20 Stage Professionals Weigh In On How To ‘Revolutionize’ American Theater

AUDIENCE, THEATRE Posted: September 11, 2020 9:00 am

“Here, six months after most stages went dark, 20 theater figures — many far from the heart of the commercial sector — offer their own suggestions.” – The New York Times

Lookback: my baby book

From 2006: One of my mother’s most treasured heirlooms is a copy of the second edition of Our Baby’s First Seven Years, the “baby book” in which she set down the particulars of my early childhood. I flipped through its yellowed pages yesterday, and as I set out on the longish... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-12-01
Almanac: Cesare Pavese on childhood

“There is nothing fine about being a child: it is fine, when we are old, to look back to when we were children.” Cesare Pavese, This Business of Living Continue reading Almanac: Cesare Pavese on childhood at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-12-01
Pandemic Poems From Cold Turkey Press: Mistress Death

This handmade, 16-page chapbook is not about Covid-19, but the virus is present in every line.... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-11-30
All grown up

I long ago lost count of the number of times that Satchmo at the Waldorf, my one-man-three-character play about Louis Armstrong, has been produced. I do, however, take note whenever I hear of an upcoming staging, and it so happens that there are two in the works, both of which... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-11-30
Just because: Julian Bream plays Malcolm Arnold

Julian Bream talks about and plays Malcolm Arnold’s Guitar Concerto live in 1991, accompanied by Barry Wordsworth and the BBC Concert Orchestra: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Just because: Julian Bream... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-11-30
Almanac: Dickens on wifely advice

“Whatever the old girl says, do—do it!” Charles Dickens, Bleak House Continue reading Almanac: Dickens on wifely advice at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-11-30
Smart play

In today’s Wall Street Journal I review American Players Theatre’s reading of Lydia R. Diamond’s Smart People. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Lydia R. Diamond’s “Smart People,” a hard-edged satire of life among the academic multiculturati, was first performed off Broadway in 2016 in a production directed by Kenny Leon. I... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-11-27
Replay: Mary Martin in Peter Pan

A scene from NBC’s 1960 telecast of the musical version of Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin and adapted and directed for the stage by Jerome Robbins. The song is by Carolyn Leigh and Moose Charlap: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-11-27
Almanac: James M. Barrie on death

“To die will be an awfully big adventure.” James M. Barrie, Peter Pan Continue reading Almanac: James M. Barrie on death at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-11-27
How About This: The Cry Baby Clown King’s Latest Con

An email just in tiime for Thanksgiving, asking fopr mloney to help overturn election even after he was officially declared—signed, sealed, and certified—the absolute loser. Meanwhile construction has begun on renovations to his post-presidential living quarters in Florida. Does he believe his supporters are brain-dead suckers? Of course.... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-11-26
Blessings in disguise

Not long after Hilary died, an old friend of mine who is also a psychiatrist said something that stayed with me: “You should try to reach a point where you can see your marriage to her as a blessing.” My Jewish friends have a different way of putting it: May her... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-11-26
Almanac: Samuel Beckett on how not to live

“VLADIMIR: Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave digger puts on the forceps. We have time to grow old. The air is full of our cries. (He listens.) But habit is a great deadener. (He looks again at Estragon.) At me too... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-11-26
A U.S. “Ministry of Culture” Under Biden? Just Say No, Joe!

Already anticipating a more culture-friendly president than the one who tried to eliminate federal appropriations for the National Endowments of the Arts and for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, some arts advocates are making noises about the creation of a... Read more

Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2020-11-25
The Holy Grail of the Beat Generation Neal Cassady: ‘The Joan Anderson Letter’

When Jack Kerouac read Neal Cassady’s spontaneous rush of words, he claimed it was more alive than any piece of writing he had ever seen. In its effusive style, its freewheeling candor, its Proustian (yes, Proustian!) introspection, the letter touched off a response in Kerouac that reshaped entirely his own... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-11-24