Critic’s ticket cancels show

The George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, N.J., canceled the first preview of its new production last week because New York Times critic Neil Genzlinger bought a ticket for the show.

David Saint, the theater’s artistic director who made the decision, said he had no other choice, even though canceling the performance of “Double Play” cost the theater more than $1,000 in labor fees alone.

“When it became clear to me that the artistic process was going to be violated and that trust between the press and the theater was going to be violated, I had to put a stop to it,” Saint told the Home News Tribune of East Brunswick.

The dispute hinges on an unspoken agreement between most theaters and the news media in which reviewers are barred from previews so the theaters can work out technical or artistic issues.

Toby Usnik, director of public relations for the New York Times Co., said the critic was not trying to cause problems.

Genzlinger bought the ticket, Usnik said, because he planned to write a story about the differences between a finished production and the one that was a work in progress.

From Associated Press