Maybe it's because I'm an Artistic Director, but I found this article in Backstage pretty fascinating.
7 Artistic Directors discuss how they choose a season. (They represent Arena Stage, The Goodman, The Guthrie, The Wilma, the Alley Theatre, ACT, and Oregon Shakes.)
The Playgoer has some nice, biting commentary on the subject. My favorite excerpts are through this link ...
Molly Smith from Arena Stage says their two-year selection process focuses on "the stories that we really need to tell now".
The Guthrie's Joe Dowling gives some acting advice.
"There's nothing that gets an actor off on the wrong foot [more than] when we've instructed actors to prepare a certain thing and to work a certain way, and then they come in and they're not ready to do that."The Wilma is pretty blunt about the audience, saying, "We're not really trying to please the audience, although we are very happy when they show up."
Some names come-up a lot: Sarah Ruhl, August Wilson, Mamet, Stoppard. It's exciting to hear that Moisés Kaufman has a new project and that Ian McKellen will be touring America next year.
Read the whole thing here.
