Charles Grippo

June Havoc, the real life "June" depicted in the musical GYPSY, died March 28, at the age of 96, according to the Village Voice.

As a child performer in vaudeville, Ms. Hovick was initially billed as "Baby June" and later "Dainty June." Both June and her sister Louise, who grew up to become the stripper Gypsy (more…)

In a move that one hopes other non profit theaters will emulate, both the Roundabout Theatre Company and the Public Theatre have announced significant changes in the ways in which they will treat authors' subsidiary rights beginning almost immediately. This should be welcome news to the theater community, especially to its playwrights.

As a (more…)

To the great delight of his many fans, Stephen Sondheim has gotten an 80th birthday present few artists in the Broadway theater receive during their lifetimes. The Roundabout Theatre Company has announced it will rename Henry Miller's Theatre, which is on West 43rd Street, the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The actual renaming ceremony will take (more…)

Well, I'm deep in the middle of auditions for the summer production of SEX MARKS THE SPOT at the Theatre Building Chicago. We had callbacks yesterday and our casting director has scheduled another round of auditions next week.
I'm pretty excited because this is going to be a major production of my show. We (more…)

The movie Revolutionary Road is getting a lot of attention because it reunites Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio eleven years after Titanic. But in my opinion there's a much better reason to see this movie: actress Zoe Kazan who has an important supporting role as DiCaprio's lover. Along with the (more…)

Just as we're about to inaugarate the nation's first African American President, the Goodman Theatre is stirring up a hornet's nest with its new production of Eugene O'Neil's The Emperor Jones.
The reason: the lead is being played by a white actress in blackface.
Once a common theatrical device, still in use as late as the (more…)

I'm worried about the damage this bad economy is doing to the theater. Several well known, long established theaters have already either filed for bankruptcy or are teetering on the brink. Rumors are swirling about others. Donations are drying up. Foundations are holding back on grant money. The states are scraping the bottoms (more…)