committee member Charles Guiliano reports that his new overview of the world-class Museum of Fine Arts Boston is now available. His newest publication offers an oral history of an essential Boston arts institution draw from interviews over the decades with museum directors, curators,...
Lauren Van Hemert For this edition of Critic Spotlight, Lauren Van Hemert speaks uninterrupted by interviewer questions. Van Hemert, based in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, has written for Broadway World and now her own website Beltline to Broadway (formerly RDU Onstage). Here is Lauren, in her own...
New York — At its annual meeting held on Zoom on August 18, 2021, the Foundation of the American Theatre Critics re-elected Jay Handelman as president for a ninth term. Handelman previously served four three-year terms as an ATCA board member and four years as...
Bill Hirschman Current Executive Committee member (and dedicated ATCA member of several decades) Bill Hirschman has added another laurel to his collection. Hirschman, founder and chief critic of Florida Theater On Stage, recently won second place in the Sunshine State Awards of the Society of Professional...
Richard Oliver Dallas, TexasPrimary outlets: Theater Jones, Texas Classical Review, The Whole Review Richard Oliver How did you get started as an arts critic? When I went to college I knew I wanted to pursue music. But I loved writing, so I made a deal with myself: I would...
J. Nicole Brooks NEW YORK – Playwright J. Nicole Brooks has won the 2021 Harold and Mimi Steinberg / American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for their play “Her Honor, Jane Byrne.”The Steinberg/ATCA Award, which carries a $25,000 cash prize, recognizes an outstanding script that premiered professional outside...
Douglas Williams NEW YORK – Douglas Williams has won the American Theatre Critics Association’s (ATCA) 2021 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award for his play “SHIP.” Given by ATCA in memory of critic, director, educator and new play advocate M. Elizabeth “Betty” Osborn (1941-1993), the prize recognizes the work of a...
David John Chávez San Jose area criticPrimary outlets: BayAreaPlays.com; Mercury News, American Theatre Magazine David John Chávez How’d you get started in this wacky business? Years ago, I had a job on a daily newspaper (the Fresno Bee, a McClatchy newspaper that covered the central San Joaquin Valley) on...