"On November 7, Judge Terry Hatter (who is presiding over the AEA case) received a letter dated October 31 from none other than performer/ 99-seat scene dissident Armina LaManna, and others.In an annoyed response, the court not only rejected the letter for being both irrelevant to the case and inappropriate, it ordered counsel to instruct all parties that the letter had not been entered into the case file." -- BY PAUL BIRCHALL
"The court has still not ruled on the union’s Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit Asner, et al V. Actors’ Equity Association (filed by union actors and some producers against AEA) which aims to reboot the process by which the former 99-Seat Plan got removed. That removal was allegedly in violation of a 1989 out-of-court settlement that was ostensibly intended to protect the 99-Seat Plan and to provide local union members with fair representation over control of that Plan. There’s some speculation that the court is waiting for the outcome of two NLRB filings against AEA, before deciding whether or not to accept or dismiss the lawsuit, and that could take months." -- BY PAUL BIRCHALL AND STAGE RAW WRITERS
"A look at Davidson's artistic resume is a true walk through the hallowed history of LA theater, with his involvement in an astonishing range of important drama. When August Wilson’s dramas were first being performed, Davidson provided a space for each of his dramas, providing one of the first homes for the author’s dramatic cycle." -- BY PAUL BIRCHALL
"Well, now, after several weeks during which members rearranged their schedules to attend, the union abruptly postponed the meeting. According to a letter, posted on the AEA website, from Executive Director Mary McColl, the cancellation is due to members in different cities not receiving in time the e-mails about the meeting (the national meeting was to be webcast from locations around the country)." --BY PAUL BIRCHALL
Talk about Community: Essentially all of Los Angeles’ small theater scene turned out Monday for the LA STAGE Alliance-hosted town hall at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, moderated by that organization’s Executive Director Steven Leigh Morris (also the Publisher of Stage Raw). In a nutshell, this was the heart and soul of LA theater, right here. Almost every intimate theater in the County was represented – and at the highest levels, too. --BY PAUL BIRCHALL
At the Town Hall coming up, I think I am most interested to hear how Pro99 will respond to the new Equity Website, in particular its sweeping claims that the minimum wage demand will not affect the bottom line of any of the local theater companies, or that the notion of being “allowed” to work three weeks at some under-50-seat stage is somehow equivalent to the fecund cultural scene that is at risk here. --BY PAUL BIRCHALL
"It is interesting — indeed, startling — that the union and Pro99 could not come to some agreement over months of negotiation and discreet discussion, particularly given that the plaintiffs clearly went the extra mile in not serving the suit. It’s fascinated to contemplate what must have been going on behind doors during the talks — and whether it was the union’s intransigence or some other issue that prevented a calm and rational settlement." -- BY PAUL BIRCHALL
Aspects of Mitchell’s article have also now gone national, with theater advocacy pundit Howard Sherman posting a piquant editorial late afternoon Friday on the Arts Integrity website. “Colin Mitchell (seems), in essence, to “blame the victims” of Profiles for not speaking up sooner,” notes Sherman. “Given this manner of engaging with a serious problem at one theatre that, unfortunately, is likely happening at other theatres and in the arts at large, Arts Integrity believes Bitter Lemons has gone from bitter to vile, and will no longer give further consideration to writing that appears on the site again.” --BY PAUL BIRCHALL
"Verini writes, 'After 21 years of living in this beautiful part of the country, 10 of them engaged in theater reviewing, I have decided that the curtain on the next act of my life — and I hope it won’t be the last act — should go up on the East Coast, where my family and full-time employers and, if I am to be fully honest, heart all reside.'” -- by PAUL BIRCHALL
"Two 16 year-old students, performing in the Kentigern College production of Sweeney Todd, had to be rushed to the hospital on opening night with neck wounds, which they received during the show. There’s not much else to be said here, though I suspect we can safely assume the incident occurred when evil Sweeney, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, “swung his razor high” on a couple of his victims." -- by PAUL BIRCHALL