Latest news with #TheCrucible
Buzz Feed
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Fina Strazza On 'John Proctor' Broadway Success
John Proctor Is The Villain is one of Broadway's most buzzed-about plays. In the coming-of-age story, a group of students begin studying The Crucible at the start of the #MeToo movement. As a series of events come to light, the students question their perspective on The Crucible and their own lives. Nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play, Fina Strazza portrays Beth, the serious but sweet leader of the newly formed Feminist club. With the Tony Awards right around the corner, I hopped on Zoom with Fina to learn more about her experience in John Proctor Is The Villain, and the new Netflix film Fear Street: Prom is a spoiler-free This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Did you read The Crucible before auditioning for John Proctor Is The Villain? Fina: I never read The Crucible in high school, but I read it once I found out I would be doing John Proctor. I didn't actually ever audition. I did a workshop of it two years ago with Danya [Taymor, the director], Kimberly [Belflower, the playwright], and Sadie [Sink, who plays Shelby]. During our first week of rehearsal, Danya assigned each of us a character from The Crucible that aligned with our character in John Proctor Is the Villain, and we read it aloud. I also watched the movie with Winona Ryder and Daniel Day-Lewis, and there's something very particular about seeing a production like that. The movie is kind of able to skew your perspective just in the way it's edited, and in the way that they portray the story. It kind of lights a very harsh light on Abigail, and she does seem like this sort of 'villain' character, where John Proctor comes out looking like the hero. Reading the play out loud with my castmates is what really skewed my perspective into seeing John Proctor under a different light. Something really awesome about this show is that even though it has this very direct and very assertive title, it's not necessarily aiming to be this declaration that there is one perspective on The Crucible, and that John Proctor is this bad guy. It's more about being open to opposing perspectives and reevaluating these historical texts, allowing the possibility that some heroes may not be as heroic as we think they are. Through this whole process, I've been able to have multiple perspectives on The Crucible. I've learned that it's a really rich story, and there are a lot of different discussions to be had about it. I loved the use of music in John Proctor, like Lorde's "Green Light." What is your connection to the music used in the play? Do you sing and write music yourself? Fina: I'm not as much of a songwriter, but I do love to sing. I'm kind of a walking radio. I grew up doing musical theater. I started on Broadway in Matilda, way back when, so my heart has always been with the music. I didn't grow up listening to Taylor Swift and Lorde as much as these girls did. But I think there's something so wonderful about how deeply these teenage girls connect over music. Even though those weren't the songs that I grew up with, I also have songs I have a visceral connection to. My best friends in high school, our dance, our "Green Light," would have been "Shut Up and Dance" [by Walk The Moon]. That song was everything to us, and it forever reminds me of these girls who shaped my entire childhood. I just had dinner with them last night and talked about the song again, because it's this integral part of our upbringing. I think it's really awesome how much the show highlights the importance of music, the connection it causes, and how it becomes this core memory. You mentioned that you workshopped the play with Danya and Sadie. Were you always considered for the role of Beth, or did you ever consider other parts? Fina: I recently found this out — I believe Danya and Kimberly had seen a tape of me auditioning for another play, and then invited me to work on this workshop with them.I knew only about Beth because that was my introduction to the show. I wasn't familiar with other characters before being cast as Beth, but I don't see myself connecting with any other role in the same way. I think I feel a very deep connection to Beth. I've also had a lot of conversations with our playwright, Kimberly Belflower, about how she sees herself in Beth, and how Beth is kind of inspired by her younger self. I feel very close to Kimberly through that, and I feel very close to the show. There's this pride that I take in bringing this role to life, and I couldn't see it any other way. Everybody is where they're meant to be, and it is like this beautiful symphony that we play every night. That's what Danya always says, we are like this nine-piece orchestra, all tuned perfectly. Beth's character evolves quite a bit, especially in Act 2. How do you feel your performance has evolved over time? Fina: You'll be doing the show one night and feel like you've really gotten it, and you'll feel like, "Wow, I can't imagine learning more about this character — I'm so a part of her already!" Then the next week, you're like, "Oh my gosh, my world is opening even more!" It's a really awesome thing that happens when you're doing a show. I can only imagine that the more I do it, the more I'll feel you continue, there's just so much more to learn. There's something about Beth where she can come off as a little naive at times and have a few slip-ups throughout her arc, where she might not, in my opinion, have the right perspective on an actor, it can be hard to let your character have those mishaps and let her be seen in this negative way by the audience for a moment. The more I've done the show, the more I realize the benefit of leaning into those uglier moments. That can be really hard to do, because I'm on stage, and our audience has been super vocal. When they don't like someone, they tell us. There have been people in the front row who say, "Girl, what are you doing?" audibly, which is hilarious, but it can be hard to lean into those more difficult moments. I think I'm learning to let her have her mistakes, and then it'll have a better outcome in the end. I've always wondered what it's like to be on a Broadway stage. What is that feeling for you when you step on stage? Fina: I was on Broadway when I was younger. It was 11 years ago now, and the last time I did theater was 7 years ago. After Matilda, I did off-Broadway and some out-of-town opens. I did theater a lot as a child, and as a kid, I always thought of it as the world's best playground. To me, the audience was never really there, and I was just always having a lot of fun. I was 8 years old when I was last on Broadway; I don't think it was possible for me to realize the weight of what I was doing. In these past years, I've often wished I just understood it a little bit more, so I could have appreciated those moments on stage a little more. Now I'm making sure I'm soaking everything up in our rehearsals and through our previews and during tech. Every time I'm on stage, I want to savor every moment. I think there's a real gratitude to being on stage.I've done film and TV, and obviously, the audience isn't right there, so it's hard to see who is taking the time to watch you and absorb your work. So there's this gratitude when you're on stage, because the people who have paid to be there are sat right in front of you. They're there for the 2 hours, and they're locked in, and they're in their seats, and there's just something really special about that. I think there's this constant wheel of gratitude being an actor on who plays Lee, said there's something awesome about having the audience right there — they feel like they can change what happens, and like they have this agency where they can change the story. They kind of do. Depending on how much they're reacting, if they're an audience who laughs more, or if they're crying more, it does alter the way we play into them, and the way that we hit certain beats. It is this ebb and flow, and it becomes this cool, symbiotic relationship. Do you have any favorite memories with the cast? Fina: Danya is such a great physical director. We did a lot of work with the script to start off the process, but she did it in a very fun way, so it didn't feel like we're just sat at a table doing table one of our first days of rehearsal, she had us all come in, and she said we're gonna work on the script today — except she pointed at Sadie, and she was like, "You're gonna play Mr. Smith." Gabe, who plays Mr. Smith, was gonna play Shelby, and I ended up playing Lee. Maggie Kuntz, who plays Ivy, ended up playing Raelynn, and we were all just jumbled. It was a really awesome way to receive your character and be an audience for the words that you were going to be speaking. You had a chance to see someone else's acting choices on your role, surrendering to those choices, and maybe taking inspiration from them. You also gain respect for other people's roles, being like, "Oh, this is a hard scene to do — you're gonna have to do this every night!" I've never had a director do that before, and afterwards, it was this very jovial experience where we kind of had this understanding of one another's paths and tracks. It was a really fun day. It also led to a lot of laughter, because Sadie was playing a grown man, and I think Hagan, who plays Lee, was playing Miss Gallagher, and it was just these miscast funny times. I really enjoyed that. Huge congratulations to you, the cast, and the crew! You're the youngest Tony nominee this year; what was your reaction to hearing your nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play? Fina: When you're waiting for news like that, there's this roller coaster you send yourself on the whole week leading up to it, feeling guilty that you even think it's a consideration. Because you're like, "Who am I to think that? I shouldn't even be worried about this!" Then you're at a high point in the day, and you're thinking, "Oh, maybe it could happen!" Then you plummet back down to, "Who do I think I am?"I'd already been on this wild ride of emotions for the week leading up to it, so on the day of, I was like, "Maybe I should just get some sleep. I won't watch the broadcast, I won't set an alarm." But I ended up naturally waking up at the time that it started. My feed was delayed, so I didn't even see my category come up on screen, and before anything was announced on my end, my phone just started blowing up. I picked up a phone call from my mom, and she was the one who told me, she was like, "You're nominated, you're nominated!" and immediately, I kinda blacked out, you know, I don't remember so much after that. I grew up in New York, and Broadway, and the Tonys have always been the biggest thing for me. I know every single word to Neil Patrick Harris's 2013 Tony opening — that is peak theater. I think I'm still not really able to comprehend what this moment means. Every event that I've gotten to go to so far for the nominees, I kind of feel like I've been given this all-access fan pass. I'm just looking at everybody around me, and I'm like, these are the people that I grew up with. These are the people that my mom would show me doing their cabaret shows on YouTube, and just none of it feels real. It's all been very surreal. I watched Fear Street: Prom Queen on Netflix last night, and it was terrifying. Tiffany is a much different character from Beth. Was it a fun experience getting to do a horror film? Fina: Yeah, it was very, very, very different. I had never played a mean girl before, so this was a very exciting challenge. I was able to just have a lot of fun on this shoot. I ended up becoming very close friends with the entire cast. We had around 15 principal cast members on set every day, and we became this really tightly knit pack. We started basically filming this movie in between our conversations with each other. I don't think that Tiffany and Beth would get along so well, but they're both fun to play in their different rights. Did you get to meet R.L. Stine? Fina: You know, he was supposed to make a cameo in the film, but he was sick, and it was on the day that we were filming in the diner. He couldn't make it, and so someone from his estate came instead, on his behalf, to say hi. John Proctor Is the Villain is an incredible play. What do you hope audiences take away from your performance? Fina: I feel like the phrase that I keep repeating throughout this whole process is just, "Whose life am I living?" That's what this whole process has felt like. There's been something very spiritual and witchy about all of it that feels like I've been granted a magical luck spell. I hope that audiences are moved by the show and by my performance.I received a letter from someone at the stage door the other day that was really meaningful and made me feel like Beth was doing something right. It said a similar instance that happens in the show happened to her in high school, and she reacted to the situation similarly to how Beth does. Through the show, and through Beth, she was able to grant her younger self some forgiveness for the way she acted, because she didn't know any better, and she was just acting on what she'd been taught. Just to know that someone was moved by the show enough to connect it back to their own selves was really awesome. It's always important to grant your younger self some forgiveness — to feel connected to your personal self and allow your younger self to take up some space and be granted some forgiveness and healing. Thank you, Fina, for sharing great insight! See John Proctor Is The Villain at the Booth Theatre until July 13th, and keep up with Fina on Instagram. If you like horror, don't miss Fear Street: Prom Queen on Netflix.
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Why Women Are Leaving This Broadway Show in Tears
I cried the first time I saw the play 'John Proctor Is the Villain,' set in a high school in small-town Georgia during the height of the MeToo movement, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks. On social media, I saw other women reacting similarly, leaving performances in tears. This past weekend, I went a second time with a friend. As the houselights went up, she was crying, as was the woman in the row in front of us. They spontaneously hugged, which is something I've never seen before at a Broadway show. Outside the theater, two women were sobbing. At least since the time of Aristotle, catharsis has been understood as one of the chief purposes of theater, but it's been a while since I've experienced it so viscerally, and I kept wondering why this play is having such an intense effect on so many. (No other play has received more Tony nominations this year.) One reason for its power, I suspect, is that it transports the viewer back to a time when MeToo still felt alive with possibility, the moment before the backlash when it seemed we might be on the cusp of a more just and equal world. It's not an uplifting play — an innocent girl is punished, and a guilty man is not — but it is still shot through with a kind of hope that's now in short supply. 'John Proctor Is the Villain' takes place in 2018 and revolves around an honors English class studying Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible.' The girls in the class are smart and ambitious; they're also, like many teenagers everywhere, swoony and bursting with contradictory emotions. They're so excited about the MeToo movement that they want to start a feminism club at their school, which school officials do not, at first, want to allow. Tensions in the community, their guidance counselor tells them, are too high. Those tensions soon creep in to the high school and start to shake the girls' solidarity. The father of one of the girls is accused of sexual harassment by two women, which leads her to question MeToo. 'We can punish the men if they're proven guilty, but if we find out the girls are making it up they should get punished just as bad,' she says. Another girl, Shelby — played by the 'Stranger Things' star Sadie Sink — returns from a mysterious absence with her own destabilizing accusation. Their drama is refracted through their engagement with 'The Crucible.' In 'John Proctor Is the Villain' the increasingly common idea that MeToo was a witch hunt is turned inside out. The playwright, Kimberly Belflower, had been captivated by the MeToo movement when it revved up in 2017. 'It just felt like, 'Oh, my God, we're doing this. We're naming these things,'' she told me recently. It gave her a new lens on her own adolescence in rural Georgia. 'I didn't have the vocabulary for this then, but I do now,' she said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sadie Sink on Her First Tony Nomination, Shaking Off ‘Stranger Things' Expectations
While Sadie Sink rose to fame in Netflix's Stranger Things, her roots are in the theater. The 23-year-old actress appeared in a revival of Annie in 2013 and starred as young Queen Elizabeth in The Audience in 2015 before going on to play Max in Stranger Things, and taking on roles in films including The Whale. And now, Sink has returned to Broadway in John Proctor is the Villain, where she has received her first Tony nomination for her role as high schooler Shelby Holcomb. More from The Hollywood Reporter Darren Criss, Renée Elise Goldsberry Set to Host Tony Awards Preshow Broadway Sees Highest Grossing Season on Record Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit, Nicholas Christopher to Lead Broadway Revival of 'Chess' Sink was nervous about returning to Broadway, especially with the fandom and expectations of Stranger Things surrounding her. But she was drawn back by Kimberly Bellflower's play, in which a group of high school girls dissect The Crucible for English class, while also seeing parallels with their own lives. While the play is an ensemble piece, Sink's character comes in like a wrecking ball who takes aim at the moral authority ascribed to the character of John Proctor in The Crucible as well as the systems set up to protect men around her. The play touches on feminism, varied responses among women to bad behavior by men and the complicated friendships among teenage girls, including Sink's character who starts out at odds with her friend Raelynn over a boy. This approach to the text, as well as the play's needle drops of songs by Taylor Swift and Lorde, makes these topics accessible to younger generations grappling with the current political climate, Sink said. 'I think it's the most important thing I've ever been a part of, in that sense,' Sink said. John Proctor is the Villain is also nominated for best play, as part of seven overall Tony nominations. The best actress nominee spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about shaking off nerves and moving past her Stranger Things character for Broadway, as well as what she hopes audiences take away from the play. Had returning to Broadway been on your radar? I was thinking about coming back, but honestly, I wasn't too eager to do it until I read Kimberly's play, because the idea of doing theater again was a little bit scary. I didn't know how it would be for me as an adult, or if I even had the stamina or the chops to do it, and if things had changed from being very comfortable on a TV show for 10 years. But when I read this, I was like, 'OK it's fantastic. It's an incredible ensemble piece.' So it's not like I'd be biting off more than I could chew. You feel so supported, and everyone in this cast is so stellar. So once I read this, it was like, if it can get to Broadway…because I also didn't know. It's kind of a big swing to do a new play, even though it had kind of gained some recognition and had gotten its flowers on a regional, collegiate level, you still just don't know with a play about teenage girls if producers and theater owners are going to believe in it and that the traditional Broadway audience would want to go. What did it feel like when you first came back? I was definitely nervous about what my nerve level would be, and how I was going to handle being on stage, because it's so exposing, and you're so vulnerable. A big thing I had to get over just in the first week of previews was letting go of any expectations I had on myself, but also that the audience would place on me in any way. That was something that was eating me up a bit. It is an ensemble piece, and yeah, sure, my name's on the marquee and everything, but if you go into the show, you realize that it's really not about that. But I think it added this extra layer of pressure in the beginning of, 'Oh, are people coming in expecting more out of me? Or are they seeing Shelby, or are they seeing Max from Stranger Things? You just never know. [Director] Danya [Taymor] actually had a really good conversation with me about that to help me let that go a bit. And once I did everything felt very free. That's kind of the point of previews too. You're in front of an audience for the first time. It's trial and error and embarrassing, because you are in front of an audience every single night as you're testing out all of these new things and situating yourself. It was quite the journey. There's definitely some points where you're like, 'Oh my God, can I do this? Am I just embarrassing myself?' What advice did Danya give you that helped you let go of that pressure? I think she could see that there was this wall that went up as soon as I was in front of an audience, because I haven't had to do this since gaining recognition through Stranger Things. I haven't had to be on stage in front of the audience right there. So I think I felt like I just put this wall up that maybe wasn't there in rehearsals. And Danya told me 'That's always going to be there, that you want to protect yourself from the audience. But if you use the character, if you're just a vessel for Shelby, then any choice that you make, she is your protection, because you're not yourself up there, so you can't feel judged, or feel like there's any expectations on you, because they're not. When you're on stage, you're Shelby.' Kimberly's agent had sent it to me, and I couldn't put it down. I just like tore through it. And the initial reaction, other than the fact that it's just a brilliant story, was just how real every character is held. And I think that's so rare when, like, you know, telling a story about teenage girls, I find it's like, super hard to get it right in a way that's like, really meeting them where they're at. And I just felt like Kimberly really encapsulated the feeling of being that age. And then it was kind of just gut instinct that this is obviously fantastic, and I think we should do a reading of it or something, and we did. How did you feel about having music featured so heavily in the play with both Taylor Swift and Lorde? I loved all the pop culture references. I think if you shy away from them, then you're not honoring the experience of being a teenage girl, because pop culture is so prevalent in most of our lives now, but especially at that age, it's like your language. And I thought everything was super clever, the way that Kimberly tied it in there, and with the use of Lorde's song 'Green Light' at the end, it's just the perfect cherry on top. At first, it's funny, because, of course, they joke about being very gifted, very beautiful interpretive dancers. And of course, they're going to start dancing to a Lorde song, but then it kind of shifts and they're able to use it as this kind of weapon or armor as they reclaim their voices and their bodies and exercise some demons through it. So it becomes this anthem towards the end. And I also just love that. I feel like a lot of the projects I've done have featured a song. There's always one song you can tie into it. What are you hoping people take away from this play? A lot of people have different reactions. Someone will come up to me and be like, 'I'm so pissed off right now,' and then other people will just be sobbing and crying. There's a mix of reactions, but I think the one thing I hope people take away from it is like, to me, I think it's just a story about friendship, like Raelynn and Shelby's friendship, and how they're able to forgive each other and come together and like that final moment, it's just all about them being connected and being able to have this exorcism, give this monologue in front of their entire class, and they couldn't do it without each other. So I think it's a love letter to that bond when you're a teenage girl and you're best friends. It must feel more charged doing this play in this political climate. Yeah, and obviously, the timing of it was not planned at all. We were always set to come to the Booth Theatre in the spring, and then with the results of the election, I think, coming into rehearsals and being with an all-female creative team, and mostly female cast, young cast, and having that to go to every day and working on something that really mattered and feeling like I think we could actually really reach people, especially young people, at this time of scariness and uncertainty and all kinds of disgusting things happening. I think it's the most important thing I've ever been a part of, in that sense. But of course, we're not trying to make any comments on it. It's just not lost on us. Everything is presented the same way. But you can't ignore the fact that it's even more poignant at this time. Do you want to do more live theater after this? I would love to. I think that's the dream. I learned more about acting in these last few months than I have in a very long time. And it's such a marathon. So I think we'll take a little break after this, but I want to come back for sure, because I think doing theater is also how you maintain your passion for acting, at least for me. It's really returning to your craft, in a very special way that film and TV sometimes just can't offer you. And I started out in theater, so of course, I always will have a love for it, and definitely want to return. And you're still so close to with the Broadway show playing across from your theater. I know. Isn't that insane timing? I saw it in London awhile ago, and then I also saw it when it came here. But yeah, it's insane, right across the street. I mean, they follow me everywhere. It's crazy. What does this Tony nomination mean to you? I grew up watching the Tonys every year and studying Tony performances. To me, the ultimate honor is to get a nomination or win a Tony award. The Tonys, New York theater, Broadway, I just think it's the pinnacle of what acting is, and performing is, and you're surrounded by some of the greatest actors ever. And so to have this recognition from the community that raised me, it has mattered the most. And also I've been doing this for 15 years, basically my whole life. And something like this has never happened to me. And so, for it to be a Tony nomination, it's just so serendipitous, and it just means so much. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Best of The Hollywood Reporter From 'Lady in the Lake' to 'It Ends With Us': 29 New and Upcoming Book Adaptations in 2024 Meet the Superstars Who Glam Up Hollywood's A-List Rosie O'Donnell on Ellen, Madonna, Trump and 40 Years in the Queer Spotlight
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. Theatre Works, citadel of audio drama, keeps adapting to changing times
The golden age of radio drama is a memory shared by a dwindling few. But the flame has been kept alive in Britain by BBC Radio, in Ireland on RTÉ and in America by L.A. Theatre Works. LATW celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. The company, founded by Susan Albert Loewenberg and seven other women in 1974 during the heyday of the liberation movements, was formed with a strong social conscience. A main focus of the early years was on programs that brought artists into prisons. By the 1980s, Artists in Prison (the company's original name) had become L.A. Theatre Works and was building a reputation for its professional theater productions of classic and contemporary works. A group of prominent actors approached Loewenberg with the idea of forming a classical repertory company. And with these founding members (Ed Asner, René Auberjonois, Robert Foxworth and Marsha Mason among them), LATW transitioned again, this time from conventional theatrical presentations to audio recordings of plays. 'The idea was to form this repertory company and be like the Mark Taper Forum,' Loewenberg recalled. 'For various reasons, it didn't happen. The first big project we did was to record Sinclair Lewis' novel 'Babbitt.' Ed Asner played Babbitt. And it was done like a theater production in the sense that every time there was a character, the role was played by an actor. So we did the whole book and it was a huge success.' 'Babbitt' was recorded at KCRW in Santa Monica in 1987. KCRW founder Ruth Seymour, an early champion, broadcast the recording in serial and marathon formats. 'And then National Public Radio got in touch, and they aired it all over the country,' Loewenberg continued. 'And the whole thing took off and the company solidified around that success. We did many plays with KCRW. We recorded Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible,' which still remains our No. 1 bestseller.' (The titles, Loewenberg explained, 'were originally sold as cassettes, then CDs, then digital downloads, and now both as digital downloads and through LATW's streaming subscription service.') I wasn't in L.A. during the glory days of KCRW Playhouse. I was introduced to the work of the company through the radio program 'The Play's the Thing,' which I would listen to on Saturday nights on KPCC-FM, usually when driving home from the theater. Transfixed by the voices of actors giving life to drama I had stumbled upon on the freeway, I would try to guess the title before an announcer would break in with the information. Curious about the work of a local company that was drawing top-flight actors to ambitious plays, I attended a few offerings in the company's performance series at UCLA's James Bridges Theater, where the programs were recorded before a loyal audience. I liked what I heard, but it struck me that LATW was operating in an adjacent field, complementary but separate. As a theater critic surfeited with plays, radio dramas worked best for me as an unplanned diversion in my car. But listening has never been easier. Technology has transformed audio broadcasting into an on-demand experience. LATW streams its radio show and launched its own podcast in 2017. The podcast series, Loewenberg clarified in an email, 'has allowed LATW to reach a wider and more diverse audience because of the way it's distributed.' Different platforms reach different sectors. 'Audiences have their preferences as to the way they look for content,' she elaborated. 'All these various platforms — radio broadcast, free streaming services like SoundCloud, podcast platforms like Apple, Amazon, iHeart, etc. — have their own audiences. We distribute to over 100 podcast platforms, each with its own constituency.' New competitors have also unexpectedly arose. Audible, the audiobook and podcast service that's a subsidiary of Amazon, has notably entered the theatrical space, commissioning new works from playwrights and presenting productions at the Minetta Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village. Hugh Jackman and Ella Beatty are starring in the U.S. premiere of 'Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes' at the Minetta Lane Theatre. The play by Hannah Moscovitch, which is alternating with Jen Silverman's 'Creditors,' a new take on Strindberg's drama starring Liev Schreiber, represents a unique collaboration between Audible and Together, a company launched by Jackman and the prolific, award-winning producer Sonia Friedman to create new models of intimate and accessible theater. 'I would say they were inspired by us,' Loewenberg said when asked whether she sees Audible as an inspiration or a threat. 'We distribute through Audible and still do, and then they decided they wanted to do plays themselves. And they've done so. They do so many things. I think they realize that recording plays is a lot more expensive and a lot less profitable than recording one person reading a book.' Currently, LATW's program airs weekly on KPFK 90.7 in Southern California and on station affiliates serving over 50 markets nationwide. But the heart and soul of the operation is the archive of play recordings, which Loewenberg, still the company's indefatigable producing director, said is nearing 600 titles. A recently launched monthly subscription service now offers full-range access to a catalog that includes Broadway titles, world classics and docudramas and social justice plays. The extensive collection is a tremendous resource for libraries and schools, as well as for industry professionals and play-lovers. Before I went to New York in April for my annual Broadway spring marathon, I listened to LATW's recording of Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible' to prepare for my encounter with 'John Proctor Is the Villain,' a play by Kimberly Belflower that's in conversation with Miller's classic. I haven't seen a production of 'The Crucible' since Ivo van Hove's deconstruction on Broadway in 2016, which is probably the last time I read the play. While sitting down with my copy of the drama, I found LATW's recording online and followed along with the text as a sterling cast thunderously performed Miller's allegory of a paranoid America that had lost its way during the communist witch hunts of the McCarthy era. LATW has had access to what is arguably the greatest acting pool in the world. Annette Bening, Nathan Lane, George Clooney, Chris Rock, Amy Irving, Alan Alda, Alfred Molina, Jimmy Smits, Matthew Rhys and Charlayne Woodard are just some of the luminaries who have lent their voices to the LATW airwaves. The glittering cast of 'The Crucible,' which included Stacy Keach, Hector Elizondo and Richard Dreyfuss, would be difficult for even a major Broadway revival to match. 'Many of the actors we work with are known by the public for their movie or TV roles, but their background is in theater,' managing director Vicki Pearlson said on a Zoom call with Loewenberg. 'They work with us because they love theater and our format allows them the opportunity to work on plays in a very compact amount of time.' When LATW presents live recordings, the commitment for performers is about a week. For studio recordings, the actors are needed for just three or four days, although the entire process from pre- to post-production takes around three to four months. 'So actors who have very busy schedules can do this thing they love, knowing that the work is going out to the world and will reach new generations of students,' Pearlson said. 'We've worked with more than 2,000 actors over the years and we're obviously adding to our family of artists all the time.' Bringing a stage play to an audio medium requires adjustments. 'The actors have to learn how to do this,' Pearlson said. 'Susan always used to say, 'Half the volume, twice the intensity' at the mic. Of course, we set the environment by the sound design, but it's very much about engaging the story through the dialogue of the play.' Loewenberg said she often would tell actors: 'OK, you're smiling here, but if the smile is not in your voice, I don't know you're smiling.' LATW has never lacked ambition. At one point, the group had extended its live shows to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Boston. Carving such an independent path in the theater is a Herculean challenge, but the secret of longevity has been the company's adaptability. 'We've had to adapt to many changes,' Loewenberg said. 'And sometimes challenges turned into really positive enhancements.' (A new emergency has just arrived with the Trump administration's decision to cut NEA grants, as my colleague Jessica Gelt recently reported.) When a radio station stopped broadcasting, another stepped into the breach. Live recordings, put on pause during the pandemic, haven't yet restarted. But audiences have been engaged through a panoply of digital programs and new outreach endeavors, such as the play club program with libraries that Loewenberg said she plans to introduce throughout the country. Education is an integral part of LATW's mission. This commitment is clear in the enthusiasm with which Loewenberg reels off canonical titles (by Shakespeare, Jane Austen and John Steinbeck). She is equally ardent when talking about specialized initiatives, such as the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation-sponsored Relativity Series of science-themed plays. Database tools for higher education make it possible to search the archives for plays dealing with specific thematic topics, making it more useful for instruction across disciplines. 'As a nonprofit organization, LATW's purpose is to expand access and to introduce both the general public and students to theater,' Pearlson added in an email follow-up. 'Much of our programming is available for free through radio broadcasts, streaming, podcasts, public libraries, and the distribution of recordings and educational materials to secondary schools across the country. So those who support us by purchasing titles are not just enjoying the best of theater but are helping us bring it to people who may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the full range of works our library offers.' When asked to name personal highlights of LATW, Loewenberg mentioned her experience of taking the docudrama 'Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers' to China when President Obama and China's President Xi Jinping happened to be holding a bilateral meeting in California. Pearlson joyfully recalled the sight of Neil Simon laughing in the audience during a live recording of his play 'Broadway Bound.' In the divergence of these answers lies the company's extraordinary legacy. Art should delight and instruct, the Roman poet Horace asserted. LATW has taken an auditory approach to this challenge. But the ultimate destination of the work, like that of any long-enduring theater company, has always been the hearts and minds of the audience.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘John Proctor Is the Villain' stars Sadie Sink and Fina Strazza, playwright Kimberly Belflower on reading ‘The Crucible' for the first time
'I hadn't read it since college,' says playwright Kimberly Belflower of Arthur Miller's iconic play The Crucible. She drew inspiration for John Proctor Is the Villain from that 1953 drama and found herself compelled to reread the work — an allegory of the McCarthy era in American politics told through the lens of the Salem Witch Trials — in 2017 at the height of the #MeToo movement. A comment by Woody Allen comparing the movement to a 'witch hunt' sparked the idea to revisit Miller's play because she says her 'brain just thinks in fiction.' Belflower recently sat down with Gold Derby and other journalists at the 2025 Tony Awards Meet the Nominees press event. Set in 2018 in a small town in Georgia, John Proctor Is the Villain centers on a group of high school juniors reading The Crucible in English class when accusations of sexual misconduct begin rippling through their community and hit extraordinary close to home. 'I don't know if I would have come to the same conclusions if I wasn't re-reading it in that exact moment in time,' Belflower observes of her reaction to The Crucible, adding, 'I love to revisit things over time because they have different resonances in our larger culture, but also in your own personal time.' She believes the play has been striking a chord with young theatergoers, especially young women, because 'it's a play that takes young girls seriously and recognizes them as the smart, multidimensional people that they are, and gives them the space to be vulnerable and messy and ugly and weird.' More from GoldDerby What happens in the 'Andor' finale, and how it leads into 'Rogue One' 'Every actor likes to play a villain': Ron Howard on playing himself in 'The Studio' Krysten Ritter is returning as Jessica Jones in 'Daredevil: Born Again' Season 2 Belflower leaves the door open to reworking more Arthur Miller plays, too. 'There have been so many women playwrights who have been re-examining Miller. There's Eleanor Burgess' Wife of a Salesman. Most recently I saw the Bushwick Starr production of Julia May Jonas' A Woman Among Women, which is re-examining All My Sons," says Belflower. "Both of those, it legit makes me want to go back and reread a lot of Arthur Miller.' Unlike Belflower, John Proctor featured actress Fina Strazza had never read Miller's play as a student. While she first dove into the text to prepare to star in Belflower's work, the new play didn't influence her take on the original material. The actress, who made her Broadway debut in Matilda at eight years old, told Gold Derby, 'Even though our show has a very assertive, direct title proclaiming that John Proctor is the villain, it's really just encouraging people to re-examine historical texts and allow different perspectives, and maybe open yourself up to the possibility that the people you think are heroes might have some flaws as well.' Strazza, who plays the unflinchingly thorough, star pupil Beth in the production, adds, 'I've re-read it a few times and found different heroes and different villains. I like to think that Elizabeth Proctor is the hero of that story.' SEE Sadie Sink on her character's 'emotional rage' in 'John Proctor Is the Villain' and her reaction to 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' When Gold Derby interviewed Sadie Sink last month, the Stranger Things and The Whale actress recalled reading The Crucible in high school but admits, 'I was just trying to make it through the year honestly. It was mostly about getting it done.' The stage veteran of Annie and The Audience knew she wanted to return to the stage after her recent film and television work and said, "When John Proctor came along, it just felt like it was something that spoke to me but also could really matter and felt like really important work that needed to be shared on the biggest scale possible, and I didn't know that meant Broadway at the time.' John Proctor Is the Villain is the most Tony-nominated Broadway play of the season with seven citations. In Gold Derby's latest odds, the drama ranks second in Best Play and could be a challenger to the frontrunner Oh, Mary! The play also ranks second in the all-important Best Director category for Danya Taymor, who pulled off an unexpected victory last year in the musical director category for her work on The Outsiders. Elsewhere, the play ranks third in Featured Actress for Strazza, Featured Actor for Gabriel Ebert, and Sound Design, and fourth for lead actress Sink and in Lighting Design. SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Sadie Sink on her character's 'emotional rage' in 'John Proctor Is the Villain' and her reaction to 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' 'It should be illegal how much fun I'm having': Lea Salonga on playing Mrs. Lovett and more in 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends' 'Death Becomes Her' star Jennifer Simard is ready to be a leading lady: 'I don't feel pressure, I feel joy' Click here to read the full article.
