Author | Lightnews

Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · 29d

The new play Prince Faggot officially reopened Off-Broadway last night. I recently wrote about how the play fits into a broader trend of speculative royal narratives for Town and Country: www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts...

Why Are Real Royals Inspiring So Much Fiction?

From streaming hits to a buzzy new Off-Broadway play, non-fictional members of royal families are increasingly the main characters of imagined plot lines.

www.townandcountrymag.com

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Sep 30

Woolly Mammoth continues to program ambitious new plays with “The Great Privation,” a bold, funny show that uses magical realism to explore the echoes of generational trauma. Read my review: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7717...

The Great Privation Honors the Dead—and the Living Left Behind

An ambitious play from Nia Akilah Robinson explores the echoes of ancestral trauma through a dual narrative with a touch of magical realism.

washingtoncitypaper.com

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Reposted by Douglas Corzine

Natalie Escobar @natalieescobar.bsky.social · Sep 25

! @emmasarappo.bsky.social talked to @tricialockwood.bsky.social about WILL THERE EVER BE ANOTHER YOU tonight and it absolutely ruled !

Emma Sarappo sits to the left of Patricia Lockwood in front of a Politics and Prose sign

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Reposted by Douglas Corzine

Sarah Marloff @sarahmarloff.bsky.social · Sep 15

It’s a hard time to celebrate art, even if we all understand its importance & value. Perhaps that’s why this year’s Fall Arts Guide theme, How To Make a Scene, struck a chord.

This is about coming together, it’s about making our feelings known, it’s about taking a stand for what’s important.

How To Make a Scene: Welcome to City Paper’s 2025 Fall Arts Guide

This year’s guide is an ode to local creatives and the ways art not only survives but thrives in the worst of times.

washingtoncitypaper.com

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Sep 11

It was great to talk to the textile artist (and Tennessean) Tabitha Arnold for Interview. Read our conversation for an overview of her work and her first New York exhibition!

www.interviewmagazine.com/art/tabitha-...

Tabitha Arnold’s Punch Needle Tapestries Are Not For Scabs

To mark the opening of her new show at Field Projects, "Gospel of the Working Class," the artist and textile maker joined us to talk scabs, automation, and the plight of the American labor movement.

www.interviewmagazine.com

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Sep 11

The wonderful, whimsical Julio Torres’ first theater project opens tonight. I interviewed him about the project for the Brooklyn Rail. brooklynrail.org/2025/09/thea...

JULIO TORRES with Douglas Corzine | The Brooklyn Rail

Writing for Saturday Night Live, Julio Torres brought an off-kilter, surprisingly tender sense of humor to sketches like “Papyrus,” “Wells for Boys,” and “The Actress.” Since leaving the show six year...

brooklynrail.org

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Aug 19

The analysis that’s missing from most (practically all) podcast aggregation.

Defector @defector.com · Aug 19

Michael Porter Jr. is the incredibly dumb man for the incredibly dumb moment: defector.com/michael-port...

Michael Porter Jr. Is The Incredibly Dumb Man For An Incredibly Dumb Moment | Defector

I have some bad news: Michael “Curious Mike” Porter Jr. has made another podcast appearance. The former Denver Nugget and prolific podcaster was traded to the Brooklyn Nets a few months ago,…

defector.com

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Reposted by Douglas Corzine

Emma Sarappo @emmasarappo.bsky.social · Aug 18

#REAL

Amanda Mull @amandamull.bsky.social · Aug 15

Got a story out today about something I’ve been fascinated by for years: From Atlanta hip hop to Bama RushTok, here’s how and why the South has taken such a firm grip on modern American culture. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

The United States Is Southern Now

From booming metros to culture-defining exports, the South has quietly become a demographic powerhouse and a battleground for the country’s identity.

www.bloomberg.com

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Reposted by Douglas Corzine

Hell Gate *subscribe today!* @hellgatenyc.com · Aug 7

NYC Is Having a Clownaissance

A new generation of clowns wants you to embrace the liberatory possibilities of acting very stupid.

hellgatenyc.com/everyone-is-...

NYC Is Having a Clownaissance

A new generation of clowns wants you to embrace the liberatory possibilities of acting very stupid.

hellgatenyc.com

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Reposted by Douglas Corzine

christress @christress.bsky.social · Aug 5

sat shotgun on Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang's winding roadtrip to tonight's Culture Awards. Readers, Kayteighs, Publicists, I promise you are in for a treat even though Miss Piggy had to cancel
www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...

“It’s Actually 500 Jokes”: Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang’s Road to the Culture Awards

The pair brings us along for the ride as they stage their podcast’s parody awards show on Bravo for the first time ever. But is primetime ready for the comedic stylings of 'Las Culturistas?'

www.vanityfair.com

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Reposted by Douglas Corzine

Laura Collins-Hughes @collinshughes.bsky.social · Aug 4

The tiny, intrepid Bushwick Starr announcing Keanu Reeves as their gala honoree this fall, in an e-blast that notes he’s a longtime board member of theirs, is going to get people scanning board lists for who else they might’ve missed.

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Aug 2

A thoughtful piece about casting and representation — with a delicate note about how casting has set precedents in other musicals.

American Theatre @americantheatre.org · Aug 2

An Asian American theatremaker reflects on Broadway’s ‘Maybe Happy Ending,’ and the precedent its latest casting decision may set—with questions of authorial intent and representation.

Maybe, Maybe Not: A Casting Controversy and the Conversation It’s Started

An Asian American theatremaker reflects on the intent and impact of Broadway’s ‘Maybe Happy Ending,’ and the precedent its latest casting decision may set.

www.americantheatre.org

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Aug 1

Wow!! This is unbelievable

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Jason Zinoman @jasonzinoman.bsky.social · Aug 1

What the end of WTF means
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/a...

Marc Maron’s Podcast Made Him a Better Comic, Just One Part of a Rich Legacy

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Douglas Corzine

Isaac! At the Butler! @isaacbutler.bsky.social · Jul 29

The more I research the history of the NEA and how it survived many attempts to drastically reduce (or totally eliminate) its funding, the more convinced I become that the Obama admin’s (public) vision of political compromise was totally naive and ahistorical.

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Bebe Neuwirth (she/her) @bebeneuwirth.bsky.social · Jul 25

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Broadway opening of A Chorus Line. To celebrate, about 173 of us who danced in that show gathered outside in the Lincoln Center Library of Performing Arts plaza, performed The Opening Away From the Mirror, One, and What I Did For Love. 💙

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Jul 25

50 years on, A Chorus Line still asks what artists are willing to do for the chance to perform—and, perhaps more urgently, what producers are willing to take.

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Jul 25

It sounds like a great celebration—but would the rightsholders have pulled the plug so fast if the show didn’t have this history? And how does the ECF tie-in burnish the show’s legacy?

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Jul 25

Meanwhile, Concord announced its own big event: a one-night concert at the Shubert Theatre (taking place on Sunday night). The event, featuring several original cast members, will benefit the Entertainment Community Fund, which helps artists in need.

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Jul 25

Concord Theatrical, which controls the rights, quickly pulled the production’s license.

Official reports noted a conflict with other anniversary plans, but the plan to stage such physical show without union protections also recalled the show’s history of underserving the dancers at its heart.

A June 5, 2025 article by Logan Culwell-Block about the cancelled recital. Headline: “Update: Site-Specific, Non-Union New York Revival of A Chorus Line Cancelled.” Dek: “The show, which was supposed to premiere this fall at a real Manhattan dance studio, will no longer go on.”

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Jul 25

Last month, a young producer announced a site-specific revival of the show in a Chinatown dance studio. The announcement tied the production to the show’s 50th anniversary, saying it would honor “the musical’s spirit and sense of discovery.” The catch? It was non-union.

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Jul 25

Hamlisch did arrange to give the dancers limited royalties when the show moved to Broadway—but only for the original production, and without any formal credit as writers or contributors.

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Jul 25

The show became a record-setting phenomenon, with 9 Tonys, a Pulitzer, and a 15-year Broadway run. But the rewards flowed mainly to Michael Bennett, Marvin Hamlisch, Ed Kleban, James Kirkwood Jr., Nicholas Dante, and the Public Theater—not to the dancers whose stories gave it life.

Director/choreographer Michael Bennett working with dancers.

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Jul 25

A Chorus Line was based on hours of taped interviews with working dancers. The show took the life stories of those performers—many of them women, queer folks, and people of color—and turned them into theater. The dancers were paid $1 each to sign away their rights.

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Douglas Corzine @douglascorzine.bsky.social · Jul 25

A Chorus Line opened on Broadway 50 years ago today. The show is often celebrated as a love letter to dancers—a tribute to the unsung heroes of musical theater. But the full story is messier. 🧵

Playbill for the original production of A Chorus Line, featuring the iconic “line” of dancers and the show’s title five times.

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