• RIP Encores!

Politics appear to have claimed another scalp with New York City Center’s venerable Encores! series. The new artistic director Lear deBessonet, working with Clint Ramos in the curious new position of “producing creative director”, has decided that entertainment is not as important for modern audiences as relevance. In addition to “revivals of hidden gems” (no argument there), deBessonet says that the future of the series lies in “productions where artists reclaim work for our time through their own personal lens, and celebrations that look at the ways musical theater can connect us, in this city and across the country”. For next year, they have chosen two black-themed musicals, “The Life” and “The Tap Dance Kid”, dating respectively from 1997 and 1983 (a third show, to be drawn from a classic rather than forgotten musical, will be announced later). In other words, the point is not the music or even the quality of the work, but the subject matter.

I suppose they mean well with their personal lenses and connections, but did they really have to pick Encores! for this? Continue reading →