February 9, 2010
TT: Almanac
"The one Bach piece I learnt made me feel I was being repeatedly hit on the head with a teaspoon."
Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle
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February 8, 2010
TT: By the sea with Mrs. T
Taken at breakfast this morning in South Palm Beach:
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TT: Reluctant to relocate
I've been too busy to write much about it lately, but for the past few weeks Mrs. T and I have been living in Winter Park, Florida, where I'm serving as a visiting scholar-in-residence at Rollins College's Winter Park Institute. My duties include giving public lectures, teaching a seminar in arts criticism, and popping up as often as possible in unexpected places. Last week, for instance, I sat in on a rehearsal of the splendid chorus of the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, at which I sightread the bass part of the Mozart Requiem with rather more aplomb than my rustiness had led me to expect. I had even more fun giving a lecture about Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong that was accompanied by a seven-piece band of local jazzmen who tore up the joint. I've never been happier to have a show stolen out from under me!
I won't deny that the weather here was part of the draw--they tell me it's been snowing elsewhere in America--and so was the close proximity of Rollins College to Disney World. Mrs. T and I paid our first visit to Epcot Center last Sunday, accompanied by my brother and sister-in-law, who drove out from Smalltown, U.S.A., to spend the weekend with us. To wear short sleeves in February is no small thing for a New Yorker whose patience with cold weather is growing shorter with every passing year. But even if I had to pull on a sweater from time to time, I have no doubt that I'd still be enjoying myself. Not only is Rollins an exceedingly good school and Winter Park a beautiful town full of interesting people and excellent restaurants, but Florida, as I learned last year and rediscovered last month, is no less full of first-class theater. The only disappointing aspect of my stay here is that I've had to pack a bag and fly north most weekends to cover Broadway openings and peddle Pops.
All this came to pass because John Sinclair, an old college classmate of mine, is now the chairman of Rollins' music department and the artistic director of the Bach Festival. He lured me to Winter Park last March to give a lecture, and the experience was so mutually satisfactory that John's wife Gail, who runs the Winter Park Institute, asked if I'd like to come back the following year as a visiting scholar. I said yes in a heartbeat, not realizing that I'd still be up to my ears in Pops when January rolled around. Fortunately, we were able to reconcile most of the resulting schedule conflicts, and Mrs. T and I flew down to Florida a month ago.
Just when the fun is starting/Comes the time for parting. My tenure at the Winter Park Institute ends this week, and on Friday I head north to Lenox, Massachusetts, where I'll be seeing Shakespeare & Company's production of Dangerous Liaisons. I'm looking forward to my visit to Lenox very much, but less so to the consequent change in climate, and though I know that Mrs. T and I will be glad to return in due course to our cozy little apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I also know that we're going to miss what we've grown in the past few weeks to think of as our new home away from home.
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TT: Almanac
"Do you know, I believe we should all behave quite differently if we lived in a warm, sunny climate all the time. We shouldn't be so withdrawn and shy and difficult."
Noël Coward, screenplay for Brief Encounter
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February 5, 2010
TT: Your town, too
Today's Wall Street Journal drama column is a double-barrelled rave in which I praise to the skies the third and last installment of Horton Foote's Orphans' Home Cycle and Venus in Fur, a new play by David Ives. Here's a excerpt.
* * *
Now that I've seen all three installments of "The Orphans' Home Cycle," Horton Foote's dramatic portrait of a small-town Texas family, I can say with certainty what I suspected from the outset: Foote, who died last March, left behind a masterpiece, one that will rank high among the signal achievements of American theater in the 20th century. We owe it to Michael Wilson, the director of this joint production of New York's Signature Theatre Company and Mr. Wilson's own Hartford Stage, that the nine plays on which "The Orphans' Home Cycle" is based, which were originally written between 1974 and 1997, are being presented as a unit at last--and that they are being performed with such sympathy and sensitivity as to make their virtues instantly manifest....
"The Orphans' Home Cycle" is "Our Town" in macrocosm, a giant canvas on which Foote has portrayed everyday American life so knowingly that all of us can find ourselves somewhere in his great mural.
Mr. Wilson, working in the closest possible collaboration with the members of his design team, has given this production the easy flow of a movie--except that it's far more intimate. Scene dissolves into scene so naturally that you feel less like a spectator than a member of the family, sitting at the kitchen table and watching real life run its course....
David Ives used to specialize in witty one-act comedies. In recent years, though, he's expanded his canvas, and "Venus in Fur," like "New Jerusalem" and "Polish Joke" before it, shows that the author of such surreal sketches as "Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread" and "Variations on the Death of Trotsky" has grown into a playwright of considerable consequence--which doesn't mean that he's lost his sense of humor. "Venus in Fur," a 90-minute two-hander performed on a single set, actually feels a bit like one of Mr. Ives' one-act plays writ large, though it cuts much deeper, both intellectually and emotionally....
Though "Venus in Fur" is deadly serious, much of it is also madly funny, and Mr. Ives strews one-liners in every direction with prodigal generosity. Nina Arianda, who has most of the best ones, detonates them with the accuracy of an atomic clock. This is her first professional role of any consequence--she graduated from New York University last year--and I have no doubt whatsoever that we're going to be seeing a whole lot more of her. She has star quality oozing from every pore....
* * *
Read the whole thing here.
* * *
Trailers for the first two installments of The Orphans' Home Cycle:
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TT: Captain Bligh's good turn
I've written quite a bit in recent years about what I call the "middlebrow moment," the period in the Fifties and Sixties when the mass media--especially TV--made a concerted attempt to introduce highbrow fare to their viewers and readers, presenting it in an accessible and engaging way and operating on the assumption that ordinary people wanted to expand their cultural awareness.
In tomorrow's Wall Street Journal "Sightings" column, I take a look back at one of the most fascinating of all such ventures, the First Drama Quartette's touring version of George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell. This production, in which Charles Laughton, Charles Boyer, Cedric Hardwicke, and Agnes Moorehead donned evening dress and read Shaw's play on a bare stage, played from coast to coast from 1949 to 1952. It was performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to small-town high-school gymnasiums, and a half-million Americans came to see it. Laughton, who directed the production, made the cover of Time on the strength of the show's success.
In 1952 Columbia Masterworks made a complete original-cast recording of Don Juan in Hell that was issued as a two-LP set. It went out of print four decades ago and had never been reissued in any format until Saland Publishing, an audiobook outfit, released it without fanfare as an mp3 download. (You can purchase it here.) When I ran across this reissue a couple of weeks ago while doing online research on Laughton's career, I resolved to bring it to the attention of the general public. Hence Saturday's column, in which I tell the story of how Laughton and Paul Gregory, his producing partner, got the idea to take Don Juan in Hell on the road--and how American audiences responded. All in all, I can't think of a more illuminating and exemplary chapter in the story of America's middlebrow moment.
If you're curious, pick up a copy of Saturday's Journal and see what I have to say.
UPDATE: Read the whole thing here.
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TT: Almanac
"And I regret to say that there were moments when my deep and loving pity for her merged into a desire to kick her fairly hard."
Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle
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February 4, 2010
TT: So you want to see a show?
Here's my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more information, click on the title.
Warning: Broadway shows marked with an asterisk were sold out, or nearly so, last week.
BROADWAY:
• Fela! * (musical, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• God of Carnage (serious comedy, PG-13, adult subject matter, reviewed here)
• South Pacific (musical, G/PG-13, some sexual content, brilliantly staged but unsuitable for viewers acutely allergic to preachiness, reviewed here)
• A View from the Bridge * (drama, PG-13, violence and some sexual content, closes Apr. 4, reviewed here)OFF BROADWAY:
• Avenue Q (musical, R, adult subject matter and one show-stopping scene of puppet-on-puppet sex, reviewed here)
• The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, reviewed here)
• The Orphans' Home Cycle, Parts 1 and 2 (drama, G/PG-13, too complicated for children, now being performed in rotating repertory with third part of cycle, extended through May 8, reviewed here and here)
• Our Town (drama, G, suitable for mature children, reviewed here)CLOSING SOON OFF BROADWAY:
• Ernest in Love (musical, G, a bit too complicated for children, closes Feb. 14, reviewed here)CLOSING SOON IN CHICAGO, ILL.:
• American Buffalo (drama, PG-13/R, violence and very strong language, closes Feb. 14, reviewed here)CLOSING SOON IN SARASOTA, FLA.:
• Life of Galileo (drama, G, accessible to well-read older teenagers, closes Feb. 17, reviewed here)Posted at 12:00 AM | permalink | email this entry
TT: Almanac
"The structure of a play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost."
Arthur Miller (quoted in Harper's, August 1958)
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February 3, 2010
TT: Snapshot
John Betjeman interviews Philip Larkin for the BBC in 1964:
(This is the latest in a weekly series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Wednesday.)
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TT: Almanac
"I think that every novelist ought to entertain before he does anything else. And that's very difficult. It's much easier to be serious and to seem important, or to seem serious rather than to entertain."
Kingsley Amis (quoted in Conversations With Kingsley Amis)
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February 2, 2010
OGIC: The illustrious Edward
I'm about to write way too much about something whose chief virtue is its unlabored concision. Forgive me. I am really excited.
The wonderful Kate Beaton has posted a great set of comic strips suggested by some of Edward Gorey's well-known pocket book cover illustrations. I recommend to you Beaton's entire body of work (fully archived on her Web site), but none of it more than these inspired little vignettes.By now some of the drawings Gorey made for Anchor and Vintage in the 1950s have achieved iconic status themselves. Beaton's spontaneous but thoughtful spinoffs inventively pay homage while illuminating the choices Gorey made, which turn out to be so interesting. She reminds one that--far more so than almost any cover on a work of classic literature one sees today--his drawings were a pretty high form of interpretation.
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TT: Something old under the sun
When Mrs. T and I visited the China Pavilion at Disney World's Epcot Center, we were transfixed by the music of Ann Yao, who plays an ancient zither-like instrument called the zheng with supreme virtuosity. She is a truly remarkable artist, and the zheng is worthy of her sensitive musicianship.
No sooner did we get home from the park than I booted up my MacBook and embarked on a search for information about Yao and her instrument. Among other things, I found several videos of her playing on YouTube, two of which I want to share with you:
Isn't she amazing? And isn't the zheng a gorgeous-sounding instrument?
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TT: Almanac
"As Judeo-Christians we must avow that the critic is the equal of the artist in the sight of God--as, indeed, he is--if God can't read."
David Mamet (quoted in Chris Jones, Theater Loop, Jan. 27, 2010)
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February 1, 2010
TT: You heard it here first (or second)
For those who haven't seen my C-SPAN interview with Brian Lamb, I announced last night that my next book will be a biography of Duke Ellington that will be published by Gotham Books.
More as it happens....
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TT: Finally!
Here's the C-SPAN interview in which Brian Lamb talked to me about Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong:
You might also be interested in these two Pops-related links:
• This is a story by Debra Levine published last week in the Santa Fe New Mexican in which I discuss, among other things, Armstrong's magical 1931 recording of Hoagy Carmichael's "Star Dust."
• To download a podcast of a CBC radio interview in which I talk about Pops, go here.
UPDATE: Four hours after my C-SPAN interview aired, the Amazon sales rank of Pops had jumped from #1,607 to #509--and it's still going up! Not too shabby for a serious biography that went on sale more than two months ago.
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TT: So you want to get reviewed
If you read the Friday Wall Street Journal or this blog with any regularity, you probably know that I'm the only drama critic in America who routinely covers theatrical productions from coast to coast. As I wrote in my "Sightings" column a few years ago:
The time has come for American playgoers--and, no less important, arts editors--to start treating regional theater not as a minor-league branch of Broadway but as an artistically significant entity in and of itself. Take it from a critic who now spends much of his time living out of a suitcase: If you don't know what's hot in "the stix," you don't know the first thing about theater in 21st-century America.
But suppose you run a company I haven't visited? How might you get me to come see you? Now's the time to start asking that question, because I'm starting to work on my reviewing calendar for the summer and fall of 2010. So here's an updated version of the guidelines that I use for deciding which out-of-town shows to see--along with some suggestions for improving the ways in which you reach out to the press:
• Basic requirements. I only review professional companies. I don't review dinner theater, and it's unusual for me to visit children's theaters. I'm somewhat more likely to review Equity productions, but that's not a hard-and-fast rule, and I'm strongly interested in small companies.
• You must produce a minimum of three shows each season... That doesn't apply to summer festivals, but it's extremely rare for me to cover a festival that doesn't put on at least two shows a season.
• ...and most of them have to be serious. I won't put you on my drop-dead list for milking the occasional cash cow, but if The Underpants is your idea of a daring revival, I won't go out of my way to come calling on you, either.
• I have no geographical prejudices. On the contrary, I love to range far afield, particularly to states that I haven't yet gotten around to visiting in my capacity as America's drama critic. Right now Arizona and Colorado loom largest, but if you're doing something exciting in (say) Mississippi or Montana, I'd be more than happy to add you to the list as well.
• Repertory is everything. I won't visit an out-of-town company that I've never seen to review a play by an author of whom I've never heard. What I look for is an imaginative mix of revivals of major plays--including comedies--and newer works by living playwrights and songwriters whose work I've admired. Some names on the latter list: Alan Ayckbourn, Brooke Berman, Nilo Cruz, Liz Flahive, Brian Friel, Athol Fugard, John Guare, Adam Guettel, David Ives, Michael John LaChiusa, Kenneth Lonergan, Lisa Loomer, David Mamet, Martin McDonagh, Conor McPherson, Itamar Moses, Lynn Nottage, Peter Shaffer, Stephen Sondheim, and Tom Stoppard.
I also have a select list of older shows I'd like to review that haven't been revived in New York lately (or ever). If you're doing The Beauty Part, The Cocktail Party, The Entertainer, Hotel Paradiso, The Iceman Cometh, Loot, Man and Superman, Rhinoceros, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Visit (the play, not the musical), or anything by Jean Anouilh, Bertolt Brecht, Horton Foote, William Inge, Terence Rattigan, or John Van Druten, kindly drop me a line.
Finally, I'm very specifically interested in seeing large-cast plays that no longer get performed in New York for budgetary reasons. One of the reasons why I came to Florida this January was to see Life of Galileo and You Can't Take It With You.
• BTDT. I almost never cover regional productions of new or newish plays that I reviewed in New York in the past season or two--especially if I panned them. Hence the chances of my coming to see your production of Time Stands Still or In the Next Room or the vibrator play are well below zero. (Suggestion: if you're not already reading my Journal column, you probably ought to start.)
In addition, there are shows that I like but have written about more than once in the past couple of seasons and thus am not likely to seek out again for the next couple of seasons. Some cases in point: American Buffalo, Arcadia, Awake and Sing!, Biography, Blithe Spirit, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Glass Menagerie, Heartbreak House, Into the Woods, A Little Night Music, Our Town, Private Lives, Speed-the-Plow, A Streetcar Named Desire, Waiting for Godot, and West Side Story. (I am, however, going to keep on reviewing What the Butler Saw until somebody gets it right!)
• I group my shots. It isn't cost-effective for me to fly halfway across the country to review a single show. Whenever possible, I like to take in two or three different productions during a four- or five-day trip. (Bear in mind, though, that they don't all have to be in the same city.) If you're the publicist of the Lower Slobbovia Repertory Company and you want me to review your revival of Amadeus, your best bet is to point out that TheaterSlobbovia also happens to be doing Lettice and Lovage that same weekend. Otherwise, I'll probably go to San Francisco instead.
• Web sites matter. A lot. A clean-looking home page that conveys a maximum of information with a minimum of clutter tells me that you know what you're doing, thus increasing the likelihood that I'll come see you. An unprofessional-looking, illogically organized home page suggests the opposite. (If you can't spell, hire a proofreader.) This doesn't mean I won't consider reviewing you--I know appearances can be deceiving--but bad design is a needless obstacle to your being taken seriously by other online visitors.
If you want to keep traveling critics happy, make very sure that the front page of your Web site contains the following easy-to-find information and features:
(1) The title of your current production, plus its opening and closing dates.
(2) Your address and main telephone number (not the box office!).
(3) A SEASON or NOW PLAYING button that leads directly to a complete list of the rest of the current and/or upcoming season's productions. Make sure that this listing includes the press opening date of each production!
(4) A CALENDAR or SCHEDULE button that leads to a month-by-month calendar of all your performances, including curtain times.
(5) A CONTACT US button that leads to an updated directory of staff members (including individual e-mail addresses, starting with the address of your press representative).
(6) A DIRECTIONS or VISIT US button that leads to a page containing directions to your theater and a printable map of the area. Like many people, I now rely on my GPS unit when driving, so it is essential that this page also include the street address of the theater where you perform. Failure to conspicuously display this address is a hanging offense. (I also suggest that you include a list of recommended restaurants and hotels that are close to the theater.)
This is an example of a good company with an attractive, well-organized Web site on which most of the above information is easy to find.
• Please omit paper. I strongly prefer to receive press releases via e-mail, and I don't want to receive routine Joe-Blow-is-now-our-assistant-stage-manager announcements via any means whatsoever.
• Write to me here. Mail sent to me at my Wall Street Journal e-mail address invariably gets lost in the flood of random press releases. As a result, I no longer recommend that anyone write to me there. I get a lot of spam at my "About Last Night" mailbox, too, but not nearly as much as I do at the Journal. Any e-mail sent to me at the Journal that contains attachments will be discarded unread.
Finally:
• Mention this posting. I've come to see shows solely because publicists who read my blog wrote to tell me that their companies were doing a specific show that they had good reason to think might interest me. Go thou and do likewise.
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TT: Almanac
"It may be gratifying to watch one's moral superiors fall on their faces, but it is also a good idea to look around and see whether there is anyone left to lean upon."
Louis Auchincloss, Honorable Men (courtesy of Kevin Mims)
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January 31, 2010
TT: Yeah, I know, but I've been busy
I finally got around to updating the Top Five and "Out of the Past" modules of the right-hand column after an unfortunate but understandable spell of delinquence. You'll find plenty of new picks there, all of which are guaranteed to wet your aesthetic whistle.
Go! Buy!
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TT: Reminder
I'll be talking with Brian Lamb about Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong on C-SPAN'S Q & A tonight at eight p.m. ET and eleven p.m. ET, with a replay on Monday at six a.m. ET.
If you're not going to be anywhere near a TV set, you can watch the program on your computer by going here.
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