Wednesday, August 30, 2006

 

Dramatists Guild Disapproves of Reviewing of Workshops

On August 16, 2006 The Chicago Sun-Times ran a review of Stages 2006, a three-day musical theater festival that had presented eight works-in-progress at the Theater Building from August 11th through August 13th. The review was written by theater critic Hedy Weiss, against the expressed wishes of the festival, which had asked Ms. Weiss not to review any of the works since they were still in the developmental stage
(from The Dramatists Guild of America). Their objections sound a little like some producers' objections a few years ago to out-of-town-try-outs of new shows getting reviewed in publications. Films have the same issue with comments about early cuts ending up online after preview screenings. Hard to strike the balance between early public interest and private developement needs.

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