Jonathan Mandell's recent HowlRound article, Are Theater Critics Critical? An Update, revisits an old and passionate conversation -- and it got people talking once again. You may have seen Thomas Cott's email yesterday spotlighting both Mandell's article along with one by U.K. critic Mark Shenton. In his article, Mandell asks -- and answers -- a few hot-button questions about theater criticism: Should anybody care about theater critics? Are theater critics crucial? Are theater critics too negative? Is theater criticism dying?...

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You may not be familiar with Thomas Cott's face, but his emails might greet you just about every morning in your inbox: You've Cott Mail. Since 1998, as a side activity, Cott has been curating the free arts industry news service, for which he was named to the 2012, 2013 and 2014 editions of a peer-nominated list of “The 50 Most Powerful and Influential People in the Nonprofit Arts in the U.S.” Over the past 30 years, Cott has held...

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Each week we put together a collection of stories we think are worth a read. And now, in case you missed them … • We're hooked! Oscar winner and Tony nominee Christopher Walken has been nabbed to play Captain Hook in NBC's Peter Pan Live!, which airs December 4 and is a follow-up to Sound of Music Live! And in other stirring news, Duncan Sheik and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's new musical American Psycho (inspired by Bret Easton Ellis' novel) is headed...

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