More than a chronicle, America in the Round is a critical history that reveals how far Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage could go with its budget and racially liberal politics, and how Arena both disputed and duplicated systems of power. With an innovative "in the round" approach, the narrative simulates sitting in different parts of the arena space to see the theatre through different lenses--economics, racial dynamics, and American identity.

The Cleveland Play House has mirrored the achievements and struggles of both the city of Cleveland and the American theatre over the past one hundred years. This book challenges the established history (often put forward by the theatre itself) and long-held assumptions concerning the creation of the institution and its legacy.

This work takes the reader from the city's first professional theatrical presentation in 1820, through the heyday of vaudeville, to the grand reopening of the newly renovated Allen Theatre in 1999 and the return of touring Broadway shows to Cleveland. In 1820 Cleveland was able to draw a visit from a troupe of professional actors. With no theater in which to perform, the troupe made do with Mowrey's Tavern on Public Square, where a standing-room-only audience saw The Purse; or the Benevolent Tar. It was five years before another professional company would visit. As the city grew, theater blossomed and vaudeville flourished. In the early 1920s, five magnificent theaters opened at Playhouse Square - the State and the Palace, for mixed programs of vaudeville and movies; the Hanna Theater and Ohio, for legitimate Broadway-style theater, and the Allen, for movies. Cleveland was also in the vanguard of the little theater movement with the establishment of the Cleveland Play House and the interracial Karamu Theatre. After a period of decline in the 1960s and 1970s, live theater was reborn in Playhouse Square, which is now the second-largest performing arts complex in the country, and a

Regional Theatre was first published in 1973. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. This is a social history of a recent American cultural phenomenon--the development since World War II of numerous nonprofit regional theatres which, as a group, have changed the complexion of the American theatre. It is the story of a revolution, now over, and a call for a new purpose to follow it. After a discussion of the background against which the regional theatre movement began, the author traces the histories of individual theatre companies. And yet the book is less about actors, directors, and productions than it is about the struggle to create and sustain new cultural forms, and the tension between regional and central phenomena.Mr. Zeigler sees several related themes: institutionalism -- theatre as a continuing creative organism; decentralization--the bringing of theatre to all areas of the country; and the development of a National Theatre to serve the entire country. A significant element in the book consists of examination of some of the important funding programs which have aided the development of regional theatres.

Everyacting student and working actor needs a copy of this book! Here’s the essential guide to surviving and thriving as an actor in regional theaters. The thousands and thousands of students in the hundreds and hundreds of acting programs all over the country would all love to become stars right out of school—but the reality of a career in acting usually means honing the craft at regional theaters.The Back Stage Guide to Working in Regional Theaterincludes a history of the movement and a description of each of the League of Regional Theater (LORT) houses in the U.S, plus sections on personal marketing for the actor, the business of acting, strategies and career planning. Essential web sites, a sample organizational chart, contact names, a guide to theater unions, and listings of more than 100 theaters across the country makeThe Back Stage Guide to Regional Theatera must-have for every actor who’s working or wants to be. • Full listings for every regional theater in the US • Valuable information on websites, resources, getting organized • Helps acting students find employers near home or school while they train

Far from the glittering lights of Broadway, in a city known more for its horse racing than its artistic endeavors, an annual festival in Louisville, Kentucky, has transformed the landscape of the American theater. The Actors Theatre of Louisville—the Tony Award–winning state theater of Kentucky—in 1976 successfully created what became the nation's most respected new-play festival, the Humana Festival of New American Plays. The Humana Festival: The History of New Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville examines the success of the festival and theater’s Pulitzer Prize–winning productions that for decades have reflected new-play trends in regional theaters and on Broadway—the result of the calculated decisions, dogged determination, and good luck of its producing director, Jon Jory. The volume details how Actors Theatre of Louisville was established, why the Humana Festival became successful in a short time, and how the event’s success has been maintained by the Louisville venue that has drawn theater critics from around the world for more than thirty years. Author Jeffrey Ullom charts the theater’s early struggles to survive, the battles between troupe leaders, and the desperate measures to secure financial support from the Louisville community. He examines how Jory established and expanded the festival to garner extraordinary local support, attract international attention, and entice preeminent American playwrights to premier their works in the Kentucky city. In The Humana Festival, Ullom provides a broad view of new-play development within artistic, administrative, and financial contexts. He analyzes the relationship between Broadway and regional theaters, outlining how the Humana Festival has changed the process of new-play development and even Broadway’s approach to discovering new work, and also highlights the struggles facing regional theaters across the country as they strive to balance artistic ingenuity and economic viability. Offering a rare look at the annual event, The Humana Festival provides the first insider’s view of the extraordinary efforts that produced the nation’s most successful new-play festival.