Review Fix Exclusive: John Chatterton Talks Midtown International Theatre Festival

Review Fix chats with Midtown International Theatre Festival producer and former Off-Off Broadway Review Founder and Editor-In-Chief John Chatterton, who discusses the festival’s 15th year and the allure of the Off-Off and Off-Broadway scenes, as well as the yearly challenges the MITF faces.

Review Fix: Why do you think they are largely ignored by mainstream media?

John Chatterton: People pay attention to big names and expensive productions. Off-Off-Broadway in particular represents tomorrow’s big talent today.

Review Fix: How do you think the Off-Off and Off Broadway culture has changed since you originally came here?

Chatterton: Off-Broadway shows are now as expensive to produce as Broadway shows were not so long ago, so there’s much less risk-taking. Off-Off-Broadway can cost as much as Off-Broadway used to, because mostly of rising rents. Fortunately, there’s more exposure for Off-Off- than there was 20 years ago, when I started OOBR (“the off-off-broadway review”). OOBR was the only source devoted exclusively to listings and reviews of the Off-Off- scene.

Review Fix: What is different about this year’s Midtown International Theatre Festival?

Chatterton: We are planning a Commercial Division, devoted to a repertory of shows that intend to move to a commercial run. These shows will have higher production values and will receive more service to showcase them for commercial producers and bookers.

Review Fix: What are some of your yearly challenges with the MITF?

Chatterton: Always with the money. Cash flow is a significant problem for the MITF and margins are very tight (we get no grants). Of course the logistics are always a challenge, but after 15 years we know by now how to put on a festival.

Review Fix: What are your goals for it moving forward?

Chatterton: We are in the process of starting a non-profit, Midtown International Artists’ Project, devoted to helping international shows come to the Festival. We also want to help local shows tour internationally. Initially we plan to raise funds for travel and lodging; down the road we will be looking for grant money.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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