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ABOUT "ABOUT LAST NIGHT" AND ITS AUTHORS 
This is a blog about the arts in New York City and the rest of America, written by Terry Teachout, Laura Demanski (otherwise known as Our Girl in Chicago, or "OGIC" for short), and Carrie Frye (who signs her postings "CAAF"). Terry, who lives in New York, is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal and the chief culture critic of Commentary. His Wikipedia entry is here. more

ABOUT TERRY'S BOOKS 
Terry's latest book is Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the U.S. and JR Books in England. One of his essays is included in Robert Gottlieb's Reading Dance. He contributed an essay to Coudal Partners' Field-Tested Books (as did OGIC) and wrote the introductions to William Bailey on Canvas and the paperback edition of Elaine Dundy's The Dud Avocado. more

MORE ABOUT "POPS" 
To read reviews of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, watch TV interviews and listen to radio interviews and podcasts about the book, and find out the answers to frequently asked questions about Armstrong and Pops, click on the link. more

ABOUT TERRY'S OPERA 
Terry collaborated with Paul Moravec on The Letter, an operatic version of Somerset Maugham's 1927 play that was commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera in 2006 and opened there on July 25. To see excerpts from the opera, go here. To read the Opera News review of the premiere, go here. To read Terry's reports on the writing, production, premiere, and reception of The Letter, click on the link. more

TERRY'S TWITTERS 

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CONTACT
tteachout@artsjournal.com
ogic@artsjournal.com
caaf@artsjournal.com

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TOP FIVE

A list of new things we've liked (subject to unexpected and wildly capricious updating).

MP3 
Gian Carlo Menotti, The Consul (Heristal Entertainment). This hard-hitting opera about the horrors of life under totalitarian rule opened on Broadway in 1950 and ran for 269 performances, twice as long as Porgy and Bess. Alas, Decca's original-cast album went out of print decades ago, was never transferred to CD, and is now a high-priced collector's item. So what to do? Download this mp3-only reissue, savor the gripping performances of Patricia Neway, Marie Powers and Cornell MacNeil, and marvel at Menotti's uncanny ability to cut to the dramatic heart of a scene. By the way, the "voice on the record" that you hear at the very beginning of the opera belongs to none other than Mabel Mercer (TT).

EXHIBITION 
Kenneth Noland, 1924-2010: A Tribute (Guggenheim, 1071 Fifth Ave., up through June 20). Four carefully chosen canvases painted between 1959 and 1981 by one of the masters of the now-unfashionable Color Field style of abstract expressionism. Needless to say, Noland is sorely in need of a full-scale retrospective, but this anti-blockbuster show contains the root of the matter (TT).

CD 
Johnny Hodges: The Small Group Sessions 1941-1952 (Phantasm, three CDs). A wonderfully handy new collection of key recordings by Duke Ellington's unflappable alto saxophone soloist, a universally admired yet inexplicably underrated instrumental master who was equally adept at sensuous balladry, hard-swinging riff tunes, and deep-dish blues. From start to finish, this set is packed full of unpretentious, deeply satisfying jazz (TT).

BOOK 
Anthony Julius, Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England (Oxford, $45). This disquieting study of England's most respectable prejudice argues all too convincingly that British anti-Semitism has not only failed to wither away but is currently experiencing an alarming upsurge. Not a pleasant read, but an indispensable one (TT).

PLAY 
That Face (City Center, closes June 27). No matter how suspicious you may be of prodigies, make an exception for Polly Stenham's first play, a a tale of a grossly dysfunctional upper-middle-class family that she wrote when she was just nineteen years old. The New York premiere of That Face, presented by the Manhattan Theatre Club, is a superlative piece of work, staged with shrieking tautness by Sarah Benson and featuring memorable performances by Laila Robins and Cristin Milioti. Only time will tell whether Stenham has staying power, but this play bodes well for her future (TT).

Out of the Past

Not new, but still worth a look or listen (and no less subject to change without notice).

CD 
Mitchell's Christian Singers, Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 1 (1934-1936) (Document). The rough-hewn, sometimes startlingly dissonant a cappella harmonies of this vocal quartet, which traveled from North Carolina to Carnegie Hall in 1939 to sing at John Hammond's first From Spirituals to Swing concert and subsequently got written up in Time, have since caught the ears of everyone from Bob Crosby to Maria Muldaur. The first volume of Document's comprehensive reissue of the group's 78 recordings contains its best-known side, "Traveling Shoes," plus plenty of other gospel songs that swing and shout like nobody's business (TT).

NOVEL 
John P. Marquand, So Little Time. All but forgotten today, this 1943 study of a disappointed playwright who married up and sold out is also a powerfully evocative snapshot of America on the eve of World War II. It's not a great book by any means, and Marquand would work the same turf more effectively in Point of No Return and Women and Thomas Harrow, but I can't think of another American novel that does a better job of suggesting what it felt like to watch the world sliding toward catastrophe (TT).

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