The Week in Review

Tragedy in Brazil: It happened again. A nightclub in Santa Maria erupted into flames, leading to 233 deaths. The scenario, as reported, will be familiar to industry members:

"The fire broke out around 2:30am Sunday, when the vocalist from Gurizada Fandangueira, a local pop band, raised a handheld flare, sending a shower of sparks to the ceiling, said to be covered with flammable acoustic foam. Many in the crowd reportedly first mistook the flames flickering above the stage as part of a pyrotechnic display. Then panic set in as flames rapidly engulfed the ceiling and filled the discotheque with black smoke."

Three arrests have been made. And according to eyewitnesses, "Several witnesses said the club lacked emergency lighting and a sprinkler system and was badly overcrowded, operating at double the maximum 500-customer capacity at the time of the blaze." You can expect another round of accusations, soul-searching, and talk about safety legislation; in the meantime, the country is struggling to deal with a tragedy of such dimensions.

The latest is here: http://plasa.me/mtgjw.

Carbonell Nominations Announced: The nominees have been announced for the 37th annual Carbonell Awards, which honor achievement in the southeastern Florida theatre scene. In the category of Best Scenic Design/Play or Musical, the nominees are Michael Amico, Talley's Folly, Palm Beach Dramaworks; Lyle Baskin, Ruined, GableStage; Tim Bennett, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Caldwell Theatre Company; Michael McKeever, I Am My Own Wife, Zoetic Stage; and Philip Witcomb, Amadeus, Maltz Jupiter Theatre.

The nominees in the category of Best Lighting Design/Play or Musical are Ron Burns, Talley's Folly; Luke Klingberg, I Am My Own Wife; Margaret M. Ledford, The Turn of the Screw, The Naked Stage; Jeff Quinn, Ruined; and Ben Wilhelm, Death and Harry Houdini, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

Nominees for Best Costume Design/Play or Musical are Alberto Arroyo, Moscow, Zoetic Stage; Gail Baldoni, Hello, Dolly!, Maltz Jupiter Theater; Jose M. Rivera, The Music Man, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Fabio Toblini, Amadeus, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Ellis Tillman, Ruined.

Best Sound Design/Play or Musical nominees are Matt Corey, The Birds, Mosaic Theatre; Matt Corey, A Steady Rain, GableStage; Matt Corey, The Unseen, The Promethean Theatre; Phil Pallazzolo, David Hart, Last Call, First Step Productions; and Thomas M. Shorrock, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity.

For the full list of nominees, go to http://plasa.me/34r56.

Los Angeles Critics Circle Nominations: Nominations are out also for the Los Angeles Critics Circle Awards. In the set design category, the nominees are Edward E. Haynes Jr., Fraternity, Ebony Repertory Theatre at Nate Holden Performing Arts Center; John Iacovelli, Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum; David Mauer and Hazel Kuang, Dirty Filthy Love Story, Rogue Machine at Theatre/ Theater; and Desma Murphy, The Water's Edge, The Road Theatre Company at Historic Lankershim Arts Center.

Lighting design nominees are Lap Chi Chu, The Convert, Center Theatre Group at Kirk Douglas Theatre; Paule Constable (original) and Karen Spahn (additional and adaptation), War Horse, Center Theatre Group, Bob Boyett, National Theatre of Great Britain, Ostar Productions and Ken Gentry at Ahmanson Theatre; Jeremy Pivnick, Bad Apples, Circle X Theatre at Atwater Village Theatre; and Dan Weingarten, No Good Deed, Furious Theatre Company at [Inside] the Ford.

The nominated costume designers are Angela Balogh Calin, Cymbeline, A Noise Within; Ellen McCartney, The Treatment, The Theatre @ Boston Court in Collaboration with Theatre Movement Bazaar at The Theatre @ Boston Court; Val Miller, Heartbreak House, Theatricum Botanicum; and Leah Piehl, Intimate Apparel, The Pasadena Playhouse.

Sound design nominees are Ben Williams, Gatz, Elevator Repair Service at REDCAT; John Zalewski, Macbeth, The Antaeus Company at Deaf West Theatre; John Zalewski, The Treatment.

And in the category of CGI/video, the nominees are Anthony Beckman and Ben Rock, Stoneface, The Rise and Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton, Sacred Fools Theater Company at Sacred Fools Theater; Tei Blow, In Paris, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Dmitry Krymov Laboratory, The AG Foundation in association with the Korjaamo Culture Factory at The Broad Stage; Greg Sowizdrzal, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, The Geffen Playhouse and Hershey Felder at The Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse; Jason H. Thompson, No Good Deed, Furious Theatre Company at [Inside] the Ford.

For the full list, go to http://plasa.me/yvuyh.

Phantom Turns 25: That phenomenon of the age, Phantom of the Opera, this weekend celebrated the 25th anniversary of its New York opening with a gala performance by many former members of the cast and crew. Andrew Lloyd Webber, sidelined by back surgery in London, appeared by video, although Sarah Brightman, his ex-wife and the original Christine Daae, was on hand. In a recent interview, Harold Prince, the show's director (who just had a major anniversary of his own, having turned 85), noted that, in the theatre of his youth, 1,000 performances constituted a blockbuster run. At the Majestic Theatre, where Phantom is ensconced, it's 10,391 performances and counting. For more: http://plasa.me/68rji.

Philip Glass Takes on Walt Disney: Well, Disneyland may not be the happiest place on earth this week. That's because Philip Glass' new opera, The Perfect American, opened at Madrid's Teatro Real, after a production at New York City Opera fell apart. The libretto, by Randy Wurlitzer, is based one Peter Stephan Jungk's 2004 novel The Perfect American, which takes a dim view of the animated film and theme park pioneer. According to London's Daily Telegraph: "The opera portrays Disney as a megalomaniac, sympathetic to Senator Joe McCarthy's anticommunist witch hunt and having racist and misogynist tendencies." The report adds that the production was, unsurprisingly, denied the rights to show any Disney characters on stage. In his Los Angeles Times review, Mark Swed writes: This is a Walt Disney whose whole career can then be seen as a spectacular effort to overcome his demons. He creates fantasylands where there is no death, no threat, no blood. But in his dying, Disney must confront those demons with his defenses down. In Glass' opera, Disney does this as an artist. The Perfect American will be seen at English National Opera in London in June. The production features scenery and costumes by Dan Potra, lighting by Jon Clark, and video by Leo Warner and Joseph Pierce, of 59 Productions. More from the Telegraph: http://plasa.me/10s15. For Swed's review: http://plasa.me/pv86l.

Jordan Roth Now Principal Owner of Jujamcyn Theatres: At 37, he is the youngest owner of a Broadway theatre chain. Jordan Roth, a noted producer, theatre owner, and familiar face on MSNBC's Morning Joe, has bought out co-owner Rocco Landesman, making him the principal owner of the Jujamcyn theatre chain, which includes the August Wilson, Eugene O'Neill, Walter Kerr, St. James, and Al Hirschfeld Theatres. With shows like The Book of Mormon, Jujamcyn is sitting pretty these days; Roth has proved himself a forward-looking producer, and his sole ownership should help to the ongoing process of repositioning Broadway for younger audiences. Landesman, who will reportedly retain a small interest in the theatres, will be known as president emeritus. Landesman, who recently stepped down as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, recently told the New York Times, "The time has come for me to become a cliché: I turned 65, am going to retire, and cannot wait to spend more time in Miami Beach." For more: http://plasa.me/iasbr.