Sandy Katz Sandy Katz, the freelance theater critic, photographer and travel writer whose ebullient personality and unstinting friendliness made her a memorable part of every ATCA conference, died Jan. 7 after battling kidney and cardiac illnesses for years. Katz, 80, was currently working for www.berkshirefinearts.com and www.maturelifefeatures.com,...
William Wolf at Drama Desk Panel February 25, 2010 “‘Women at Work: Directing and Writing for the Theater.” Members of the Drama Desk Awards organization, celebrating New York theatrical productions since 1955, were informed March 31 of the passing of one of their leaders. William Wolf was a...
Soraya Nadia McDonald Cornell University’s Department of English, which administers the award for excellence in dramatic criticism endowed by Cornell alumnus, the late George Jean Nathan (1882-1958), awarded ATCA member Soraya Nadia McDonald the 2019-2020 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. The award is given by a prize committee including...
Herb Simpson (photo by Charles Giuliano) December 14 — On this day, family members scattered the ashes of critic Herb Simpson and his sister, Marian, in the waters of San Francisco Bay. The long-time ATCA member, longer-time critic and even longer-time theater and dance lover passed...
By Bill Hirschman Herb Simpson (photo by Alan Smason) Nov. 26, 2019 — For even those who, like me, knew Herbert Simpson only in passing, likely what they remember was his voice — usually deep and sonorous, a bit scratchy, but brimming with passion. They remember his voice...
For the fourth week in a row, the UPDATE is able to welcome another new member to our ranks. Ramona Harperhas in excess of 100 reviews to her credit on Washington’s DCMetroTheaterArts website. She says she is “committed to the expansion of public awareness about the...
Who is the longest-serving theater critic? Queried in March by Ada Tseng of the LA Times, we replied that ATCA doesn’t keep statistics, but we cited Michael Billington, who’s been reviewing for The Guardian in England for 48 years and reviewed for smaller papers for 10 years before that...
Sharon Eberson, the theater critic and pop culture writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has received second place recognition for a series of theater-related stories in the Pennsylvania News Association’s 2019 Keystone Press Awards in the new category, Diversity. She points out that both she and...
Not an individual milestone, this is about milestones for many. Reporter Ada Tseng of the Orange County bureau of the LA Times was writing a story about Tom Titus, who has been writing an “On Theater” column for 54 years. She asked if ATCA had statistics...
ATCA member Stuart Brown has just launched a 24/7 online Broadway music radio station – “Sounds of Broadway” (www.SoundsofBroadway.com) — which offers a wide-ranging listing of music from the Off-Broadway, Broadway, and London stages. Thousands of songs from hundreds of cast recordings are in rotation,...