The Week in Review

Actually, two weeks in review, as your correspondent has been traveling:

PLASA London's ExCeL Adventure: PLASA Events reports a successful show in its initial appearance at ExCeL London. More than 11,000 attendees came to check out the show, and most exhibitors testify to having had a satisfying experience. The move to ExCeL is the first step in a multi-year strategy designed to grow the show. Stay tuned for more announcements. For more: http://plasa.me/spbji.

Harman's Busy Ways: There is no end to the activity at Harman. Having announced, a few days earlier, that it had completed the introduction of Martin Professional into its corporate structure (and sending Brian Fribourg, head of Martin US, off to become vice president of sales for all of Harman USA), the company has now announced its acquisition of Duran Audio, the Netherlands-based manufacturer of loudspeakers. Harman is turning into the most interesting company in the industry. For more: http://plasa.me/zpfud.

New Artistic Director for National Theatre: When Nicholas Hytner's contract is up at London's National Theatre in 2015, he will be replaced as artistic director by the director Rufus Norris. According to The Guardian, the choice has been hugely popular in the theatre world. In the US, Norris has been seen as the director of Festen, a fast flop on Broadway and a better-received revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at Roundabout Theatre Company. Norris also recently staged at the National a revival of James Baldwin's The Amen Corner. For more: http://plasa.me/vt83m.

New Times Square Theatre Announced: A triplex Off Broadway theatre will open in the Times Square neighborhood in 2014. Hugh Hysell, a Broadway producer and marketing executive, and Catherine Russell, the actress/manager behind the bizarrely long-running thriller Perfect Crime, are opening the Theater Center, located at 601 Eighth Avenue. The theatres will have 99, 199, and 249 seats respectively. For more: http://plasa.me/h3fki.

Exit Soul Doctor: The first major calamity of the Broadway season, Soul Doctor, closed, clocking in at 32 previews and 66 performances. Based on the life of the so-called "rockstar rabbi" Shlomo Carlebach, the show was supposed to tap into Broadway's Jewish audience, which it somehow failed to do. This closing left the Circle in the Square Theatre suddenly empty, and it was quickly snapped up by Bronx Bombers, Eric Simonson's play about the history of the New York Yankees, which just had a brief tryout run Off Broadway.

Kudos for Ming Cho Lee: One of the great American set designers (and design educators), Ming Cho Lee is being feted by New York' Pan Asian Theatre Company. The event is to be held at the Golden Unicorn Restaurant in Manhattan on November 7. It begins at 6pm with cocktail hour and appetizers, and continues with a traditional Chinese banquet and presentation to salutees. The evening will benefit the company's new seasons. Tickets are $125, tables begin at $1,250, and sponsorship begins at $2,500. Call 212-868-4030 or visit www.panasianrep.org to purchase.

R.I.P. Patrice Chéreau: The famed (and occasionally notorious) opera director Patrice Chéreau passed away at the young age of 68. He was best known for his audience-dividing staging of Wagner's Ring Cycle, which recast the story in terms of the Industrial Revolution. Love it or hate it, it ushered in the modern-day world of high-concept opera productions. For details, go to: http://plasa.me/gmx5k.

Anti-Gay Heckling at Ole Miss Theatre Production: In one of the more shocking developments of the past two weeks, University of Mississippi administrators are investigating an incident in which a performance of The Laramie Project, about the murder of Matthew Shepard, was greeted with heckling by members of the football team. This incident, which sounds more 1983 than 2013, triggered plenty of negative comment. For more, go to http://plasa.me/fqr2t.