Category — TDF News

Honoring Jimmy Smits, Matthew Goldstein, and BEAT

When he started at Brooklyn College in the late 70s, Jimmy Smits was an education major, but by the time he graduated in 1980, he had switched to theatre. When he wasn’t in class or rehearsing, one of his favorite pastimes was waiting in line at the TKTS booth in Times Square, hoping to score discount tickets to a show.

Thanks to TKTS, Smits got tickets to see famous Hispanic performers like Raúl Juliá and Priscilla Lopez. They inspired him as an actor and activist who identifies strongly with his Puerto Rican roots, and he hoped that one day he could be like them.

He succeeded. Smits rocketed to fame on TV series like L.A. Law and NYPD Blue, and he earned 12 Emmy nominations along the way. He even co-starred with Lopez in an off-Broadway play in 1983 and again in Broadway’s Anna in the Tropics in 2003.

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Inside Broadway’s first autism-friendly performance

In many ways, the October 2nd matinee of The Lion King was like any other performance. The theatre buzzed with families, people sang along with their favorite songs, and the actors gave it their all.

But this show was special. It was Broadway’s first “autism-friendly” performance and the debut of Theatre Development Fund’s Autism Theatre Initiative.

Overseen by TDF’s Accessibility Programs (TAP), the Autism Theatre Initiative creates a friendly, supportive theatre environment for children or adults with an autism spectrum disorder. Because people on the autism spectrum often have trouble adjusting to mainstream social situations, and because they often fidget or make noise, they typically can’t attend live performances. Loud sounds and bright lights might aggravate their symptoms, and their behavior might disturb performers or audience members.

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A new show pushes the boundaries between the circus and the stage

Les 7 Doigts de la Main, the Montreal circus troupe colloquially known as 7 Fingers, makes a point of pushing its virtuosic performers beyond the typical three-ring feats.

Take Traces, which opened earlier this month to rave reviews at the Union Square Theatre. This kinetic production interweaves the expected gasp-worthy acrobatics with self-effacing bits of dialogue, charmingly modest musical interludes, and stylized fisticuffs that make the Jets and Sharks look like coach potatoes.

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Queens Hindu Community Center iexperiences  Broadway for the first time.

See what happens when members of the Hindu Community Center in Queens go to see the Broadway revival of “Chicago.” (Part of TDF’s New Audiences for New York program.)  [Read more →]

Here they are: The answers to our Theatre Trivia Quiz.

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