Roundabout Theatre Co. Announces Permanent Archive; Critics Ask If Reviews Will Grow Moldy in Dark Corner

This PR courtesy of Boneau Bryan-Brown. (And, by the way, in all seriousness, I'm very pleased Roundabout is doing this. The volume of production and their history and legacy makes an archive essential -- and very forward-thinking.)

ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY
Announces plans to establish a permanent archive,
Generously funded by a major grant from the Leon Levy Foundation.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Artistic Director, Todd Haimes) is proud to announce plans to establish a permanent archive, generously funded by a major grant from the Leon Levy Foundation.

Roundabout’s archive will permanently document the company’s illustrious 43-year production history as well as provide a resource for the theatre community, Roundabout’s audience and the general public.

During the last 43 years Roundabout has become one of the country’s largest non-profit theatre organizations, yet has no central repository for its records. Having re-located several times since 1965, many historical items have moved to private hands, been collected by souvenir hunters, been thrown out or given away. The materials that exist are scattered among Roundabout’s buildings, theatres and off-site storage – and are in need of urgent archival care and preservation.

With the establishment of an archive Roundabout aims to not only document and preserve Roundabout’s history but also provide a resource to the theatre community and to the general public. Materials such as theatrical documents, manuscripts, letters, publications, photos and memorabilia will be carefully preserved and hopefully aid in recording the history of the American theatre movement.

The archive will be located at Roundabout’s administrative offices at 231 W. 39th Street. Tiffany Nixon has been hired as archivist. Plans for public access to the archive will be announced at a later date.

Roundabout Artistic Director Todd Haimes said: “We are so grateful to Shelby White and the Leon Levy Foundation for their amazing support of this archive project. We are confident that preserving our company’s history will be invaluable to our audiences and the theatre community in New York. And we are hopeful this permanent archive will become a useful guide to our part of American Theatre’s history.”

Shelby White, founding trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation, said, “The Roundabout Theatre has built a rich and illustrious history over its four decades as a staple of the New York city theater community. Leon and I attended Roundabout performances and had a subscription for over three decades, enjoying performances of Shaw and Oscar Wilde and such stars as Uta Hagen in the early days. The Leon Levy Foundation is pleased to help provide a permanent archive that will preserve and make available the important records of the Roundabout to students, scholars, and the general public.”

About the Leon Levy Foundation
The Leon Levy Foundation, founded in 2004, is a private, not-for-profit foundation created from the estate of Leon Levy, an investor with a longstanding commitment to philanthropy. The Foundation’s overarching goal is to support scholarship at the highest level, ultimately advancing knowledge and improving the lives of individuals and society at large.

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Roundabout Presenting Hyper-Expensive Concert Reading of A Little Night Music

Very exciting news for Roundabout Theatre Company -- they're about to get even richer! Boy, and to think those news reports about Todd Haimes having to sell apples on the corner turned out to be wrong. Well, this is still exciting news, anyway. If only those ticket prices weren't all about spurning Joe the -- gulp! -- Plummer.

Roundabout Theatre Company’s
benefit performance of
Stephen Sondheim & Hugh Wheeler’s
Tony-winning masterpiece
A Little Night Music

A Gala Concert Reading
with a 27-member orchestra

starring
Natasha Richardson, Victor Garber,
Christine Baranski, Laura Benanti,
Marc Kudisch, Steven Pasquale
and
Vanessa Redgrave

Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
Music Direction by Paul Gemignani
Directed by Scott Ellis

Monday, January 12, 2009
at Nokia Theatre Times Square

Tickets go on-sale tomorrow, Friday, October 31st for Roundabout Theatre Company’s (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) once-in-a-lifetime presentation of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s enchanting, Tony Award®-winning masterpiece, A Little Night Music. The gala concert reading will take place on Monday, January 12, 2009 at 7:30PM at the Nokia Theatre Times Square (1515 Broadway at 44th St).

Director Scott Ellis (She Loves Me, 1776, Curtains) will helm a cast of 18 including Natasha Richardson (Desirée Armfeldt), Victor Garber (Frederick Egerman), Christine Baranski (Countess Charlotte Malcolm), Laura Benanti (Anne Egerman), Marc Kudisch (Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm), Steven Pasquale (Henrik Egerman) and Vanessa Redgrave (Madame Armfeldt), and with legendary musical director Paul Gemignani (Assassins, Pacific Overtures) leading a 27-member orchestra with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. Additional cast members will be announced shortly.

Not seen on Broadway in 35 years, this classic musical follows three lovestruck couples as they lose – and find – each other during a long midsummer night on a country estate. Sondheim’s most heartbreaking score includes “Send in the Clowns,” “The Miller’s Son” and “A Weekend in the Country.”

The design team will be announced shortly.

Premium and Reception Tickets include admission to an exclusive cast party following the performance with all proceeds to benefit not-for-profit Roundabout Theatre Company.

American Airlines is the official airline of the Roundabout Theatre Company.
Production underwriters are the Shen Family Foundation and Williams Real Estate.

TICKET INFORMATION:
Premium Tickets at $2,500 include pre-show reception with cast, premium seating, open bar at intermission, and admission to an exclusive cast party ($2,150 tax-deductible).

Reception Tickets at $1,000 include house seats and admission to an exclusive cast party ($750 tax-deductible).

Orchestra/Front Mezzanine Tickets at $500.
Mid-Mezzanine Tickets at $250. – SOLD OUT.
Rear Mezzanine Tickets at $150. – SOLD OUT

Tickets go on-sale to the general public on October 31.

Tickets are available by phone and box office:
1) Phone at Roundabout Ticket Services: (212)719-1300.
2) Box Office: Any Roundabout box office (American Airlines Theatre, Studio 54 or the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre).

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A Hunka Fallout

Well, the fallout is already beginning as a result of my most recent post on George Hunka and the balls-to-the-wall middle-fingering of the ethics of theatre criticism. (I repeat, Virginia, yes, there is such a thing.) To those that have emailed me, I thank you for your support, and no, I don't need the Witness Protection Program at this point. Though a tummy tuck, yes, that's ok, sure.

Meanwhile, a big shout out to CollisionWorks, which gave me such a nice shout-out over there with regard to my posting a YouTube video of "Someone in a Tree" from Pacific Overtures and about the Presidential Advance Manual that has probably already fattened my CIA file far more than I ever could have hoped. Thank you!

I saw the revival of Pacific Overtures at the Roundabout, of course (and wrote about it for the Roundabout's house magazine, Front & Center, here. I have always thought the show is vastly underrated, and yes, that includes the book. I mean, no, I don't think John Weidman is the best book writer ever, and frankly I think both Sondheim and Weidman (and probably the original director, Harold Prince) could have benefited from a gentle dramaturge, but I do think there is far more in that show than a thousand others. I also saw the revival at the now-shuttered Promenade Theatre back in 1985 (I was 17 at the time) and I vividly remember Kevin Gray's performance like it was yesterday.

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