Friday, April 22, 2011

Dark Theaters

Ken Davenport looked back this morning to the days of dark Broadway. He decides (accurately) that those days will not return, thanks to the long-running cash cows that tie up a lot of real estate.

However, there's a different kind of dark theater: the bankrupt non-profit. Not long ago, there was a photo round-up of abandoned theaters. And it comes back to me now, because the Initman Theater has cancelled the rest of its season. Now, because of this, the artistic director is gone.

How does a theater like that re-open? Would you work for a theater that had closed its doors for a year because of financial failure? What if the next season is also financially troubled?

And what does it mean to be employed for a "theater" that isn't putting on any theater?