Who Are the Most Powerful Women in Theater?

I had planned for this entry to be about Jane Fonda’s triumphant return to Broadway in 33 Variations, the new play by Moisés Kaufman, but then I came across Harper’s Bazaar UK’s list of the 20 Most Powerful Women in the Theater in London (click here to see the full list) and I knew Jane, a feminist to the bone, wouldn’t mind if I put off writing about her show until my Saturday post so that I could talk about the list now (but if you’re dying to know, I’m going to say good things about her and the show).

Judi Dench made the Harper’s Bazaar list. So did Helen Mirren, who as I’ve noted in one of my tweets (click here to see everything I’ve written on Twitter) will star in a new production of Phèdre at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. in September. And so did Gillian Anderson, who is best known on this side of the pond for her work in the TV series “The X-Files” but has won honorary Brit status for her work there including a Donmar Warehouse production of A Doll's House scheduled to open this spring.

Of course the fun thing about lists is that they usually tell us more about the people who compiled them than the folks who end up on them. And that’s probably true for this one too. I can’t even pretend to be knowledgeable about London theater but I bet if there were a gender-neutral list of its 20 most powerful people, I’d recognize a helluva lot more male names on the list. In fact, I’m sure there would be a helluva lot more male names on that list than female ones. Cause the sad bottom line is that guys are still in charge.

All of this set me to thinking about who would make the cut for a list of the 20 most powerful women in New York theater. So I made up my own list. And here, in alphabetical order, it is:

Victoria Bailey, executive director of the Theatre Development Fund, the folks who are best known for running the TKTS booth but who also do other good stuff like introducing NYC public school kids to theater

Whoopi Goldberg, who uses her spot on TV’s “The View” to give Broadway shows national exposure

Susan Haskins, the executive producer of "TheaterTalk," which offers the best conversation about theater

Donna Karger, the host of NY1’s "OnStage," which provides the most complete coverage of the New York theater scene

Nina Lannan, the leading general manager who makes sure that shows like Billy Elliot and the upcoming 9 to 5 run smoothly, while also finding time to serve as chair of the Broadway League

Elizabeth McCann, who for over 40 years has produced such daring shows as Edward Albee’s The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia and Stew’s Passing Strange

Lynne Meadow, the longtime artistic director of the Manhattan Theatre Club, the perennial incubator for new plays like Proof, Doubt and now Ruined

Rosie O’Donnell, the tireless promoter of Broadway and the founder of Rosie's Broadway Kids, which teaches NYC school kids how to put on a show

Laura Pels, the angel whose generosity has made a difference at the Roundabout and the Public Theater

Mary Rodgers, the guiding light at the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, which holds the rights to all the R&H musicals but also represents other biggies like Jerome Kern, Stephen Schwartz, and Andrew Lloyd Webber

Carole Rothman, the artistic Director at Second Stage, which promotes emerging playwrights and is about to take over the Helen Hayes Theater

Judy Samelson, the editor of Playbill, which keeps more theatergoers in the know about Broadway than any other publication

Sherrie Rene Scott, the co-founder of Sh-K-Boom and Ghostlight Records, which provide an outlet for original cast recordings and albums by Broadway stars like Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara

Charlotte St. Martin, the executive director of the Broadway League, the trade organization that represents producers, presenters and theater owners across the country

Meryl Streep, because she’s Meryl Streep and can not only turn any show she does into a must-see but is also the mother of two up-and-coming young actresses who are setting the standard for their generation.

Susan Stroman, the Tony-winning director and choreographer behind shows like The Producers, Contact and Happiness, the new musical currently in previews at Lincoln Center

Julie Taymor, the innovative director who brought her downtown sensibility to The Lion King and who has now persuaded investors to give her $40 million to mount the upcoming Spider-Man musical

Paula Vogel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who has become a mentor to a new generation of writers like Gina Gionfriddo

Linda Winer, the longtime Newsday theater critic, who was the only female voice among the major critics until Elisabeth Vincentelli joined the New York Post this year.

Fran Weissler, the producer who, with her husband Barry, has become such a distinctive player in the industry that she's inspired characters in other people's shows

OK. Don’t just sit there grumbling, let the rest of us know what I got wrong, who should never have gotten on the list and who you can’t believe I left off.

Proper Recompense for the "Ruined"

Good parts are hard to find for any actor. But you can start multiplying that by exponentials when it comes to black actresses. Even the August Wilson canon, a virtual jobs program for black actors over the last couple of decades, gives most of the great stuff to the guys (it may be Ma Rainey’s black bottom but it’s the volatile trumpeter Levee’s show).

So black actresses everywhere ought to sit down right now and write a thank you note to playwright Lynn Nottage for Ruined, her brave and affective new play about the sexual atrocities committed against women in the war-ravaged Congo that opened last night at the Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage 1 space at City Center. Theater lovers should send thank you notes too. And here’s mine.

Ruined is one of those rare plays that has something important to say about the world we live in and the wisdom to say it in a way that will both engage and entertain. Plus it has four fantastic female parts.

And I’m not surprised. Intimate Apparel, her 2003 play about a lonely black seamstress at the turn of the last century, established Nottage as a playwright of true consequence. The New York Drama Critics Circle named it the best play of that season and it is my favorite new work of the past 10 years. But before her writing career took off, Nottage worked as the national press officer for the human rights group Amnesty International and when she decided to write this play, she traveled to Congo and interviewed women who have suffered through the devastation there. Ruined combines their stories with her artistry (click here to read a New York Times interview with Nottage about the genesis of the play).

Ruined is set in a brothel owned by Mama Nadi (an intentional homage to Brecht's Mother Courage) who brazenly attempts to profit from the war by catering to both sides of the conflict. As the play opens, she acquires two new girls, who will be mentored by one of her most successful workers. All three have come to Mama Nadi because they have been repeatedly raped by marauding soldiers, then rejected by their shamed families and now have nowhere else to go. One of them has been so badly abused that her insides have been damaged to the point that she is sexually ineffective or, as it is called, ruined (click hear to listen to an NPR report about efforts to help the real-life victims of such atrocities).

The subject is harrowing but Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey smartly add music, dance and even moments of humor that ease the tension without undermining it. The technical team—Scenic Designer Derek McLane, Costume Designer Paul Tazewell, Lighting Designer Peter Kaczorowski and Sound Designers Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen—creates a thoroughly believable environment for the action.

All four of the actresses have a chance to shine and each clearly relishes this chance to dazzle. The lovely Condola Rashad brings an ethereal quality to Sophie, the most damaged of the women. Cherise Boothe, captures the seething rage of Josephine, the brothel’s veteran. And Quincy Tyler Bernstine is devastating as Salima, the plain everywoman of the group. The male actors, particularly Russell Gebert Jones as the fixer who fantasizes about a relationship with Mama Nadi, lend able support.

But the play centers around Mama Nadi, her complex relationship with her girls and her struggle to avoid taking sides in the war. Saidah Arrika Ekulona does a fine job, particularly with the earth-mother aspects of the part, but Adriane Lenox, who won a Tony for her brief but unforgettable appearance as the mother in Doubt, was originally cast in the role and I kept imagining the flintiness she would have added to it.

A couple of other things bothered me too. The accents the actors assume seemed arbitrary and unnecessary; after all, actors playing Chekhov don’t fake Russian accents. The references to Mama Nadi’s large stable of girls were distracting since we only see three. And then there’s the ending. I think I get why Nottage chose it. I just wish she’d chosen differently. But these are nitpicks. This is a play you should see.