How NY Times Is Harming Regional Theatre

Trashing Barrington Stage Production Not an Isolated Incident

By: Mark St. Germain - Jul 06, 2018

Years ago, Hal Prince put together a program series with SUNY Purchase to produce four new musicals there.

The first was KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. The Times insisted on covering it. A musical by Randy Courts and I was to be one of the four.

The writers and directors involved with Hal's brave experiment gathered at the Helen Hayes Theater one morning to go as a group to meet the Arts Editor of the Times.

Hal and others tried in vain to convince the Times that these productions were the equivalent of out of town tryouts, named "tryouts" for a reason. Uncountable shows formerly moved city to city, rewriting and refining, before they came to N.Y., sometimes radically improved.

Today it's economically impossible for most shows to use that model. Instead, they develop in a series of readings and productions across the country, thanks to regional theaters who realize they won't have tomorrow's revivals unless they cultivate contemporary plays and musicals.

If the NY Times came to the first production of A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, or ANNIE, they wouldn't have seen the shows that ultimately became musical comedy staples.

What makes it hypocritical instead of just counterproductive is that the Times has a policy not to review regional theaters in their various local editions. Artistic Directors who I've spoken to in New Jersey and Connecticut acknowledge how it has hurt them economically.

Hal Prince shut down his SUNY experiment without doing the last three shows after the Times insisted on coming to review KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN and dismiss it.

Fortunately, its team was able to move past the review, continue their work and open successfully in New York.

With its review of THE ROYAL FAMILY OF BROADWAY the Times has written a roadblock that makes it a superhuman feat to get past. How many shows in their infancy are creatively and financially strong enough to do that?

If the Times wishes to ignore other shows in their backyard, their policy should be consistent.

Let developing musicals develop. Alternatively, the Times will have a future of reviewing revival after revival.

The Mark St. Germain stage of Barrington Stage Company was named in honor of the playwright. The company has premiered a number of his works which have been staged regionally as well as globally.

Back to Front Page Section Home

Reader Comments

"Does Tim Albertson really believe that the "top dollar" paid for tickets by audiences at a regional theater are the same as that paid for Broadway theater tickets? Has he ever been to Chicago or other theaters for tryouts for Broadway and that are promoted as such? I've never found that to be the case in Chicago, San Francisco, Oregon, Florida, Ohio, Seattle, Utah, or throughout the Northeast. But I'd like to know and visit those theaters instead of spending so much on Broadway tickets, with the possible exception of preview ones."

Posted By: Marie J. Kilker on 07-23-2018, 07:00 pm
"Sorry, but this is not a developmental reading happening behind closed doors. It's a full production with professional actors charging top dollar for tickets, and as such, it deserves to be reviewed by any and all media outlets."

Posted By: Tim Albertson on 07-11-2018, 03:03 pm
"BRAVO to playwright Mark St. Germain for articulating and illuminating not only a sore point in the birthing, clinging-to-life, then on to growing up; ultimately becoming an adult creative piece. Time is the friend of the production. Plays need time breathe, change, and grow, before they're ready for the knives and scalpels of the New York Times arts and entertainment staff. Mr. Green, himself newly minted as the number two theatre critic, me thinks is looking for a controversy to validate his NYT prestige position. None-the-less, the larger issue of tryout shows as being DOA in New York robs audiences, who are after all the final arbiters of whether a show is a success or not. Broadway producers have always been an optimistic group. It's always been a crap-shoot when it comes to investing in the theatre. It's not a surprise. Without birth, there can be no life, no hit show compensating the creative people for years. Playwright Germain is absolutely correct. To kill a tryout show with a review by the NYT is akin to sending the tryout show to a back alley abortionist for the end-game result. As a critic myself, I understand the 'Hobson's Choice' dilemma that faced Mr. Green. But he could have recused himself, I dare say."

Posted By: Jack Lyons on 07-06-2018, 03:35 pm
"I agree with Mark St. Germain. I have seen a few of his plays at regional theaters that did not reach Broadway and could have used a bit of editing but they were all worthwhile seeing and, in reviewing them, I never had to just dismiss them or say they should not have a future. Also I think the N. Y. Times should have an even policy of what it reviews. It could perhaps have someone, like Wall Street Journal does, who goes throughout the nation reviewing."

Posted By: Marie J. Kilker on 07-06-2018, 02:57 pm