The struggle between art and business is partly what drew Todd Haimes, the Roundabout artistic director, to the play [THE TIN PAN ALLEY RAG]. “I’m not sure which perspective is correct,” he said. “Sometimes art can be commercial, and sometimes being a martyr doesn’t serve anybody. Who’s to say that ‘God Bless America,’ ” which Berlin wrote, “isn’t as great as ‘Treemonisha?’ ”
Mr. Haimes said he faces these questions when he’s programming the Roundabout’s season and that engaging the company’s 42,000 subscribers sometimes means eschewing untested work in favor of proven titles. While the company does produce smaller productions of new plays — including this year’s “Distracted,” a comedy about the attention-addled Internet age, and 2007’s “Speech & Debate,” a dark high school romp — the company’s mainstage slate generally features stalwarts like “Waiting for Godot,” “Hedda Gabler” and “Pal Joey.”
“Does that make our work any less valid, or is it just valid in a different way?” Mr. Haimes asked. “I constantly get into this argument.”
READ THE FULL NY TIMES ARTICLE ABOUT "TIN PAN" HERE
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