“NATO has left the building and Chicago is still intact.” So says Jonathan Abarbanel, chair of ATCA’s Chicago conference, June 13-17. Recent schedule additions include a Soul Food dinner courtesy of brand-new $19 million Black Ensemble Cultural Center, followed by the Ensemble’s latest musical biography, “The...
Jeffrey Eric Jenkins Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, editor of Best Plays, former ATCA chair, president of Foundation ATCA and chair of our international committee, is the new Head of the Department of Theatre at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Jeffrey writes his friends in ATCA and elsewhere: After fourteen years in...
Jay Handelman, excom chair, has written member John McMullen about the recent request from eight S.F. Bay Area theaters for page view stats for online reviewers (scroll down two items for the original letter). Handelman points out that no theater owes any critic a free ticket, but that...
We’ll have ATCA’s response to the SF Bay Area critics’ concern shortly, but in the meantime, if you need something to distract you from your daily rounds, there are these two discussions going on “Howl Round: A Journal of the Theater Commons”: “What do we actually...
Press representatives for nine prominent San Francisco Bay-area theaters have just asked what they call “citizen journalists” (online theater critics and/or bloggers) to supply statistics on web traffic, “to demonstrate to our employers that the press passes we issue deliver a meaningful return on investment”...
Simon Callow Distinguished actor Simon Callow, CBE, will meet with ATCA members and guests and answer questions in “A Conversation with Simon Callow” on Saturday, June 16. Callow is best-known to American audiences for his film work (Amadeus, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Shakespeare in Love) and his occasional TV...
Our room blocs at Club Quarters and Red Roof Inn officially closed May 15, but the hotels agreed to hold a few rooms each for late-arriving registrations. If you plan to attend the Chicago Conference, it is ESSENTIAL that you notify Jonathan Abarbanel of your hotel choice...
Svich and Canady, winners of the 2011 Primus and 2012 Osborn, respectively, have already received their checks. But they will join us Friday, June 15, for us to applaud their achievements — and they will be with us for much of the Chicago conference, for...
“No matter how far you have to go to get there, the place to be right now is Chicago, where Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy are starring in Robert Falls’ Goodman Theatre revival of The Iceman Cometh.”— Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal. Teachout is the Perspectives in Criticism speaker at ATCA’s Chicago conference,...
The reduced early registration rate for the Chicago Annual Conference, June 13-17, ends this Friday (May 11 post-marked). After Friday, registration will be $145 for ATCA members and $165 for guests. Rooms are still available at the Red Roof Inn and Club Quarters, which offer special ATCA...