TheaterWeek

TheaterWeek

Front cover from February 5, 1996
Editor	Mike Salinas, Bob Sandia and John Harris
Categories	Theatre
Frequency	Weekly
Publisher	Charles Ortleb
Total circulation (1997)	56,000[1]
First issue	1987
Final issue	1997
Company	That New Magazine, Inc.
Country	United States
Based in	New York City
Language	English
ISSN	0896-1956
OCLC	16987637

TheaterWeek was a national weekly magazine catering to artists and lovers of theater and cabaret.^[2][3] It covered Broadway, off-Broadway, regional and educational theater with articles that included profiles and interviews of actors, directors and designers, reviews, theater news and behind-the-scenes looks at shows. The magazine was founded and first edited by Mike Salinas.^[4] Later, Bob Sandia and then John Harris edited the magazine.^[5] Columnists as Peter Filichia,^[6] Alexis Greene, Charles Marowitz,^[2] Ken Mandelbaum,^[1] Davi Napoleon, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, and Michael Riedel were featured. The New York Daily News called the magazine "influential".^[7]

History and legacy

The magazine was published from August 1987^[1] to January 1997, when it closed amid financial struggles.^[2][7] Its columnists went on to write for such other magazines and internet sites as Playbill, InTheater, TheaterMania.com and Broadway.com.^{[citation needed]}

The publication was known for having "a heap of wisdom ... by the devoted denizens of Shubert Alley and off-Broadway" and often commented that other theater reviewers had the ability to "make or break" a production, seeing itself as a neutral source in the theater world.^[8] The magazine was recommended (along with New York Magazine) as an essential guide for tourists to theater in New York City.^[9] Long-time reviewer Peter Filichia's columns often appeared in the publication.^[10]

In 1992, the magazine "blasted" New York Times theater critic Alex Witchel. The editor at the time, John Harris, was aiming for Witchel's job when it was announced she was leaving the newspaper. Harris had tried to get Witchel to work for TheaterWeek years before but was not successful. The pair had reportedly been feuding for some time, and the tone of the article was seen as unfair, with talk of potential legal action over the claims made.^[11] The penultimate issue of TheaterWeek reportedly "infuriated a lot of Broadway people" when the publisher, Chuck Ortleb, ran an article for his own not-yet-completed play about the AIDS pandemic; Ortleb would use TheaterWeek and his other publications to "[lampoon] a new enemy and [publicize] a new theory, no matter how implausible". Ortleb was reportedly using TheaterWeek to prop up his other two publications (The New York Native and Christopher Street). Ortleb did allow staffers at the magazine a wide degree of freedom compared to his other publications, but Week was in decline near the end; the magazine's circulation fell below 20,000 at that time, and they had difficulty paying their bills and making payroll (some staff members recall not getting paid in over a year or rarely seeing a paycheck clear).^[12]

After the magazine closed, its assets were purchased by Playbill.^[13]

References

• Article about publisher Charles Ortleb
• Obituary for the founder of TheaterWeek, Playbill

External links

• TheaterWeek article by Michael Buckley
• TheaterWeek article by Michael Goldstein
• Article by Ken Mandelbaum for TheaterWeek
• Article by Michael Kantor from TheaterWeek
• Article by Davi Napoleon reprinted in The Faster Times that originally appeared in TheaterWeek

This page was last edited on 2 December 2023, at 19:31