NYCPlaywrights April 25, 2026
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NYCPlaywrights
Apr 25, 2026, 5:09:40 PM (4 days ago) Apr 25
to NYCPlaywrights
Greetings NYCPlaywrights
*** FREE THEATER IN NYC ***
THE PUBLIC THEATER: 2026 FREE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK TICKETS
We are excited to announce our in-person distributions for free tickets this summer and the return of Today Tix as our official digital lottery provider for Free Shakespeare in the Park's ROMEO & JULIET and THE WINTER'S TALE.
We are excited to announce our in-person distributions for free tickets this summer and the return of Today Tix as our official digital lottery provider for Free Shakespeare in the Park's ROMEO & JULIET and THE WINTER'S TALE.
Any official changes to our distribution policies will be shared here. For free ticket availability for each evening's performance, visit our DAILY TICKET UPDATE.
***
***
Conan didn’t go too in on Lil Timmy Tim, but he did reference his viral ballet and opera comments, which have created huge amounts of discourse and backlash in the past week. Mere moments into his monologue, Conan said, “I’m told there’s concern about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities. They’re just mad you left out jazz.”
***
Timothée Chalamet isn’t the person you would expect to put down ballet and opera — especially ballet. His mother and his sister studied at the School of American Ballet. He wore a New York City Ballet baseball cap in Paris. He grew up in Manhattan Plaza, a building for artists including actors, singers and, yes, dancers.
But there he was, at a CNN and Variety town hall event with Matthew McConaughey, when he seemingly threw ballet and opera under the bus. The context had to do with filmmaking genres — serious versus entertainment — and keeping movie theaters relevant. Then he pivoted, strangely: “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or, you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive.’”
He quickly added, “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,” and said that he “took shots for no reason.”
Or did he? Chalamet’s point wasn’t that ballet and opera don’t matter, but that it isn’t really part of mainstream culture. He was dismissing these art forms’ roles in our society, and is he wrong? The value of ballet and opera, and people’s perception around their value, are two different things.
More...
https://archive.ph/yeLUM
***
Were Chalamet’s comments graceless? Sure. Inelegant? Yes. Even a bit rude and dismissive? Well, yeah. But was anything Chalamet said incorrect? Not in the slightest.
The New York Times already offered its defense of Chalamet, pointing out that Chalamet’s words—while a bit harsh—accurately represented a fact that any reasonable person would agree with: Opera and ballet are no longer a predominant part of mainstream culture. If you were to go up to strangers on the street and ask them to name four operas or ballets—let alone their four favorite operas or ballets!—many would fail the test. If you were to ask them to name relatively modern works—created, let’s say, in the 21st century—that number would most likely drop significantly.
Plenty of people really do love and cherish these art forms; I am one of them. (And I didn’t see any of you at the wonderful Heartbeat Opera production of Manon! I attended last month!) But comparing the modern-day impact of opera and ballet to that of film would be like comparing curling to NFL football.
More...
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/timothee-chalamet-is-right-about-ballet-and-opera
***
There is something almost perfectly emblematic about our generation in the manner in which the recent backlash over Timothée Chalamet’s remarks on ballet and opera has been handled by the media: which is to say, it was not handled at all, but it was consumed. Articles and comments born of frenzied and short-breathed excitement, jostling for position appeared in a matter of hours, all of them producing a (slightly) different variation on the same essential question: what was said, how dare he say as much and what does the internet think? All the while, the more interesting question and the one which might have, under better circumstances, animated a thousand earnest column inches went unasked. That question being: is he right?
Chalamet is an actor of evident talent and considerable cheekbones who has appeared in a number of genuinely celebrated films. He is not, so far as one is aware, a musicologist, a choreographer, or a cultural critic. That his views on ballet should have generated the volume of noise they did tells us considerably more about the pitiful state of our cultural discourse than it does about ballet or opera. Matters have been arranged such that “the celebrity” is the prism through which many see culture refracted, and this has been done so comprehensively and thoroughly that when a genuine controversy about the vitality and future of an art form briefly flickered into view, the press and commentators instinctively swatted it aside in favour of the more comfortable sport of criticising a famous face’s opinions.
More...
https://universitytimes.ie/2026/04/opera-ballet-and-chalamet/
*** FREE THEATER IN NYC ***
THE PUBLIC THEATER: 2026 FREE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK TICKETS
We are excited to announce our in-person distributions for free tickets this summer and the return of Today Tix as our official digital lottery provider for Free Shakespeare in the Park's ROMEO & JULIET and THE WINTER'S TALE.
We are excited to announce our in-person distributions for free tickets this summer and the return of Today Tix as our official digital lottery provider for Free Shakespeare in the Park's ROMEO & JULIET and THE WINTER'S TALE.
Any official changes to our distribution policies will be shared here. For free ticket availability for each evening's performance, visit our DAILY TICKET UPDATE.
https://info-faqpt.helpscoutdocs.com/article/475-free-shakespeare-in-the-park-tickets-2026
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
Once Upon a Crocodile seeks short plays for the next issue
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Humorous Fantasy (high, dark, low, light, wet or dry, we don’t mind, so long as it’s funny)
Humorous Sci-Fi
Dark humor / tongue-in-cheek horror
The Absurd
Funny animal stories
Parodies
Pastiches
Short funny plays / vignettes
***
Fairy Tale Review invites submissions for consideration by the editors for Volume 23, which will be published in Spring 2027.
We can consider up to 30 manuscript pages.
We would love to see some graphic novel excerpts or stories, comics, and plays.
***
Lib-Lab Productions is seeking playwright submissions for our upcoming Fall 2026 production. We are looking to fully produce a new absurdist and/or experimental play.
Plays must require a small amount of performers. Plays requiring 2-4 performers are ideal.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** OPERA, BALLET AND CHALAMET ***
Timothée Chalamet & Matthew McConaughey | Variety & CNN Town Hall - Full Conversation
(Jumps to ballet/opera comment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=424w9fJRgYk
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
Once Upon a Crocodile seeks short plays for the next issue
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Humorous Fantasy (high, dark, low, light, wet or dry, we don’t mind, so long as it’s funny)
Humorous Sci-Fi
Dark humor / tongue-in-cheek horror
The Absurd
Funny animal stories
Parodies
Pastiches
Short funny plays / vignettes
***
Fairy Tale Review invites submissions for consideration by the editors for Volume 23, which will be published in Spring 2027.
We can consider up to 30 manuscript pages.
We would love to see some graphic novel excerpts or stories, comics, and plays.
***
Lib-Lab Productions is seeking playwright submissions for our upcoming Fall 2026 production. We are looking to fully produce a new absurdist and/or experimental play.
Plays must require a small amount of performers. Plays requiring 2-4 performers are ideal.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** OPERA, BALLET AND CHALAMET ***
Timothée Chalamet & Matthew McConaughey | Variety & CNN Town Hall - Full Conversation
(Jumps to ballet/opera comment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=424w9fJRgYk
***
Timothée Chalamet thinks no one cares about opera or ballet. He told Matthew McConaughey so. Also, the entire world.
“I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this any more’,” Chalamet said in a recorded conversation for Variety.
It’s fair to say his follow-up “All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there” didn’t land. His PR team have likely been brainstorming responses to the inevitable red-carpet challenges at Sunday night’s Academy Awards (which has since confirmed ballerina Misty Copeland, who rebuked his comments, as a performer). The Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has publicly invited Chalamet to one of his concerts. Coming soon to an algorithm near you: Chalamet shedding tears to Nessun Dorma.
More...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/14/timothee-chalamet-opera-ballet
“I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this any more’,” Chalamet said in a recorded conversation for Variety.
It’s fair to say his follow-up “All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there” didn’t land. His PR team have likely been brainstorming responses to the inevitable red-carpet challenges at Sunday night’s Academy Awards (which has since confirmed ballerina Misty Copeland, who rebuked his comments, as a performer). The Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has publicly invited Chalamet to one of his concerts. Coming soon to an algorithm near you: Chalamet shedding tears to Nessun Dorma.
More...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/14/timothee-chalamet-opera-ballet
***
Charlize Theron has strong words for Timothée Chalamet.
The actress, 50, criticized Chalamet's controversial claim that "no one cares" about the ballet or opera in an interview with The New York Times published on Saturday, April 18.
"Oh, boy, I hope I run into him one day. That was a very reckless comment on an art form, two art forms, that we need to lift up constantly because, yes, they do have a hard time. But in 10 years, A.I. is going to be able to do Timothée's job, but it will not be able to replace a person on a stage dancing live. And we shouldn't [expletive] on other art forms,” she said.
More...
https://people.com/charlize-theron-calls-timothee-chalamet-ballet-and-opera-comments-very-reckless-11953849
Charlize Theron has strong words for Timothée Chalamet.
The actress, 50, criticized Chalamet's controversial claim that "no one cares" about the ballet or opera in an interview with The New York Times published on Saturday, April 18.
"Oh, boy, I hope I run into him one day. That was a very reckless comment on an art form, two art forms, that we need to lift up constantly because, yes, they do have a hard time. But in 10 years, A.I. is going to be able to do Timothée's job, but it will not be able to replace a person on a stage dancing live. And we shouldn't [expletive] on other art forms,” she said.
More...
https://people.com/charlize-theron-calls-timothee-chalamet-ballet-and-opera-comments-very-reckless-11953849
***
Conan didn’t go too in on Lil Timmy Tim, but he did reference his viral ballet and opera comments, which have created huge amounts of discourse and backlash in the past week. Mere moments into his monologue, Conan said, “I’m told there’s concern about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities. They’re just mad you left out jazz.”
***
Timothée Chalamet isn’t the person you would expect to put down ballet and opera — especially ballet. His mother and his sister studied at the School of American Ballet. He wore a New York City Ballet baseball cap in Paris. He grew up in Manhattan Plaza, a building for artists including actors, singers and, yes, dancers.
But there he was, at a CNN and Variety town hall event with Matthew McConaughey, when he seemingly threw ballet and opera under the bus. The context had to do with filmmaking genres — serious versus entertainment — and keeping movie theaters relevant. Then he pivoted, strangely: “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or, you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive.’”
He quickly added, “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,” and said that he “took shots for no reason.”
Or did he? Chalamet’s point wasn’t that ballet and opera don’t matter, but that it isn’t really part of mainstream culture. He was dismissing these art forms’ roles in our society, and is he wrong? The value of ballet and opera, and people’s perception around their value, are two different things.
More...
https://archive.ph/yeLUM
***
Were Chalamet’s comments graceless? Sure. Inelegant? Yes. Even a bit rude and dismissive? Well, yeah. But was anything Chalamet said incorrect? Not in the slightest.
The New York Times already offered its defense of Chalamet, pointing out that Chalamet’s words—while a bit harsh—accurately represented a fact that any reasonable person would agree with: Opera and ballet are no longer a predominant part of mainstream culture. If you were to go up to strangers on the street and ask them to name four operas or ballets—let alone their four favorite operas or ballets!—many would fail the test. If you were to ask them to name relatively modern works—created, let’s say, in the 21st century—that number would most likely drop significantly.
Plenty of people really do love and cherish these art forms; I am one of them. (And I didn’t see any of you at the wonderful Heartbeat Opera production of Manon! I attended last month!) But comparing the modern-day impact of opera and ballet to that of film would be like comparing curling to NFL football.
More...
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/timothee-chalamet-is-right-about-ballet-and-opera
***
There is something almost perfectly emblematic about our generation in the manner in which the recent backlash over Timothée Chalamet’s remarks on ballet and opera has been handled by the media: which is to say, it was not handled at all, but it was consumed. Articles and comments born of frenzied and short-breathed excitement, jostling for position appeared in a matter of hours, all of them producing a (slightly) different variation on the same essential question: what was said, how dare he say as much and what does the internet think? All the while, the more interesting question and the one which might have, under better circumstances, animated a thousand earnest column inches went unasked. That question being: is he right?
Chalamet is an actor of evident talent and considerable cheekbones who has appeared in a number of genuinely celebrated films. He is not, so far as one is aware, a musicologist, a choreographer, or a cultural critic. That his views on ballet should have generated the volume of noise they did tells us considerably more about the pitiful state of our cultural discourse than it does about ballet or opera. Matters have been arranged such that “the celebrity” is the prism through which many see culture refracted, and this has been done so comprehensively and thoroughly that when a genuine controversy about the vitality and future of an art form briefly flickered into view, the press and commentators instinctively swatted it aside in favour of the more comfortable sport of criticising a famous face’s opinions.
More...
https://universitytimes.ie/2026/04/opera-ballet-and-chalamet/
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