American Stages
Part 1: How We Got Here()
March 3, 2005 Regional theaters have replaced Broadway as the place where American theater meets its audience. In fact, more people go to resident non-profit theaters than attend U.S. pro football games each year.
Part 2: Women at the Creative Helm()
March 10, 2005 Before the advent of U.S. regional theaters, there were virtually no women producers, no women theater owners and very few women playwrights or directors — but that's slowly changed over the years.
Part 3: Thinking Outside the Fundraising Box()
March 17, 2005 Early resident stages often lost money and declared themselves non-profit by design. But today the fundraising challenge has grown exponentially — and troupes are finding creative solutions to fundraising.
Part 4: Reaching Out to the Local Community()
March 24, 2005 Juneau's Perseverance Theatre is living the ideal of serving local audiences while courting diversity — they're staging a musical about Filipino immigrants who work in Alaska's salmon canneries.
Part 5: Flexible Theater Design and Audience Intimacy()
March 31, 2005 Not long ago, nearly all U.S. theaters looked the same — framed stages tucked behind curtains. But the WaterTower Theatre has a flexible design that brings actors and audiences closer together.
Part 6: Partnering on the Road()
April 7, 2005 Ever since The Great White Hope left resident theater to Broadway and won the Pulitzer Prize, not-for-profit theaters are developing productions hoping for commercial success.
Part 7: Challenges of a Rotating Repertory()
April 14, 2005 Companies of actors doing plays in a rotation, with a different show every night, is a dream for many in the regional theater movement. Few troupes can afford it, but the ones that do can reap big benefits.
Part 8: Rebellion in the Regional Ranks()
April 21, 2005 As the big resident stages became major cultural institutions, some began to worry that the regional movement had lost its way. NPR's Bob Mondello talks to a new generation of theater professionals about where they’d like to see the movement head in the future.
